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The dining table and chairs are from Arhaus.

A trio of Norman counter stools by Rove Concepts sits underneath Cast pendant lights by Menu in the kitchen. Estate Interiors crafted the custom range hood.

The kitchen is customized for Roberta, an avid cook. Easy-to-reach pots hang from a custom rack by Bjørn Design. Its hooks can be lengthened if she has to reach from a wheelchair someday; a lowered counter where she likes to work, read, and play cards can accommodate a wheelchair, should she need one. Oak veneers for the ceilings, floors, and cabinetry were a splurge, but Roberta loves their warmth and texture.

A third of the house and deck cantilever out toward the stream, and the void beneath the deck provides a place for wood storage. The cabin sits just 100 feet from the water, and with the windows open you can hear the ambient rush of the stream from throughout the house.

The cabin has charcoal-colored metal siding and a punchy yellow-green front door for contrast.

The Lofthouse is built one of the many hills separating it from the couple’s main residence. "Excavation was a challenge, as we wanted to maintain as much of the existing landscape as possible, but needed to clear out trees for the foundation," says Tarah.

Crawford taught himself how to reface the brick fireplace façade, using a creamy-colored, thin set brick. “It was his first time using a tile saw or laying brick, but his meticulous precision paid off,” says Devlin.

“When I first got down to this site, the boulder that is now along the walkway blew me away, as did the one outside of our bedroom,” Peck says. “I knew immediately that’s where the house should be located.”

Architect Johan Sundberg looked to Japanese architects like Kengo Kuma for inspiration for the design of a holiday home in southern Sweden. "We call it the Katsura typology, but that's probably sacrilegious," he says. The eaves of the gently sloped hipped roof extend generously in all directions, turning the deck into a covered retreat that’s part veranda, part engawa, the Japanese version of a porch.

The back of the property has a relatively private feel for a downtown location. The living room opens out to the garden through two glazed walls, while the trellis cladding of the mudroom echoes the screens at the front of the home.

The floor, walls, and vanity in the master bathroom all sport the same porcelain tile for visual consistency, while textured porcelain tiles that look like wood distinguish the shower. A new skylight sheds light inside the internal room.

The clients had long owned the property in Mapleton Hill, and they were looking to build their dream “forever” home in which to raise their family. The public-facing side of the home is historically appropriate, with gables, dormers, a porch, and double-hung windows. While these features are traditional in many senses, the clean, minimalist detailing signals contemporary construction. Timber screens and lattices add a texture and translucency to the archetypal forms.

The street front, on the south side of the property, is directly across from a busy intersection. “This problem resulted in the gable trellis balcony, one of our favorite design features,” reveals architect Nicholas Fiore. “The balcony serves three functions: as a headlight filter, as a subtle nighttime beacon when lit from within, and as a nod to a favorite Mapleton Hill historic detail—gable woodwork filigree, which is seen throughout the neighborhood.”

The exterior walls of the mudroom are clad in a trellis—a historic feature commonly seen in the neighborhood, rendered here in a modern expression. “The exterior is clad entirely in western red cedar, painted as required in the historic district,” says architect Nicholas Fiore. “Cedar has excellent rot and insect resistance, and takes paint beautifully—although we admit it was very hard to paint it once it was installed in all of its honey-tone glory!”

The kitchen has a 12-foot built-in unit along the west wall that includes an upholstered sofa, a standing desk, and mail organization slots and drawers. “These are the kind of details that I will carry through my career—and there is never a guarantee that a project will produce such a thing,” says architect Nicholas Fiore.

Pine tongue-and-groove boards were stained using the Scandinavian practice of pine tar and linseed oil to give the wood siding the look of Japanese shou sugi ban.