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Timber elements frame openings, including the entrance to the master bath on the first level.

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.”

“They’re well-traveled New Englanders who had always lived in older, traditional homes,” Lane says of the clients. “They wanted a contemporary home with warmth, texture, and craft.”

After a forest fire destroyed their cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Jeff Waldman and Molly Fiffer built a new retreat with salvaged, charred timber and a community of friends.

One of the benefits of building into the hillside is that Catherine and her dog, Lydia, are able to access the home's rooftop deck.

The Portuguese firm Madeiguincho designed a trio of tiny homes for a regenerative agriculture farm in Alqueva in southeast Portugal.

Floor plan of Alerce Oculto by Alejandro Otero and Felipe Lüer, ZeroCabin

Floor Plan of Halcyon 02 by Fritz Tiny Homes

Floor Plan of The Nook by Isaac French

“It’s very similar to what you’d see for corn storage,” the homeowner says of the custom designed stairwell screen. On the landing, a long vertical window frames a picturesque view of the property. As a passageway that you would typically walk through quickly, the design details in the stairwell create an experience where you instead stop and linger.

The sofa flips into a comfortable queen-sized bed. “We’d rather have the space be mostly available for hanging out, but able to convert when we need to," says David.

Greg Knapp and Robyn Traynor worked with architect Peter Braithwaite to design a nature retreat for their family on a slice of Canadian wilderness. It has two shed-roofed structures joined by a boardwalk elevated above a preexisting walking path on the couple’s land.

Refugio 3 x 3 section

Now, floor to ceiling slats define the staircase. The pendant light is from Flos.

The firm also designed a slatted screen next to the staircase.

The new staircase to the bunk room also has a privacy screen made of a bookcase with storage.