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A small cabin for storing and chopping firewood is located on the property, as well.

Nestled into a favorable nook on the river bank, the house was oriented to offer optimal privacy and peace.

A subtle palette keeps the interior sleek, allowing the warm, natural tones of the wooden furniture to come to the fore.

Floor Plan of Night + Day House by Edmonds + Lee Architects

Open tread on the stairs lets light from the large window pass through.

“The kitchen is really the heart of the home,” says the owner. “It feels very special to us.” An extra-long island hosts everything from children’s homework sessions to “cooking parties,” such as when the owners have friends over every year to make apricot jam from fruit picked in the yard. The placement of the cooktop means the cook can be working and there’s room for people to help, or mill about easily, inside and out. “We'll open the big doors and dine on the deck, and have appetizers on the island,” says the owner. “I'll still be cooking in the kitchen and never feel like I've left the party.”

Marlatt built the cabinets in place from Russian Birch plywood, and the counters are a thin application of Neolith stone. The backsplash is glass, making for easy clean-up, and a few of the cabinet fronts are painted Masonite, for fun pops of color. The ceramics on the shelves are by Burgevin.

“The fireplace really turns out to be a focus of the deck and the house,” says Marlatt. “We use it a lot more than I ever thought we would, frankly.”

A small terrace outfitted with an H55 easy chair by Björn Hultén offers a view of the San Francisco Bay.

Taking cues from this home's Japanese-influenced slatted screen, Hufft Projects applied a ring of ipe wood around the perimeter of this outdoor fire pit.

An ipe deck slopes sharply skyward behind Amy Persin’s house in Menlo Park, California, creating a secluded backyard getaway that feels like an outdoor extension of her living room. A single step on either side leads to patches of gravel, which her children have claimed as areas for unstructured play.

The fireplace that Lake|Flato designed for the deck is the compound’s focal point. “People can go tuck their small kids into bed and then creep back to the fire pit area and be gregarious late into the night,” Wallace says.

Now, there are sightlines from the entry to the backyard. The dining table, surrounded by Wegner Wishbone chairs, is by Campagna, a Portland-based design studio.

A midcentury-style walnut screen separates the entry from the living room, yet allows connection with its permeability.