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The walls now have 10

Before: Despite an uninspiring façade, the carriage house had something other buildings did not: a curb cut, which René needed to be able to have a parking space in the building. “It became a game around finding a particular property that had a curb cut, because you cannot create a new parking space inside a building in New York City anymore,” says René. “You have to find something that already has the curb cut to be able to have a garage.”

Niki Weber and J.P. Guiseppi were booted from their rental in Venice, California, with only a month’s notice. In the frantic search that followed, the pair bought the first property they visited: a hillside residence in the Silver Lake neighborhood of L.A. The plot had enough space down slope to install an ADU. Putting their hard years of renting to good effect, the pair hired Cover, a Los Angeles-based start-up specializing in prefab backyard homes, to build the rental they wish they had lived in as tenants.

The all-glass exterior of these prefabs have made them popular destinations for part-time rentals online.

Although the units come with aluminum cladding by default, CABN offers to different materials at additional cost.

The house also comes with a dock.

Simple forms and materials are used to withstand the elements as well as playing a role of backdrop to the existing elements.

Maria Milans del Bosch’s Catskills home is attuned to the changing seasons. Sunlight pours into the double-height living room, where a Stûv fireplace and radiant floors keep the space warm in winter.

The home’s charred-cedar rain screen facade blends in with the forested 15-acre site.

Offering a completely different look, this svelte version features an exhaust hood and modern hardware.