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Built for a scholar, Casa Biblioteca is a sanctuary for reading, stargazing, and enjoying a cigar or two. Floor-to-ceiling glass allows light to freely flood the interior and illuminate its jewel-like structure.

Frank Lloyd Wright photographed at his Taliesin studio by Pedro E. Guerrero, the longtime resident photographer at Taliesin West.

Builders, developers, designers, and architects have developed a range of homes that are composed of prefabricated, modular, or kit-of-parts pieces that can allow for lower costs, faster and easier on-site construction, and even higher quality spaces. Here, we delve into the differences—and similarities—among these manufactured residences.

The Monkey House is located in a secondary forest in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest that had been used as a banana plantation decades ago. Brajovic has turned the area, which is located on the border of Bocaina National Park, into an ecological sanctuary called Aldeia Rizoma that’s now home to several eco-friendly homes.

Designer Ralph Germann inserted a partially glazed box into a 19th-century barn to form the main living space of Christine Bonvin’s home in Switzerland. Soft light enters through original arrow-loop windows.

A look at the 30-room Post Ranch Inn, which contains no right angles.

Unsure of how to light under the loft, Monica turned to a friend from the gym who works in lighting design. He helped her with the design, the installation, and even gifted her materials.

Despite the remoteness of the lot and the challenges it posed, the light-gauge steel frame was erected in days, and the entire home was completed in two months—a testament to the ease and efficiency of the prefabricated system. The building sits on upright columns that are bolted to independent concrete footings, giving the home the illusion of floating.

"Radical sustainability

The kitchen is now part of the large open living space. The 1960s Hygena formica cabinets in Polyester Pumpkin were a vintage find. The white pendants are from IKEA and the blue is from Habitat.

“We bought the land not knowing what we could build or where. It’s off by itself and pretty isolated,” says Jeff.

SET Ideas designed the Mod_Tiny to be used as a studio apartment.

Perhaps the ultimate Airbnb, Le Chacuel in Yucca Valley is a minimalist retreat recently renovated by its design-minded owners.

Naturally rusted steel sheathes the cabins that Malek Alqadi built on a 1954 homestead outside Joshua Tree National Park. "I loved the idea of stitching the existing structure back together, reinforcing it, and giving it life again without compromising the beautiful setting it’s in," he says.