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While the owners really liked the idea of shou sugi ban, they opted for a more cost-effective black stain. The random-width, reverse board-and-batten siding reflects the wabi-sabi concept. “The builder said the math for the random siding was torturous,” the wife said. “We didn’t know how hard it was to make things look simple.” DeNiord planted hay-scented fern and lowbush blueberry sod around the house. “We didn't want any side of the house to feel unconsidered,” he says. As for the local boulders he placed around the house and terrace, he says, “They give the feeling that the house grew up around the outcroppings.”

Spot Lab crafted the custom red oak cabinetry for the niche, which also includes the same green zellige tile used in the stove nook. The wall comes forward on the right to accommodate a powder room sink behind it, and the shallow counter there gets a lot of use for charging devices.

The artwork over the couch is by Catherine Freshley, and the rug is from Kat and Mouche.

The clients are a husband and wife with grown children who no longer live at home. The husband is a psychoanalyst, and the wife is a history teacher at a middle school in São Paulo. During construction of the home, very little earthwork was needed, as the residence nestles into the sloped site to preserve the flat part of the site for a garden of native trees and shrubs.

Dogtrot Residence

The blue tiles in the powder room reference one of the homeowner’s artworks. The eyes at the top are vintage globes from a former optometrist's shop. The sink is also a vintage piece from Demolition Depot—in fact, most of the home's plumbing are repurposed pieces.

For Gabriel Ramirez and his partner Sarah Mason Williams, following the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. The architects love Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, and they made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house “was very crisp and clean,” he says. “This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi.”

Stone walls, a pine tree exploding out of a deep overhang, iroko decking, outdoor rooms, a glassy swimming pool, and endless views of the sea make this home a paragon of indoor-outdoor living.

With respect to the sloping meadow, the home is designed to coexist and therefore never breaks the ridgeline.

David Sarti's little red house in Seattle's sleepy Central District proves that a bit of land, ambition, and carpentry know-how can go a long way. photo by: Misha Gravenor

Popp created wood cabinetry surrounded by another powder-coated steel vanity “with a punch of blue” for the bathroom. In anticipation of the project, he took time to gather key elements, such as the bathroom’s Dornbracht faucet, at sale prices.

The concrete basin captures water after it is harnessed by a Pelton wheel for hydroelectric power. It also is a place for the outdoorsy couple to rinse off a bit of dirt before entering their new home.