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Cristián created slots in the rear facade so that each home’s primary bedroom could have three exposures. The voids also allowed him to install skylights that illuminate the ground floor. The detailing of the ribbed exterior was adapted from a large institutional building designed by his father—“really almost a cut and paste,” says Cristián. The overhang at the rear of the building offers partial cover for the private walled patio that each family enjoys.

A concrete block wall (above) separates the entry from the living area, where an Arne Norell Kontiki easy chair joins an Eames lounge chair.

The Hupert-Kinmont house lies low in a century-old apple orchard, far from neighboring houses. The spaciousness of the rural surroundings is echoed inside.

When Belgian fashion retailer Nathalie Vandemoortele was seeking a new nest for her brood, she stumbled upon a fortresslike house in the countryside designed in 1972 by a pair of Ghent architects, Johan Raman and Fritz Schaffrath. While the Brutalist concrete architecture and petite but lush gardens suited her tastes to a tee, the interiors needed a few updates.

a table by local workshop Chuch Estudio and Harry Bertoia side chairs.

Soft gray concrete, a polycarbonate screen, and metal roof bedeck the simple front facade of House A. Not immediately apparent? An underground water collection tank and solar panels. "We used a really high recycled content mix for our tilt-up concrete walls, which have 65-percent slag [a byproduct of steel production] instead of high-carbon emitting Portland cement," say the architects.

The couple purchased the living room’s H.W. Klein chairs with the house. Another existing piece was the mezzanine’s daybed, designed by Peter Hvidt and Orlando Mølgaard Nielsen. An original floating staircase leads to the mezzanine and then up to the second floor. The open, straight-forward spaces speak to one of Christian’s guiding principles: “Simplicity is the key,” he says.

VonDalwig Architecture connects the dots to give a 1967 home in Bedford, New York, a new lease on life.

Looking South toward the water garden. A custom Ipe pergola is on the right with a built-in bench framed by Portland cement stucco planters.

In Sweden, architect Bengt Mattias Carlsson created a pavilion adjacent to a residence dating from the late 1800s. The pergola is made from glue-laminated timber beams set atop steel posts; it protects the pool from falling pine needles. George Nelson benches offer places to sit.