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Interior designer Heidi Lachapelle chose unfussy furnishings with clean lines. “Nothing should feel decorative or unnecessary,” she says. “We looked for things that would age beautifully to speak to the wabi-sabi concept.” The oak daybed is by Bautier, the indoor/outdoor rug is by Dash & Albert, and the trapezoidal cushions on the concrete bench nod to similar ones that the wife saw at Georgia O’Keefe’s home and studio. The Scandinavian-inspired fireplace throws heat from two sides.

Builder Nick Maimone drew on his artistic background and the ’60s counterculture movement as he reenvisioned a home set where the Russian River meets the Pacific in Northern California.

Custom cabinetry made from Freijó wood holds a pair of speakers, a turntable, and an extensive vinyl record collection.

The apartment in the heart of São Paulo, Brazil, that FJ55 Arquitetos renovated for Carolina Quevedo and Marcus Watari was once a podcast studio. The space's wide open living area, kitchen, and dining space are outfitted with Tauari wood floors and feature raw concrete ceilings, beams, and pillars.

The team created an open floor plan for the interior, where the kitchen opens to the dining and the living areas. Concrete flooring lends a soothing quality to the rooms, where there's a built-in concrete bench that also acts as a plinth for the fireplace.

Paired with a lime rendered staircase, a gray Moreau sofa by Pinch and vintage yellow side tables offer bright contrast to the living room’s limestone walls and timber frame. The couple laid some 20,000 pieces of reclaimed oak to create the floor’s herringbone pattern.

Clad in cypress and charged with color, the North Fork getaway of author Julie Satow and editor Stuart Elliott is something to write home about.

The ocean-facing side of the house holds the communal areas of the house: the kitchen, living and dining rooms, and the cinema. Low-profile outdoor furniture dots the deck, while an alcove protects view-seekers if the day gets too windy.

An outdoor shower just outside the primary suite is perfect for rinsing off after long, sandy days at the beach.

According to Daniela, a simple material palette was important. "The kids are coming and going all the time," she says, so all bedrooms are made up with the same linens, "much like a hotel."

While most of the outdoor spaces face the beach, some transitional areas look inland for a view that features swathes of green trees that brighten up the otherwise neutral palette.

A central courtyard is planted with hardy local fauna. A glass atrium at one side holds the hidden elevator and a stairway that leads to the ground-floor entryway.

The house faces south, so in order to let in as much natural light as possible, the architect designed the rooms around a central courtyard.