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A bath with a view in the master bedroom.

Recycled Altrock work surfaces and larch cabinetry define the kitchen design.

60's classic furniture combined with modern lighting in the dining area flows on through to the living area, ensuring, at all times, one has a view of the ocean and the headland.

Modern larch interior woodwork combines with retro furniture and lighting pieces.

Now, a picture window frames the views into the garden, and a tall glass and steel door accesses the backyard.

The firm’s goal was not to erase the existing home, but to "strengthen the initial intent of the architecture," says StudioFour director Sarah Henry. "The existing external brick language was identified as a strength to the original design. We wanted to build on this strength and let the architectural language bleed inside to inform the interiors." The external brickwork has been rendered with a tinted sand render, color-matched to Porter’s Paints ‘River Stone.’

Architect Line Solgaard, founder of the eponymous Oslo- and Fredrikstad-based firm, designed a getaway for her family in the place where she grew up. Untreated, exposed concrete pairs with cedar cladding; custom, oak-paneled ceilings; and a glass roof in the center of the home that opens like a sunroof for natural ventilation.

In 2009 on a quiet Los Angeles corner, Mel Elias found a severely water-damaged, crumbling 5,000-square-foot house hidden behind a tangle of overgrown vegetation. Its former owner, the late Hollywood acting coach Milton Katselas, had filled his property with industrial skylights and enormous, wood-burning fireplaces. The glass-and-concrete construction was framed by high ceilings, rusted steel beams, and varied elevations across the single-story plan. Thanks to an 11-year long, multiphase renovation by designer Carter Bradley, the home—with all of its quirks and character—shines again.

Risa Boyer Architecture guided the whole house remodel of this 1955 Portland home. Lillyvilla Gardens executed a new landscape plan for the property, including this updated entry sequence, while Boyer added more glass to suit the midcentury façade.

The architect and owners were in sync on every aspect of the design, including the desire for shou sugi ban siding. “I had been interested in shou sugi ban for a long time,” Herrmann says. “These Japanese cypress boards have been charred, wire-brushed, stained, and oiled. We did a lot of testing to come up with the right dark grey color; it changes in the light.”

Toward the back of the home, a quiet resting area opens up to a spacious, covered patio.

Less than a mile from the ocean, this home’s warm, minimalist interiors create an escape all its own.

“From anywhere in the house, you have a sense of the outdoors,” says Melonie, “and yet it’s very private.” Ikegami agrees. “The building was really about the landscape—it can dissolve into the background,” he says. In the master bedroom, Japanese Tansu chests from the couple’s previous home flank a Duxiana bed. The full-height windows and swing door are from Western Window Systems.

Architect David Dowell and his wife, Kathy, took a decade to determine what they wanted to do with the historic 12-acre property they bought in eastern Kansas. The couple eventually opted to renovate and expand the modest limestone cottage that was already there. The resulting 1,250-square-foot getaway sits on the rolling plain amid elm, silver maple, and eastern red cedar trees. “You don’t have to choose between old and new,” says David. “It’s a false construct in our brain to even think that way.”

The kitchen features a large central island, custom walnut cabinetry, and quartzite countertops. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around the breakfast area and complement Ultimate Casement windows with divided lites above the sink.