Favorites

A void at one end of the foyer brings fresh air and natural light into the house.

In the foyer, the homeowners are trying their hands at growing native plants. Chris built the upstairs deck, working with stained cedar. "That was a pretty intensive month or so," he says of the project.

The sliding front door is made of glass panels, and its bright red color was inspired by the red doors (symbolic of fortune and prosperity) found in traditional villages in Taiwan. “We wanted the front door to be transparent so that light filters into the interior even when the door is closed,” says Chu. “It was very important to have a constant relationship between inside and outside.”

Featuring more than 100 species, the garden is brimming with bird and insect attractants. “Surya’s first word was the Hindi word for bird,” says Surya’s father, Ali, “and it’s amazing to see all the birds that are coming through here now that are attracted to certain plants.”

The front door of the home opens to an office, where a built in desk folds down to save space when not in use. The room features concrete floors and plywood walls.

Unsure of how to light under the loft, Monica turned to a friend from the gym who works in lighting design. He helped her with the design, the installation, and even gifted her materials.

Throughout the home, the walls and floors feature the natural grain patterns of lacquered plywood. The Stokke Tripp Trapp chair in the dining room was Lizz’s when she was growing up in the 1980s while the two Steen Ostergaard chairs were a thrift store find, and Project Room designed the table.

Mitsui stands in the guest room, which opens to a small balcony.

A cave-like fireplace carved into the side of the sunken living room emphasizes the “primordial” feeling Mitsui says he was after.

The living area is backed by sheer glass supported by wood beams. Here and in the side wings of the house, glazing tilts inward near the floor, making the volumes appear to float.

A home in Karuizawa, Japan, designed by Rei Mitsui of Tokyo-based Rei Mitsui, embraces the land in a gently arced design. In the sunken living room, homeowner Rob Tull relaxes on a lin-en couch designed by Mitsui and made by Tetsuhiro Otsuka of Hiro & Associates. The recessed area’s rounded edges, echoed in the arched entryway to the kitchen and the curved ends of the staircase’s handrail, soften the home’s angularity.

The roof deck features a full outdoor kitchen, custom seating that wraps a tree, and spectacular city views.

The large skylight brings an abundance of natural light into the space, creating an indoor/outdoor feeling that is "so important for Melbourne climate," says Knights. The floor is Eco Outdoor Endicott Crazy Paving and is used on the adjacent outside terrace as well. "We wanted a material that would work just as well inside as out, and create a seamless threshold. Having one continuous material makes the room feel twice the size of what it really is."

The sunken lounge was designed with "slowing down and appreciating the environment" in mind. A custom-made, built-in sofa wraps around the space, bleeding into the stairs and a custom wood display shelf. Not having a TV was an intentional choice. "We wanted the client to be able to lie back and watch the clouds and the sky, to have conversations, to read a book, to play with their pets," says Knights.

They don't have air conditioning but stay comfortable in the summer thanks to passive design strategies like cross-ventilation, a heat-releasing mezzanine window, and cooling winds from the nearby river. Solar panels provide about 75% of their energy needs, and they charge their electric car during the day while remaining connected to the grid.