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Recently retired and ready to downsize, Paul and Melonie Brophy found a lot in Palo Alto that gave them the chance to start fresh. Their glass, concrete, and wood house, designed by Feldman Architecture, seems to float above a landscape by Bernard Trainor. Of the board-formed concrete wall, architect Taisuke Ikegami says, "It connects the building to the ground plane while allowing the house to be a landscape element."

Walnut and Formica cabinetry, Neolith basalt counters, and concrete floors make up the kitchen’s minimal palette; a large clerestory ushers in natural light.

A 100-year-old oak shades the front of the house, which is clad in weathering yellow cedar.

Steps lead from the master bedroom balcony to a spacious deck. Situating the deck away from the house gives it the feel of a getaway, says Trainor, who worked on the project with colleague David LeRoy. “We liked the idea of going further into the garden amid plantings for privacy,” adds Trainor. Granite boulders and persimmon, Japanese maple, and oak trees lend what he calls “a California-Japanese feel.”

“From anywhere in the house, you have a sense of the outdoors,” says Melonie, “and yet it’s very private.” Ikegami agrees. “The building was really about the landscape—it can dissolve into the background,” he says. In the master bedroom, Japanese Tansu chests from the couple’s previous home flank a Duxiana bed. The full-height windows and swing door are from Western Window Systems.

Derek Gray of Bay West Builders made the entry bench from wood earmarked for an unbuilt breakfast bar. Radiant-heated concrete floors offer a polished counterpoint to the board-formed walls outside.

The home's overhangs provide shade. “We wanted to make sure the house was comfortable,” says Ikegami. “You have cross-ventilation, and the interior is filled with light from the clerestory.”

The Sanctuary floor plan

Located in La Unión, a city and commune in Chile’s Los Ríos region, Refugio 3x3 is set in a forest on the side of a new lot of residential houses that were built in response to the recent expansion of city limits.

After passing through Tartago's ancient village, visitors approach The Hermitage by walking down slope. Access to the front door is via a hovering footbridge.

A massive block fireplace dominates the interior of this secluded retreat, which pairs industrial finishes with woodsy charm.

"It's simple, yet it's expressive,” Scardulla says. “We don't like excesses. We don't like when you enter a space, and everything is immediately declared, everything is clear. We like discovery and complexity. That's why we love that you get there and you get to the door, and you have one perception, then you enter and get another, step down, and have a new perception, and so on. You take the bed down and get a new perception again."