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This self-sufficient Earthship is currently listed for $635K. The house is 2,000-square-feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Designed by Toshiko Mori, this North Haven home is topped with a green roof, and it comes with a pool, a guesthouse, and 25 acres.

Set on a hillside near Mulholland Drive, this two-bedroom home has a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and a full-length deck.

The back patio and fire-pit area are central entertaining spaces. When the weather is nice, homeowner Joan and Ken wheel their dining room table outside for parties and dinners with friends. The fire pit was built using a steel cut-off from a natural gas tank.

Auburn 7 developer and resident Michael Kyle hangs with his dog Moxy in the front yard of the unit owned by his codeveloper Todd Wexman; he is joined by residents Francisco, Camille, and young Sophia Apple Owens.

The roof structure of William F. Cody’s 1963 Shamel Residence protects the interior from direct sun and provides shade over the patio, pocket gardens, and part of the pool. Courtesy Julius Shulman photography archive © J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)

Architect Matt Wittman’s upbringing in rural Washington nurtured a respect for functional buildings that worked with their surroundings: a utilitarian perspective that would inform his Seattle-based studio’s modular home system. “While prefab houses are sometimes divorced from their context, Puzzle Prefab can be modified according to each site,” Wittmann says. “This system has the ability to create spaces that can expand or contract for a variety of environments, whether remote, suburban, or urban.”Architect Matt Wittman’s upbringing in rural Washington nurtured a respect for functional buildings that worked with their surroundings: a utilitarian perspective that would inform his Seattle-based studio’s modular home system. “While prefab houses are sometimes divorced from their context, Puzzle Prefab can be modified according to each site,” Wittmann says. “This system has the ability to create spaces that can expand or contract for a variety of environments, whether remote, suburban, or urban.”Architect and Majamaja cofounder Pekka Littow designed a seaside retreat in Finland to showcase the potential of self-sustaining homes. The first cabin was built in 2020, and there are now four along the archipelago outside Helsinki. Prefabricated elements like vertical wood cladding and crisp gables allow the cabins to be dismounted with minimal impact on the landscape.

The pilot home on Whidbey Island demonstrates the system’s potential: a 600-square-foot interior paired with nearly equal covered outdoor space, set lightly on a pin foundation that protects tree roots and cuts carbon by 77 percent. "Puzzle Prefab can be modified according to each site,

Architect Fareez Giga deploys a suite of custom built-ins to upgrade a 715-square-foot flat for a bibliophile and a passionate cook.