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Wood screens blur the boundary between indoor and outdoor spaces.

A series of French doors extends the interior living spaces to the deck and meadow beyond.

“Many of the houses in the development aren’t too different from the city or suburbs,” says Kilpatrick. “One of our goals was for this project to have a rural feel.”

The fireplace on the first level showcases red brick and a bright white surround.

The compound was built on one of the Frio Cañon homesites along the Frio River—a ranch that’s been divided up into lots and developed with utilities. So while it’s rural, it also avoids some of the typical headaches of a remote location.

A sloped roof

An abundance of doors and windows creates passive cooling throughout the home.

The U-shaped floorplan wraps around a sunny central courtyard.

Mac describes adding the fireplace’s Domingue plaster finish as a real "labor of love." "The end result was a credit to the builder and his team. It really pulled the spaces together, and there is nothing better than the natural light playing with the plaster finish," explains the architect.

The house is oriented north-south, with the broad side of the structure facing east-west. This guarantees not only gorgeous views of the sunset, but also minimizes wind exposure.

When the shutters are closed, the house assumes an introverted character.

Sited parallel to each other, the two autonomous bedroom cabins frame perspectival views of the surrounding landscape. Exteriors of all three structures feature mitered corners and cross-laminated timber panels, all nailed by hand.

Arba, the architecture firm founded by Jean-Baptiste Barache and Sihem Lamine, designed a 1,786-square-foot residence for Dominique Jacquot 45 minutes outside Paris. The house is her sanctuary from city life.

To turn a home into a permanent residence for a family of four, Rama Estudio attached a prefab glass-and-steel box that extends into the surrounding wilderness.

Another Pinch pendant light in the living room.

A peek at the striking contemporary lounge bar located in the historic 19th-century chapel.

The three structures are linked by a covered walkway and surround a north-facing courtyard protected from coastal winds. There is no fence to encourage interaction with neighbors.