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The Lily Pad is a 280-square-foot shipping container home located near Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio.

The Shurtzes framed the windows and doors with oak timbers that offsets the glossy black-painted corrugated siding of the home.

An aluminum-framed garage-style glass door that's motorized rolls up and links the interior of the home to its wooded surround.

The open-plan interior is outfitted with a round wood table and upholstered chairs in the dining area and a leather-covered sofa and a wood bench-turned-coffee table in the living space.

"We knew we wanted the kitchen to have a beautiful view of the outdoors so we designed a large picture window that allows you to admire the scenery," Dianna says. Low maintenance coffee-colored vinyl flooring offsets the room's bright white cabinetry.

"The large window in the bedroom lets you feel like you're sleeping outside," Dianna says. "We added a motorized shade for privacy is needed."

When the roll-up garage-style door is open, the living room links to the porch, creating an indoor/outdoor living experience.

"The shipping container was placed on a cinder-block crawl space, which contains the furnace, the plumbing, and a tankless hot-water heater," Dianna says.

“One of the great things about the Marvin lift-and-slide doors is how they disappear into the pockets,” notes Meelena. “It’s not a typical solution, and it offers exactly what we hoped to achieve with this home. We wanted to foster an intimate connection with the outdoors.”

In addition to the Turkel Design signature post-and-beam construction, the Axiom Desert House also features a spacious great room breezing out to a private courtyard. The floor-to-ceiling windows allow the home to effortlessly blend indoor/outdoor living, while infusing the spaces with an abundance of natural light.

A peek of the Axiom Desert House from the exterior, with the beautiful San Jacinto mountain range in the distance.

Though the front of this 1880s home in Adelaide, Australia, maintains a traditional facade due to strict heritage laws, the rear is modern eye candy at its best. See more of the home.

Master bath with reflected skylight

A 36-foot-wide and 11-foot-tall horizontal acrylic window—cut into the one-and-a-half-foot-thick concrete walls at the end of the tube-shaped restaurant—provides a panoramic portal to the wildlife outside.

The kitchen is open to the living room. “I do the cooking,” says Clint, “so if I’m in the kitchen and Robyn is in the lounge, we’re still together.” The countertops are Carrara marble from Cannata. The pendant is from Arc Lighting and the appliances are from Smeg. The bar stools are from Chair Crazy.

Inside, workaday concrete floors contrast with the home's clean lines and soft touches.

A three-seater Ella sofa and footrest in Vega Anthracit by Sofacompany anchor the living room. The steel coffee table is by Lim and the rug is from Coral & Hive. The shelving and cabinets are custom from Holz Cabinetry. The lamp is from Vamp and the lampshade is from Skinny laMinx. The chairs are from Chair Crazy and the television is from Samsung.

The hanging textile, which is used as a room divider, is by artist Nathalie Van der Massen.

A look at the bathroom. “The window also gives a view out to the front garden and lets the morning sun in,” says David.