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The sweeping panoramic view is like the icing on the cake of this well-preserved Eichler.

A view from the corner of the lawn shows the home’s position atop a gently sloping lot.

The prefab chalets are topped with zinc roofs and wrapped in locally sourced larch wood. Like the Pods and the on-site restaurant Les Cerniers, the chalets are energy self-sufficient and draw power from a hydroelectric turbine that also produces enough electricity for over 200 households.

Once all chalets are complete, guests will be able to book all of the units in an “eco-village” that accommodates up to 54 people.

When staying in one of the prefabricated chalets at Whitepod Eco-Luxury Hotel in Monthey, Switzerland, ski trips are prefaced by breakfasts that are delivered daily via a 100% electric Land Rover Defender food truck. Drawing power from a hydroelectric turbine, the zinc-roofed structures are energy self-sufficient.

The open-plan living room features a wall of glass with sliding doors that lead out to a pool.

Entry

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.

Two hours north of New York City, an unusual barn emerges from a hill just off a country road. Its black siding and bright-red window frames hint at the imaginative playground inside. This space, with its rope-railed catwalk and indoor tent, is just one element of the multifaceted getaway architecture and design firm BarlisWedlick Architects designed for fund manager Ian Hague.

Since Copenhagen is generally cold, the house was painted black to trap warmth. The result was that in its first year, it consumed so little energy that the client received a generous refund from the heating company. “Many wooden houses in Scandinavia use this trick,” Larsen says. “On sunny days it even radiates warmth, so that in spring and autumn you can sit outside by the wall and in this way extend the outdoor season by a few weeks every year. These weeks are valuable in places with little light.”

Designed by Cal Poly Pomona students, this factory-built Wedge cabin prototype features plywood interiors for a raw and rustic vibe.

New pine and spruce wood from the Pyrenees (both recyclable and PEFC certified) were selected for the façade of the 1,000-square-foot prefab. Smart blinds cover the windows, rigged to open and close depending on the weather forecast.

Nestled in a field of praire grass in the Wisconsin woods, the Weekn’der is a dynamic contrast of minimalist black and white.