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Contemporary furnishings now contrast with the traditional detailing of the preserved architecture.

The pantry lines the wall to the right.

Bizna Estudio combines passive house principles with a few regional materials to keep one family cool while on vacation.

When a Los Angeles–based entrepreneur and writer were seeking creative refuge, they didn’t have to travel far for inspiration. The duo simply looked to their backyard to erect a 245-square-foot guesthouse on their hillside property in the Los Feliz neighborhood. Nestled just behind their main residence, the tranquil space, designed by Jerome Byron, serves as a work/play sanctuary for the couple and their two children.

For cross ventilation, the residents can open and close the large sliding doors around the porch, which the architect describes as “the heart of the home.” Likewise, windows are positioned to provide breezes when necessary.

Front View

"It only cost about $48,000 to build, which was incredibly cheap," says Turner of the Stealth Barn. "We got the Timber Frame Company to supply the shell, then we clad it and fitted out the interior and windows ourselves. The idea was to take the archetypal black tar-painted agricultural building and make an almost childlike icon of that."

The U-shaped floorplan wraps around a sunny central courtyard.

Sustainability was top of mind for Tribe who, chose a highly efficient French Philippe Chemise fireplace—a justifiable extravagance that heats the entire home.

The compound was built on one of the Frio Cañon homesites along the Frio River—a ranch that’s been divided up into lots and developed with utilities. So while it’s rural, it also avoids some of the typical headaches of a remote location.

A special finish brings out the grain in the kitchen's walnut cabinetry.

The open-plan kitchen, dining, and living areas are washed in sunlight that streams in through floor-to-ceiling windows and doors.

The steel structure is suspended two feet above the roof of the existing bungalow, supported by four steel columns, one of which screens utility lines running from the Perch to the house below.

The Perch at sunset.

Mary and Kundan Bhullar built a shipshape country escape that sits lightly on the land in the Aravalli hills near Gurgaon, India.