Favorites

"The H-shaped plan and outbuildings create an assemblage of forms that celebrates the site and creates a continuing sense of surprise," Epstein adds.

A terrace covered by a pergola runs past the private volume (which contains three bedrooms of equal size and a bathroom on the ground floor) to the covered patio, and down the stairs to the pool.

The smaller garden is adjacent to the Innkeeper's Suite, which is Zeidan's favorite room. "I like to stay there because it feels like I have this private terrace," he says.

DiNiord collaborated with craftsman Ken Hood to design the concrete bench with firewood storage and detachable wood back. Douglas fir columns along the walkway creates a colonnade. The mono-sloped roof is a nod to the long roofline of the original house that stood on the property. “Reducing the angles also reflects the strictness to budget,” the wife says.

The owners built the house as a place to gather with their three adult children on Loon Lake, where they had vacationed at the husband’s family home for years. The modern Adirondack chairs are by Loll Designs.

Mila designed the home’s concrete pool, which is finished with a custom plaster. The pool area includes sleek chairs from Cast + Crew.

Along with its durability, concrete requires very little maintenance.

In the backyard, the couple added a pergola, greenhouse, and outdoor dining space for $6,000.

A healthy budget for landscaping allowed Leah to achieve a natural, wild look with plants. “I wanted to look out and see just lush plants growing wild,” she says. The collage of native vegetation was also used to soften the transitions between surface materials and backyard zones.

Built to go off the grid, this remote beachside cottage can open up completely to the outdoors with its series of movable wall-sized glass panels and screens. Designed by Herbst Architects, the modest New Zealand bach comprises two rectangular pavilions built with mostly natural materials chosen for their durability, texture, and weathering characteristics.

Whether it’s cross-country skiing in the winter or trail running in the summer, the 330-foot home’s minimalist design encourages Catherine to be outside in the surrounding landscape throughout the year.

The Cotage

A crooked little fisherman cottage gets a new lease on life in the hands of owners Jamie Kwong and his wife, Ingrid, who renovate the seaside shack with an eco-friendly approach that includes recycled and repurposed materials wherever possible. Located across the bay from Australia’s Palm Beach, the Little Black Shack has been made available to rent for your next dream vacation getaway.

In this Australian project, a resort-worthy swimming pool sits beside the industrial-chic kitchen and living area. It's a joy to swim in, of course, but the body of water also provides evaporative cooling for the courtyard.

A covered breezeway connects the main house and the guest house. Here, Legge took the opportunity to play with perspective, framing part of a tree and the sky with an abstract roof cutout.

Lee Buchanan of Lee Build created a screen of white ash slats beside the kitchen as well as the entry. "The stairs are beautifully integrated into the kitchen so the kids and I are always talking and someone is always sitting on the bottom steps,

The house, painted in "Poppyseed

Units of 360-square-feet in size or less in size can be ordered as ANSI-certified mobile models for an additional $5K to $10k.