Favorites

This remote cabin in Sullivan County hovers above a steep slope, suspended by the trees that surround it.

An expansive wood deck on the front facade extends the living space and creates an indoor/outdoor experience.

After renting in San Francisco for a decade, DIY couple Molly Fiffer and Jeff Waldman bought 10 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the pair and their friends built a cabin compound complete with sheds, tree decks, a pavilion, a wood-fired hot tub, an outhouse, and an outdoor shower. The cabin is made from locally sourced, rough-sawn redwood, which the couple stained with nontoxic Eco Wood Treatment to give the panels an aged appearance and a dark patina.

While the owners really liked the idea of shou sugi ban, they opted for a more cost-effective black stain. The random-width, reverse board-and-batten siding reflects the wabi-sabi concept. “The builder said the math for the random siding was torturous,” the wife said. “We didn’t know how hard it was to make things look simple.” DeNiord planted hay-scented fern and lowbush blueberry sod around the house. “We didn't want any side of the house to feel unconsidered,” he says. As for the local boulders he placed around the house and terrace, he says, “They give the feeling that the house grew up around the outcroppings.”

Designed for two guests, the Kamp Haus cabins have private porches and Adirondack lounge chairs. Cooking grills are available upon request.

Tucked away on the edge of a small lake surrounded by mountains and topped off with a grass-covered roof, this hunting cabin designed by Snøhetta is made with locally sourced stones. The 376-square-foot prefab mountain hut sleeps up to 21 guests around a central fireplace.

The spruce cladding that wraps around the Vilde tiny house model patinas and eventually turns a silvery-gray tone that blends into the Scandinavian landscape.

The home’s walls are clad in Oregon white oak reclaimed from a dismantled barn on the property. Jessica Helgerson chose to paint them white to create a bright, airy look, but she left the kitchen wall au naturel for a visual pop. With storage at a premium, the kitchen needed ample cabinetry as well as some ingenious solutions—including a pull-out cabinet hidden in one half of the range hood. A vintage cabinet on the left wall provides open storage for everyday dishes.

The Nook exterior features shiplap cypress siding, a reclaimed oak deck, and an entranceway of oak blackened in the traditional Japanese method.

Canadian Castaway features a simple and rustic aesthetic with a focus on raw materials. "I didn’t want to paint the wood white, for instance," the owner says. "I just wanted to let it age naturally and invite it to mirror the natural world it's now a part of."

The micro home in Warsaw that architect Adam Pszczolkowski designed for his family and friends features expansive windows framed by plywood and white-painted HPL panels. "I chose white because of its modern and timeless character," the architect says.

Bath time is never dull for the couple’s two young children, thanks to bright orange Interni tiles by Domus.

Nestled among towering fir trees and magnificent dogwoods in Cobb, California—just an hour north of Napa Valley—is the 700-square-foot cabin Hope Mendes recreated as an idyllic family escape. "We’ve always had a dream of owning and renovating a cabin in the woods," Hope says, "a place [where] we could take our kids when we need to get away from the hustle and bustle of our work lives."

A little cottage in North Carolina is furnished with a cluster of wood-stump end tables by Urbia, two Eames rockers, and a 16-H wood-burning stove by Stûv. Scaly Mountain, North Carolina Dwell Magazine : September / October 2017

Waterfall island in Pietra Cardosa

The owners of this updated Tudor-style abode in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock, Amanda and William Hunter, are the design duo behind the William Hunter Collective, which rehabs homes. Handmade tile, soapstone counters, walnut wood, and steel make up the artfully styled kitchen.

To complement the white-washed custom cabinetry in her kitchen, architect Julie Salles Schaffer has designed a tile backsplash to resemble "melting butter in a white pan." Daltile arranged her two-color AutoCAD design—white and off-white—onto a mesh backing for a small fee. To soften the edges of the cabinets’ drawers and doors, Schaffer requested radial edging.

OCM House floor plan