Favorites

Only the north-facing side of the house, seen here, has sections with opaque timber walls to protect the primary suite (and a mud room) from the bright southern hemisphere rays. Behind the glass doors is an interior patio outfitted with a woodburning parrilla.

For the countertops, Ford sourced distinctive Calacatta Viola marble from Italy.

The house is clad with shou sugi ban-treated cedar siding.

The custom kitchen millwork is designed by reBuild Workshop, and fabricated by Custom Lotus, with quartzite counters. The high stools in white oak are by Space Copenhagen.

The fireplace itself was an original feature in the Tudor Revival living room, but the original tile was chipped, stained, and needed a refresh.

Floor plan of House in Hirano by FujiwaraMuro

On the top level, a cozy cubby serves as yet another play nook for the girls, with a large closet above it that, in the future, can be converted into a bedroom with the addition of a curtain.

The home includes an upper-level swimming pool, which Kathryn and Keith enjoy with Indah and baby Mira.

The board-formed concrete walls of the ground floor are complemented by Barestone fiber cement sheet cladding on the upper levels. Sandstone steps lead from the grassy expanse in front of the ground-floor living space down to the water access.

Dining, view south over looking the boulders below

Built with a steel frame, the Frost House features panels of styrofoam between aluminum sheets for the exterior walls and styrofoam between plywood for the roof and floors. Bold, primary colors accentuate its geometric form. Shortly after Karen Valentine and Bob Coscarelli purchased the home in 2016, they began to unearth nuggets of information about its pedigree. Their realtor had provided a brochure that identified the prefab as designed by architect Emil Tessin for the now-defunct Alside Homes Corporation based out of Akron, Ohio, which had held a patent for the structure’s aluminum paneling. Their new neighbors provided a stack of Alside Homes sales materials, floor plans of various models, and even a script that had been written for salespeople during home tours. They determined that the Frost House had been a sales model for the company, and that Tessin had been the son of Emil Albert Tessin, the legal guardian of Florence Knoll.

The architects specified an aluminum roof that “ghosts” the structure—it’s a material that recalls the typical use of corrugated metal on agricultural buildings, yet it subtly contrasts with the historic form. “It’s not quite what you’d use on a normal barn,” says Powell.

Sarolta Hüttl taps into family history as she outfits her home with primary color, industrial accents, and cherished heirlooms.

A West Elm chair, couch, and rug sit atop the new white oak floors. Eric brought home the antique copper sift from Turkey years ago and it's now the coffee table. The wall color is Benjamin Moore 'Acadia White.'