Favorites

The weekend house that architect James Cutler designed for Jeff Albertson and Ben Vogt on a remote stretch of Washington State’s Pacific coast fits unobtrusively into its surroundings. The building pad was small, so Cutler stepped the structure up the slope. Rough-sawn red cedar cladding was chosen for textural contrast and its resistance to rot.

Backdrop’s After Hours, a soft charcoal hue, gives Carlos Naude and Whitney Brown’s home in Woodland Hills, California, sleek curb appeal. Lund Sconces by Kuzco Lighting punctuate the exterior, and the streamlined garage doors are by Amarr.

Light oak panels by Finsa clad both the kitchen cabinetry and the built-in units that appear in the living room and entryway. "We used natural materials where we could, but we were also mindful of keeping high-touch surfaces durable," explains Anne-Marie Armstrong, co-principal of AAmp Studio.

The custom sliding window screens, which shield from solar gain, were designed by the couple and are a modernized reference to the operable shutters that Denise remembers from her childhood in Austria. They first used the idea on one of their apartment buildings.

"We moved the column supporting that whole roof," says Wittman. "It looks simple, but it was a lot of work." Now, two large, aluminum multi-slide doors from LaCantina open up the entire corner.

Ipe wood decking and a built-in bench were combined with a vertical cedar slat screen, which "obscures the neighboring houses at the precise height of their rooflines, while allowing sunlight to filter through," says Wittman. A custom-designed, live-edge table has Lucite legs.

The staircase, with precast concrete steps, now leads down to the future pool terrace. "We sought to connect the spaces so the family could be relaxed and meander barefoot through the property," says Wittman.

Existing windows were replaced with Loewen wood-clad units. The team also sanded and lightened the cedar paneling. "We liked that original tone of the cedar and just lightened it up to look more modern and airy," says Wittman.

The home’s 2,340 square feet span the upper and lower levels, while the basement can serve as an independent ADU, home office, or guest quarters. The lower-level entry is now more comfortable, with a wide waiting area protected from the weather overhead.

In the historic center of Lunenburg, old and new mixed-use apartment buildings find common ground.