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On a recent phone call, the firm caught up with the homeowner while she was opening a bottle of champagne. “What are you celebrating?” Campos remembers asking her. “She said, ‘Every few months I buy a bottle of champagne, and I open it up, and I celebrate that I live in this house.’”

The Corten steel shell

The house is balanced atop a rocky slope. “Not one millimeter of rock was blasted away,” says Rickard, who deferred to the topography in his design.

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.

Over time, the landscape will fill in, becoming a seamless blend running underneath the house.

In the kitchen, Cambria countertops in Devon matte are paired with flat-panel, Baltic birch plywood cabinets and island. The seats, purchased from Etsy, are spray-painted steel stools from Wayfair; the Icelandic sheepskin accents are actually unstuffed pillowcases.

Japanese and Scandinavian design objects are for sale at the Toronto homewares shop Mjölk, and are also on display in the apartment above it. Here, the store’s owners reside in a two-story space brought to life by Studio Junction. A courtyard spills into the living room and open kitchen and dining area, and translucent shoji-style screens provide privacy. Oak shelves, soap-treated Douglas fir floors, a custom hinoki soaking tub, and a soapstone bowl in place of the kitchen sink are all thoughtful, subtle details.

Inspired by a love of camping, the Bush House, by Archterra, nods to California’s Case Study Houses, built from the 1940s to the 1960s. Set on a family cattle farm in a Western Australia coastal town on the Margaret River, Bush House marries a single-plane roof with a prefabricated steel frame support structure. A rammed-earth wall carries through the house into the outdoors, melding with oiled plywood, anodized aluminum, and salvaged furniture.

In the entry, a high interior window borrows light from the bedroom wing and a woven wood screen in the kitchen lets the owners see who’s at the front door. Kalon Studios crafted the bench from a single ash log. “It will split a bit over time,” Lachapelle says.

While the owners really liked the idea of shou sugi ban, they opted for a more cost-effective black stain. The random-width, reverse board-and-batten siding reflects the wabi-sabi concept. “The builder said the math for the random siding was torturous,” the wife said. “We didn’t know how hard it was to make things look simple.” DeNiord planted hay-scented fern and lowbush blueberry sod around the house. “We didn't want any side of the house to feel unconsidered,” he says. As for the local boulders he placed around the house and terrace, he says, “They give the feeling that the house grew up around the outcroppings.”

The dining area features a built-in bench and table, both crafted by Island Custom Woodworks.

Inside, the original ceiling complements new Douglas fir slats. A teal sofa from Crate & Barrel picks up on a color in the stained-glass panels. The coffee table is from Salty Home.

The cabinets are made from a super-matte laminate product called Fenix that’s ultra durable and fingerprint resistant.

The Cabinet Face's DIY paint-grade flat panel doors and custom panels are installed in the island.

SVK Interior Design paired rich elm accents with matte-white laminate cabinets, gray-veined Caesarstone countertops, and show-stopping white Heath tile with dark grout.