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A skylight was added to bring in more light, and the existing ceilings painted Benjamin Moore ‘Black Tar’ for contrast. The island pendant is the Schoolhouse Ray 17” Pendant and the stools are the Artek Aalto High Chair K65.

Nestled among mature trees, the new garden pavilion is just a five-minute walk from Adam and Tereza’s apartment. It sits near another hut that stores their garden equipment. “They wanted to keep the garden colony how it is,” says architect Jan Holub.

Byro used the foundation from the hut that stood before to build the new pavilion. Floor-to-ceiling shelves provide a place to store books.

back entrance for the garden

petanque game area

view of the pool

view from the inside of the dinning area

view from the main terace of the main path

Located at The Proxy in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, AETHERsf is a concept space constructed from three 40-foot shipping containers stacked on top of each other. In addition to a curated selection of design-focused outerwear, the space features a custom, glass-encased cantilevered lounge with reclaimed oak floors and a belt-driven "dry cleaner-style" conveyor system.

This prefabricated kit house by Adam Kalkin is designed from recycled shipping containers. Its 2,000-square-foot plan includes three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. The shell of the Quik House can be assembled in one day, and the entire home can be built in three months or less.

A built-in bench provides seating for the 10-foot-long dining table, which Lanigan found at a store in Berkley that was going out of business. “It almost feels like it grows out of the floor,” says Lanigan. (The fireplace tile here is original.)

The living room furniture is from Sobu.

“I’ve done shelves in front of windows here and there throughout my life,” says Lanigan, who grew up in a hippie commune in the ‘70s, where plants were always hanging in the windows. “I grew up in a geodesic dome my parents built. That organic ‘70s design is very much a touchstone for me.” Beside nostalgia, this choice offers extra accessible shelving and blocks a boring driveway view while still letting in light.

Floor Plan of Tall House by Tall Architects

The couple often relax by their vintage Jøtul stove—“our dream one,” Audi says—purchased from a neighbor. The rocker is a family heirloom, and the armchair is a roadside find.

Audi Culver and Ivy Siosi had never built a house before, but as the founders of Siosi, a decade-old furniture company known for its use of domestic, sustainably sourced hardwood and simple, Scandinavian-influenced forms, they were up for the challenge. A large parcel a few miles from downtown caught their eye, and when the owner split it into four smaller lots, they snapped one up.

The light-soaked kitchen and breakfast nook are accented with a blue rug from Anthropologie, pottery from Portugal, and a custom bench seat from Etsy.

Madison points out that the pod concept would make it easy to add an extension if necessary. “We see it as a house that can grow with us—and that we can pay for as we go along.”