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Aluminaire House™ on-site at Palm Springs Art Museum, 2023. Rendering by Claudia Cengher.

Emilie and Seth chose materials for the bottom floor based on durability and climate compatibility and made it considerably smaller than the second level to mitigate flood damage and minimize concrete use. (The strategy was also a form of carbon output reduction.) The second-floor over-hang provides shade to the first-floor walls while also directing rainwater away from the foundation, while the living area’s second-level location allows for backyard, street, and river views. Keeping sustainability in mind and material costs low was a tedious endeavor that involved tons of labor (such as removing mold and moss from the terra-cotta tiles used on the first floor), patience, rounding up items from previous projects, and for Seth, spending hours at big-box retailers, scoping wood planks and other “normal” materials that could be used in imaginative ways. “We did things that feel like being good citizens and good neighbors,” Emilie says.

A wooden staircase with built-in cabinetry connects to

Brian and Melissa's two young children spend hours playing in the yard. With Melissa's mother in a house on the same property, the kids have easy access to Grandma whenever she's in town. "It's such a unique experience having multiple generations together," Brian says. "If the kids get up early, they can just run over to Melissa's mom's and spend time with her."

One of four sited in South Los Angeles, a starter home designed by Lehrer Architects and constructed for roughly $200,000 occupies an infill lot provided by the city.

The hall workspace features a pegboard wall and a built-in bench with storage, in addition to open shelving. For the desk chair, Spot Lab refurbished and reupholstered a vintage chair that had been left on the street.

Packed with personality, this retooled shed by Best Practice Architecture might just be the cutest little ADU in Texas.

The overall home is constructed with larch timber, a British wood, and features a central ridge beam that gives it a butterfly-shaped roof. Shou sugi ban was done on the wood to give it a charred finish.

Floor Plan of Tall House by Tall Architects

Millwork throughout the home is by Foson Kitchen and Bath Studio.