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Warm-toned furnishings designed by the homeowners complement the retreat’s minimalist desert aesthetic.

Perhaps the ultimate Airbnb, Le Chacuel in Yucca Valley is a minimalist retreat recently renovated by its design-minded owners.

The lofty atrium of this Claude Oakland–designed residence in Orange County floods the interiors with natural light.

This Eichler is wrapped with vertical western red cedar. One of the reasons Klopf Architecture selected this material is because of its low-VOC stain. It matches the color of the original siding, which had sadly seen better days.

This circa-1958 Eichler in Silicon Valley makes a mesmerizing first impression with its combination of ipe wood and neon-yellow resin. A garden, courtesy of landscape designer Bernard Trainor, fosters the illusion of more space.

To blur the line between indoors and outdoors, San Francisco–based Klopf Architecture integrated glass doors that organically separate the living area from the patio.

Built in the early 1970s, the house's kitchen, living, and dining areas were originally divided into three distinct zones. In order for this great room to flow as one, Klopf Architecture removed the glass doors and solid walls separating the enclosed atrium from the kitchen and living room. A Herman Miller trade poster, Design Within Reach book tower, and IKEA sofa mingle in the space.

To bring their adaptive-reuse abode to life, a pair of former New Yorkers tapped local studio Emerick Architects, which had completed similar renovations, such as the nearby rehabbed Ford Model-T Factory. "Marrying practicality with craftsmanship, almost everything for the project was handmade locally by Portland artisans including cabinetry, steel work, railings, doors, stairs, light fixtures, and plaster," adds the firm. Stainless steel has been used for the kitchen counters, cabinets, and backsplash.

The bathroom features a salvaged French urinal combined with Kohler fixtures; the couple purposefully left the patina intact.

Matte-black Tolix chairs surround a 14-foot harvest dining table that dates back to the 1800s.

The kitchen island is topped with a five-by-10-foot slab of Carrera marble.

This uber-green dwelling not only walks the walk, it talks the talk.

Jaque Studio didn't want the pool area to be crowded with beach chairs reminiscent of a resort. Instead, there is this petite relaxation zone.

In winter, the conservatory is configured to enable solar gain while keeping cold air out.

"Radical sustainability

Previously, a small bathroom was located off the kitchen space. By relocating the bathroom elsewhere in the home, this freed up space for a large walk-in pantry where all the food and clutter could hide, and even the fridge.

With the help of California Closets, the homeowners maximized every square inch of space with shelving, drawers, and a countertop area for placement of various small appliances like a microwave, coffee maker, and tea kettle.

The large pantry allows all the food to be in one place, visually out of the way, yet still super convenient to the rest of the kitchen.

The couple became inspired after touring the John Lautner–designed Sheats Goldstein House in L.A., and decided to use a microtopping coat on the floors. "We spent a long time testing samples with our concrete vendor,