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On the left, stairs over the sauna lead up to an elevated lookout on the right. Beneath it is the bathhouse.

The door to the right leads to the garden kitchen where the cooking school sessions are held. It’s housed in a central volume and surrounded by greenery and relaxed dining set-ups.

Windows frame spectacular views of the landscape.

A glimpse of the raised garden beds and a thriving avocado tree. The firm used Australian cypress pine for barn doors, walls, surfaces, planters, seating, and decking, for its resistance to rot. "It can be plunged into the ground and, if used in large enough sections, yields a kind of chunky appeal," says Hill.

The entry leads into the garage, which separates the microclimate from the animal quarters. The farm has chickens, cows, pigs, ducks, and dogs to protect the premises from foxes and snakes.

After traversing a winding drive, visitors to the Longhouse are greeted by views framed by open doorways.

Double-glazed windows are an important feature that help control the building’s interior climate.

The Daylesford Longhouse sits on 20 acres in central Victoria. It houses a boutique farm, garden kitchen, cooking school, reception venue, and home inside a single building that’s 110 meters long.

The Longhouse is clad in Ampelite fiberglass-reinforced polycarbonate sheeting. Per the firm: "The smart gel-coated cladding provides different levels of UV and infrared resistance, and panels with different finishes have been deployed to optimize solar penetration and shading depending on the orientation of each facade and roof plane." This cools temperatures in summer and keeps warmth in winter.

"Being in The Longhouse is mellow and calming whatever the weather," says the firm. "The experience of the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts."

Photo by Aldo Lanzi

To accommodate a young family leaving New York City, design firm Stewart-Schafer revamped the kitchen and living areas of an outdated upstate home in just three months.

These projects cleverly address issues ranging from affordable housing to building sustainably in the face of climate change.

Alts Design Office replaced all the old insulation materials and moved the living room from the first floor to the second floor.

The firm enlisted their Parisian carpenter to make the cabinets in the "Frey style and color"—stained maple topped with cream-colored quartz. Appliances are all Bertazzoni except for the refrigerator and freezer, which is a Frigidaire Professional. The brick wall would not have been original, but the firm kept it and hand-painted the surface in the style of Le Corbusier’s Parisian apartment.

An indoor greenhouse enlivens the living area. Track lighting by WAC complements the metal-framed glass walls, which were designed by Qb3 and fabricated by En Motion Design.

The master bedroom opens up to a private garden terrace and views of the treetops.