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A large penny-tile shower awaits in the primary suite located upstairs.

The wooden staircase creates a warm ambiance that resonates throughout both levels.

Anchored by custom built-in shelving, the main living room also features exposed beams and floor-to-ceiling glass doors and windows.

The black metal roof and siding harmonizes with the cedar tongue-and-groove exterior.

Dubbed Mossy Hill, this two-bedroom cabin sits on five wooded acres and comes with a detached studio and outdoor kitchen.

The master bedroom was raised and cantilevered so as not to disturb the mature oak tree roots. Boulders are used as steps to the lawn.

Beside reduced construction time, SysHaus provides homeowners with a truly sustainable home that arrives at its site 95-percent ready for assembly.

The internal courtyard looks into the living, dining and kitchen space of the home's ground floor.

In the Norwegian town of Larvik in Vestfold County, Oslo-based practice Lund Hagem Architects renovated a summer cabin on a rocky terrain with generous outdoor patios that take advantage of dramatic coastal views.

Giant oak trees dominate, and offer coveted shade, in the courtyard.

Clad in Western red cedar siding and punctuated with floor-to-ceiling windows, this minimalist two-bedroom home boasts sunrise views over the Sonoma hills.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

Rather than a lush garden, the architect opted for a singular green expression. This was done by planting a sole Caesalpinia ferra tree at the atrium - a natural sculptural at the heart of the home.

Thanks to a contemporary interior that she’s been updating for a decade, modern architect Abigail Turin has learned to love her traditional 1925 San Francisco home. Rather than indulge her impulse and strip away the home’s traditional flourishes, Turin embraced the dark in her striking living room—the deep paint is Le Corbusier’s 4320J from Les Couleurs Suisse. An iconic Arco lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos, Charles sofas by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia, an Extra Big Shadow floor lamp by Marcel Wanders for Cappellini, and a painting over the marble fireplace by Martin Barré shed a little light.