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The vertical, three-level cabin is compact in footprint, but maximizes every square foot.

The modest home is clad in Weathertex panels made from 97% eucalyptus woodchips and 3% paraffin. The cladding is finished with a charcoal-colored stain to enhance street appeal and avoid any unsightly weathering.

For his holiday home outside São Paulo, Rodrigo Ohtake wanted to balance quality against affordability. He opted for prefab construction without the prefab look. “The challenge was to design a house that didn’t look like a prefabricated modular house, without deviating from the original modular concept,” he explains.

Inside, the striking multifaceted roof reveals its exposed structure.

Perched high in the mountains of Big Bear, California, this 1973 A-frame was renovated by Courtney Poulos into a handsome getaway from Los Angeles.

The vintage chairs are by Hans Wegner, while the table, cabinets, and the rest of the furnishings in the home were designed and built by Doug.

In Boulder's aptly named Wonderland Hill neighborhood, deer and even mountain lions occasionally come down from the woods to scout the domestic scene, but the most common wildlife sighting on the tree-lined streets is a profusion of toddlers in off-road strollers. To make space for the local baby boom, many older one-story homes have had their pops topped. When Rob Pyatt and Heather Kahn were ready to expand on their 900 square feet, however, their foundation couldn't support a second floor, so Pyatt, an architecture student with a green building background, devised an alternative. His box-shaped addition is the modern kid on the block, with distinctive corrugated-metal and wide-plank cladding. Behind the facade, uncommon materials share a common story with the neighborhood: Of design decisions driven by a desire to keep the next generation—and the planet—healthy and safe.

Oakland, California, doesn’t want for stately old Victorian houses, but heritage and zoning regulations often make them tough to renovate, particularly if you have an aesthetic depar-ture in mind. By raising the house, Mike McDonald was able to preserve the façade and create a modern new office space below.

Inspired by the small scale of Japanese residences—in particular, Makoto Masuzawa’s 1952 Minimum House—architect Andrew Simpson designed his own economical 538-square-foot home set into a wooded site in Island Bay, a coastal suburb outside Wellington, New Zealand.

The same compound of post-war heritage houses is home to Avellana Gallery, designer Jojie Lloren’s atelier, and Artelano 11, a major design destination. In the space, furniture designer and interior designer Eric Paras not only showcases Industria, his collaborative line with Jude Tiotuico, but he has also carefully curated a stellar collection of mid-century pieces, vintage tabletop items and dishware, and standout work from other local designers.

Between Pioneertown and Joshua Tree National Park, this midcentury compound offers nearly 360-degree views along with a 40-foot salt waterpool, Jacuzzi, and fire pit. Inside, old-school charm flows through the space with vintage decor and airy nooks. A large, stone fireplace stands as the anchor of the home, warming up the living area surrounded by walls of angular glass. Bathrooms are minimal in earth tones with wooden benches and tile, and a separate guest house offers an additional queen bed, kitchen, and bathroom.

Sophie, 11, rinses off in the outdoor shower made from 12-by-12-inch Syndecrete tiles cut into 3-by-3-inch squares, which Hertz intentionally set so that they appear to undulate. The sink is from Boffi; the shower fixtures are Arne Jacobsen for Vola.

(C)Sung Kim

The black paint on the exterior timber cladding is similar to “falu red”, a permeable red paint commonly used on wooden cottages and barns in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. The paint consists of water, rye flour, linseed oil, silicates, iron oxides, copper compounds, and zinc. When it is time to repaint the house, the old paint is simply brushed or scrubbed away.

The open plan compound consists of Casa Norte and Casa Sur, two units that share an atrium entryway with large doors that roll open or closed to join or connect the two spaces. Much of the shape of Casa Comunal derives from the existing flora on the site, which includes many fruit-bearing trees.

Adjaye snapped this residential block in Nouakchott, Mauritania. "Wealthy housing is of the compound and villa type, with Arabic decoration," he says. "Apartment buildings are normally three or four stories high, and more of them are being built. Low-cost housing is state built and organized in quarters."