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Designed by Minneapolis firm Sala Architects, the 820-square-foot Metal Lark Tower marked the first rental cabin to open at Nordlys Lodging, a 140-acre property in Frederic, Wisconsin. Small windows on the northwest side of the two-story structure provide privacy and protection from winter winds. Solar panels and natural heat insulated by the triple-paned windows add to the structure’s efficiency.

Architect Line Solgaard, founder of the eponymous Oslo- and Fredrikstad-based firm, designed a getaway for her family in the place where she grew up. Untreated, exposed concrete pairs with cedar cladding; custom, oak-paneled ceilings; and a glass roof in the center of the home that opens like a sunroof for natural ventilation.

My Cabin launched after Draugs couldn't find a prefab structure he'd want to vacation in. The exterior is made of spruce, which can be stained according to customer specifications.

The Fish Camp acts as the couple’s forest getaway, just a quarter mile from their main house.

Rich black soapstone counters wrap black-matte IKEA cabinets, and appliances are hidden behind cabinet fronts so the room recedes. Storage now extends under the windows and lines the dining area, where the table and chairs were both Craigslist finds.

"Radical sustainability

“Metaphorically, the cabin’s exterior is like a cut log,” Lane says. “The black-stained Western red cedar is the bark, and the Douglas fir siding under cover is the exposed wood once the log has been cut.” Beyond the house and native sod gardens, a meadowscape blends into the mature pine forest at the lakefront. “We wanted a woodland garden quality,” landscape architect Soren deNiord says.

The home’s walls are clad in Oregon white oak reclaimed from a dismantled barn on the property. Jessica Helgerson chose to paint them white to create a bright, airy look, but she left the kitchen wall au naturel for a visual pop. With storage at a premium, the kitchen needed ample cabinetry as well as some ingenious solutions—including a pull-out cabinet hidden in one half of the range hood. A vintage cabinet on the left wall provides open storage for everyday dishes.

"I wanted a simpler, more contemplative life," says Stephen Proctor, who left Nashville to continue work as a visual artist from the remote Pacific Northwest. But after being targeted by a hard-nosed permitting official, he faced too many unknowns, ultimately deciding to sell the home. "I didn't want to fight them or have to blaze a new trail—that’s not why I got into the tiny home thing," he says.

At the center, the two volumes are separated by a wood deck that overlooks a large lake called Ruotsalainen.

The cabin’s exterior, originally pastel yellow, was modernized with fresh paint from Benjamin Moore in Blackforest Green – a rich and earthy hue perfect for the wooded context.

The cabin is available to rent all year long, and only accessible by foot, skis, and snowshoes. Transport carts or sleds are available to bring in gear.

The most recent collaboration between Airstream and Mercedes-Benz is a high-minded sprinter van with thoughtful and flexible features.

To foster a more intimate connection with nature, the current owners, who bought the home in 2019, remodeled the original decking area, expanding it to offer an additional 1,200 square feet of living space spread across three levels.

Riffing on local farmhouses, architects Patrick Walker and Elizabeth Demetriades covered the 4,000-square-foot house in rough-sawn red cedar and capped it with a standing-seam galvalume roof.

MAPA Architects revitalizes an old ranch house in rural Uruguay—more than 5,300 miles away from the clients’ primary home.