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A custom maple table by Duff & Co. serves as a work-from-home hub or a place for the family to gather around and work on a puzzle—that isn't the kitchen table. The south-facing nook gets plenty of natural light, even on the gloomiest of Pacific Northwest days.

The original owners made the shoji panels themselves, and John and Erik replaced the rice paper. “There’s something special about knowing the screens were made by hand,” Erik says.

Reflective of Danish firm Norm Architects’ pared-down but personality-packed portfolio, this pedal-operated waste bin features a sleek steel skin.

In the primary bath, the vanity countertop and integrated sink is done in the same micro-topping material as the room’s walls and floors.

Builders, developers, designers, and architects have developed a range of homes that are composed of prefabricated, modular, or kit-of-parts pieces that can allow for lower costs, faster and easier on-site construction, and even higher quality spaces. Here, we delve into the differences—and similarities—among these manufactured residences.

A geometric kitchen in ocean tones faces a wall of built-in cabinets for sleek and efficient use of space.

“We are still getting to know the house, becoming acquainted with and learning to inhabit the space. We see this as a life project, and we aim to spend more time here as we grow older,” adds Antonio.

The volume containing the master bedroom borrows its distinctive geometry, a series of interlocking triangles, from Shinohara’s Prism House, giving it a largely open interior.

An up-close view of the side glass panels.

A wood-burning stove keeps the living room warm.

The ground floor of the A-frame structure houses an open-plan dining area.

The house was designed to minimize its impact on the landscape. Solar panels and batteries power the house, although there is no Internet or cellular signal at Casa Prisma.

With an off-the-grid house on a remote mountain, architect Smiljan Radić rebuilds the past.

Carolina Correa Maturana and Antonio Mingo chose a site in the mountains of Chile’s Conguillío National Park for their vacation home.