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The house has a front door, but it’s actually not the main entrance: That’s found around the side, via a soothing, wood-lined courtyard. It’s a natural space for outdoor entertaining, too, thanks to the built-in fireplace and bench.

Custom cabinets in a mix of white oak and lacquered paint join Miele appliances and a honed quartz countertop.

Architect Daniel Kaplan of Bowerbird Architects added onto the rear façade to expand the floorspace for the lower apartment, and accommodate a three bedroom, three bath plan, plus a study and finished cellar. By creating a stepped addition, Kaplan made it possible for three floors to have outdoor access. Note how the top right deck is angled to prevent the new structure from blocking sunlight into the neighbors’ windows.

custom Pierre Chareau alabaster lighting and wood-burning fireplace.

This steel-reinforced timber-frame KODA Loft installed in Ireland features an open-plan living area and kitchen, a full bath, a mezzanine sleeping area, and a covered front terrace.

Two hours north of New York City, an unusual barn emerges from a hill just off a country road. Its black siding and bright-red window frames hint at the imaginative playground inside. This space, with its rope-railed catwalk and indoor tent, is just one element of the multifaceted getaway architecture and design firm BarlisWedlick Architects designed for fund manager Ian Hague.

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, with project manager and lead designer Emily Kudsen Leland at the helm, remade a Portland abode with a crisp paint palette: Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron for the cladding and Venetian Gold for the front door. The home was originally designed by Saul Zaik in Southwest Portland, complete with a wood-clad exterior, in 1956. As part of the renovation, landscape design was completed by Lilyvilla Gardens.

The ultimate escape for forest bathing, Denmark’s Løvtag is a tree house hotel that features three cabins that embrace Scandinavian minimalism. With tree trunks intersecting the interior, large windows, and a rooftop deck, these treehouses promise to make you feel at one with nature.

The furniture, such as the tables and benches, are designed with wheels so as to enable different configurations.

Architect Bergendy Cooke, who worked for Zaha Hadid and Peter Marino before returning to her home country in 2007, is an admirer of the strong, sculptural architectural forms that appear in Japanese and Spanish architecture. Outside Queenstown, she put her ideas into practice in a home that would be the benchmark for bc+a studio, her own venture. The combination bunk bed and playhouse is a whimsical gesture the architect designed specifically for her two daughters. The spaces are organized in such a way that they can play independently or together.

In the seaside city of Gdansk, Poland, an apartment was renovated with a bathroom clad in concrete and OSB. The OSB adds a decorative element, and it was waterproofed before installation to prepare it for wet environments.

In Edinburgh’s historic New Town, a Georgian town house had its upper floor redone with black-painted OSB that still expresses its variegated texture.

McFarlane wanted to create opportunities for the client to experience the "intimate moments

"We were interested in this idea of treading lightly on the site. Using a green roof is a logical extension of that. When you introduce a building that supplants a little piece of the forest floor, it's nice to replicate that on the roof as a return gesture to continue to create habitat for birds, animals, and plants, and to help manage the flow of storm water," explains McFarlane.