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“My team and I are big fans of Marvin products,” says Anderson. “Designed and manufactured here in Minnesota, they’re ideal for local modern and traditional homes and cabins, as well as our other projects across the country.”

Each bedroom is designed to replicated a mini house, and follows the roof's pitch. A skylight lets in light. A custom unit made of white-painted MDF panels provides necessary storage.

Designed around a specimen oak, this renovated midcentury has walls of glass and a natural palette to achieve a seamless connection with the outdoors. When a pair of nature lovers purchased a hillside midcentury home south of San Francisco in Portola Valley, they were admittedly more taken with the stunning valley vistas than the house, whose original 1960s design had been long covered up by mismatched remodels. Yet, after living there for a few years, the couple decided to start a family and realized a renovation was finally in order.

Speaking to his original design, architect Saul Zaik says, “We were really just building boxes with a bunch of windows but experimenting with how you integrated indoor and outdoor spaces.” The house has seven different openings to the exterior, allowing different courtyard or patio settings for a range of outdoor activities, including seating for a gathering on the street-facing side. The Milfords hired Lilyvilla Gardens for the landscaping around the house, including variegated bluestone steps with thyme joints.

Clerestory windows and glass doors flood the space with warm natural light.

Spread across two floors, the home provides close to 1,000 square feet of interior space. Here is a look at the main living room which is enlarged by soaring 17-foot-high ceilings.

The converted farmhouse is located in the heart of Stockholm and can be accessed via the back courtyard of the neighboring buildings. Surrounded by mature trees and lush vegetation (including an apple tree), the historic home is a quiet refuge from the encompassing city.

Short section.

Long section showing sheltered outdoor spaces and tree void.

The overhang's trellis detail mitigates glare while letting filtered views and light through. The clean design draws the eye forward to the trees across the house.

This 195-square-foot, shingled studio includes a library, reading nook, and workstation—and it’s totally DIY. Creative couple Michael and Christina Hara built the retreat just steps away from their back door, in order to carve out "space for creativity and respite from our chaotic, toddler-filled house," as Michael explains. The project, called the Fish Scale Studio, took eight months to complete, with Haras doing all of the design and construction themselves—for just $18,275.

Large windows nicely frame out the corner of the kitchen and provide views of the home's entry and street. Black matte wall sconces from Cedar Moss add an unexpected detail with a contemporary flair that provide ample light in the kitchen space.

Carstensen landscaped the backyard and added a simple firepit circle with chairs. This seating area merges easily with the new screened porch.

Firepit the homeowner added

Exterior from the street. Private courtyard area was created by adding horizontal tigerwood fencing on top of original concrete black privacy wall.

Garden and greenhouse