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Floor Plan of Casa Pelota by Patricia Betancort Ramos

The dove-gray tone of the concrete surfaces is due to the natural color of Lanzarote’s volcanic sand, which Patricia had mixed into the material, and the wooden beams were salvaged from the existing house.

The couple behind Field Theory help their brother reimagine a dreary 1890s estate as the irresistibly chic Hotel Lilien.

Kenyan designer Naeem Biviji, cofounder of Studio Propolis with his wife, Bethan Rayner, added a 250-square-foot extension to their Nairobi home. The new living room has sliding doors made of recycled wood that open onto a trellis-topped terrace filled with plants grown from clippings harvested from Naeem’s mother’s garden.

Inside the living room, tall, salvaged-wood-and-glass sliding doors face the neighboring Karura nature preserve. Studio Propolis made the armchair using iroko wood and Kenyan leather.

Large windows and sliding glass doors were placed in key spots in the new layout, with the rolling doors reinstalled to act as large “shutters,” says architect Doug Huntington.

The Cowell House located at 171 San Marcos Avenue in San Francisco, California, is currently listed for $3,700,000 by Bert Keane of Vanguard Properties.

Before: The kitchen was a compact U-layout that was closed off from the other living spaces.

The Rey stools are offered in five colors: Slate Blue, Deep Black, Scarlet Red, Golden, and Umber Brown (all pictured here except Umber Brown).

Before: Brooke and Tobi Probst bought their 1956 house in Portland, Oregon, during the pandemic in 2020. It has 2524 square feet, with generous living areas on the main floor. The kitchen was separated from the dining room and living room by a wall that did not meet the ceiling. That made it “easy to picture what it would be like open,” says Brooke.

Vince and Ayşe relax on a sofa that converts to a bunk bed in the living area, where a shade pulls down from a large picture window and provides a screen for the movie projector above the sofa.

Two pull-down compartments in the kitchen hide an electric cooktop and chopping block, while paper towels are tucked away in a curved yellow container. “I didn’t want anything out in the open,” Ash says.

Ash lives in the detached backyard unit and has comfortably hosted 10 people in the space.

The laneway house is just across a small shared patio behind Robert and Debra’s house.