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The rooms hidden behind the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves give the studio a whimsical quality.

The walls are covered in Portola Paints Roman Clay in ‘Anchor,’ and the floors are Bedrosians penny tile.

The addition’s pitched roofline matches the form of the original 1820s farmhouse.

By balancing the light from a variety of sources and ensuring that every corner was illuminated, Terry Ohm increased the feeling of expansiveness in the 12-and-a-half-by-14-foot kitchen.

Ohm searched out two-foot-wide appliances for his tiny kitchen, including a fridge from Fagor and an oven from Verona.

Thanks to a prefab in-law unit, an octogenarian modernist lives independently on a peaceful, verdant site in Northern California.

Conceived as an escape from city living, this 2,580-square-foot prefab comprises two primary and 11 secondary modules, while the 290-square-foot guest cabins consist of single modules craned into place atop concrete piers.

The weeHouse exteriors are clad in corrugated Cor-Ten, but with a custom pattern of folds to create an organic randomness. The foundations were designed with a shallow recess around the top to make the modules look like they’re hovering. After they bought the property in early 2014, the Siegels camped there for two summers while they saved up money and planned a permanent structure. In his research, BJ came across this design, a customizable prefab house by Alchemy Architects. "Of all the things that I found, I was drawn to that one because it was absolutely the simplest and cleanest," he says.

The home is a study in how to receive light throughout the day—from sunrise to sunset. The master bedroom’s windows frame the sunrise and welcome in morning light.

Cozy outdoor seating areas are tucked away throughout the property.

Designed for a creative couple from Los Angeles seeking a quiet retreat, this 380-square-foot sanctuary was conceived as something between a tent structure and a viewfinder: Openings draw focus to specific views across Great Oyster Bay and the Freycinet Peninsula while providing immediacy to the vegetated dunes of Dolphin Sands. From burying the utilities to paving access around the undulating terrain, Matt Williams Architects made every effort possible to minimize their encroachment on the site and blend the structure into the landscape.

The green roof, wood cladding, and low profile help to integrate the home with its lush, natural surroundings.

Floor plan of Boundary Point Cabin by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Artful cutouts allow the branch of the tree to snake through the wall, making for a dreamy place to get some work done.

The architects removed the shutters and swapped in casement windows. Benjamin Moore Gray now coats the brick, and a metal roof protects the porch.