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Pool and deck

Front facade

The couple added a coat of black paint and cedar siding to give the home a cleaner, more modern look. "The house already had wide and low eaves, providing protection from the sun, and we added new spray-foam insulation, so the black exterior actually does not pose too much of an issue with the desert heat," she says. A new Cor-Ten steel fence blocks the view of the neighbor's roof, but doesn't interfere with the landscape.

The bold geometric form is intended to offer refuge, while deep eaves provide shade in the summer and shelter from rain.

At dusk, the home emits a warm glow, appearing as a welcoming refuge in the landscape. The strong horizontality of the roof canopy visually accentuates the undulations of the surrounding landscape.

The large windows help to flood the tiny home with plenty of sunlight.

Designed to comfortably accommodate three to five employees, the 1,000-square-foot home office by Matt Fajkus Architecture complements an existing midcentury abode. The addition includes two individual office spaces, a conference room, a studio, a bathroom, and storage space. An operable wall divides the main space as needed. The wood-and-stucco addition features a pitched metal roof that jives with the existing home's midcentury style.

When Austin-based firm Matt Fajkus Architecture was tasked with renovating this classic midcentury home, they sought to open up the interior—not only by unifying the common areas into an open-plan layout, but also by literally raising the home's roof. This strategy increased the ceiling height on three sides of the home, allowing for the insertion of clerestory windows to create a bright and airy open living space. "The raised ceiling maintains the original pitched roof geometry to stay harmonious with the existing gabled roof in the private zone," explain the architects in a statement.

Austin-based architecture firm Thoughtbarn set out to renovate an H-shaped residence in a wooded, hilly neighborhood known for its midcentury, ranch-style homes, but quickly discovered that the home’s slab was structurally failing and would need to be replaced. This replacement ultimately led to the construction of a new home based on the footprint of the original—but with a small addition to the south. The exterior is clad in board-and-batten siding, while the front porch is covered with stained pine. Both materials have a vertical emphasis, which speaks to the heritage oak trees on the .75-acre property.

Nestled within Verholy Relax Park in Sosnivka, Ukraine, these contemporary guest cottages by YOD Design Lab offer a sense of solitude and a meaningful outdoor connection. Highly reflective windows mirror the forest, while an outdoor terrace wraps around each cottage. Inside, interiors are swathed in organic hues and materials to allow the views to be the focal point—each dwelling is arranged so that windows peer at pines rather than another building. The houses are even installed on geo-screens to save the root systems of the surrounding trees in the forest, to prevent them from being cut down.

The simple structures are a modern play on the traditional cabin with wood-clad exteriors and gabled roofs.

The tongue-and-groove wood boards are divided at the half-height by a contrasting, black steel plate.

For architect Stephen Chung, the design of his Wayland, Massachusetts, home was all about blending into the natural environment. The first floor is a serene composition of white and wood. The demand for a domestic office space inspired him to build up, adding a second floor for him to "experiment." In a departure from the Cape Cod aesthetic that rules his block, he was able to give the addition a modernist take, while also literally reflecting the existing landscape of the neighborhood. The entire 1,100-square-foot adjunct that encompasses his second story office-studio, master suite, and fort for his two young sons is swathed in mirrored siding and plate-glass windows.

The clients bought nineteen acres of land in 2016, and they have been restoring the prairie ever since.

The volumes are wrapped in black standing-seam metal with custom 24" Alaskan yellow cedar siding for contrast.

The external brick walls are part of the 1990 addition. The upper part had been rendered in acrylic and painted butter yellow. This was removed and the section was re-clad with a charred solid timber shiplap cladding. An enormous double-height window floods the living space with natural light.

“The ceiling plane starts with giant beams as you step up on the front porch, and they run at the same level throughout the axis of the house,” says Lamaster. “As you step down into the home, they accentuate the feeling of moving down the hill. We wanted to create that intimate, low feeling when you walk in.”

The giant windows make you feel as if you are standing amidst the tree canopy.

The all-black exterior cladding creates a quiet pause in the streetscape. By day, it acts as an abstract canvas for shadow play from the boulevard trees. By night, it has the quality of an austere lantern.