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A detached garage and guesthouse/studio creates a buffer between a busy street and the rest of the property, which includes the main house as well as a pool, sauna, and pond, so that life in the residence can feel more private and secluded.

The basement is meant for entertaining, with a large family room and direct access to the pool.

That aesthetic continues upstairs in the two guest suites with minimalist, built-in beds. In one, a Wavy lamp from Wooj adds a touch of playfulness.

The concept was simple: To create a cabin that is small and sparse yet spatially rich. The 592-square-foot structure, completed in 2016, comprises a large living area, bedroom, ski room, and small annex with a utility space. The home functions off the water and electricity grids.

Sævik compares her house to a contemplative hideout. “It’s very quiet,” she says. “You can concentrate and let thoughts fly.” Her favorite summer pastimes include reading, painting, drawing, yoga, and “just sitting and feeling the forest,” she says.

Atelier Oslo overcame nature’s challenges when they designed Cabin Norderhov, a seasonal, eco-friendly retreat on a steep hillside overlooking Lake Steinsfjorden. The home’s layout revolves around a central glass and metal "campfire" that burns beneath a suspended mantel. Since it’s located at the access level, the fireplace's flickering warmth can be enjoyed throughout the house. The surrounding floor is covered with hexagon tiles cut from marble, which transition into tiles made of birch log in the rest of the house.

The cabin’s exterior walls and roof are clad in overlapping stone plates that mimic the look of traditional wood paneling found in Western Norway. “It provides an affinity with the cabins nearby,” partner and architect Nils Ole Bae Brandtzæg explains. Solar panels cover the chimney pipe, lighting LED lamps inside.

The kitchen is outfitted in custom birch joinery and Maple countertops, designed by Braithwaite and team. Open shelves display collections of glassware and cookbooks.

An attached island peninsula provides convenient seating for two. A modern pendant light hands overtop, dispersing warm, diffused light in the evenings.

Sunlight spills into the primary bedroom, illuminating a wall of custom Birch cabinetry. Hanging pendant lights complement the neutral palette, and free up side table space.

An exterior Cot-Ten staircase leads to the couple's rooftop patio, designed to "gain view planes above the single-story neighboring cottages,

Project architects Studio Marshall Blecher and Jan Henrik Jansen Arkitekter opened up the center of the house, previously comprising a maze of fourteen small rooms, creating one large and airy kitchen and dining space with a high, chapel like ceiling. A six-meter-long concrete plinth standing at the center of the room which doubles as an island bench and dining table, had to be lowered into the house by a crane while the roof was being reconstructed.