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House II floor plan

The front of the house is the back of the boathouse garage, with the front door opening onto a small foyer and half-bath before a stairway to the main living area.

A dusty-pink facade is only a hint of what’s inside this 18th-century structure. For Sérgio Antunes, cofounder of Lisbon-based Aurora Arquitectos, the charming exterior and its rich pigment provided a fascinating starting point for the renovation of the Rose Building—a single-family residence in southern Portugal that his team turned into five glowing apartments in collaboration with Lisbon architecture studio FURO. Throughout are huge swaths of color with unique touches: For example, painted on the ceiling of the central stair is a moody mural of a woman in the style of a fresco, and in one of the unit’s bathrooms, more ceiling artwork depicts a mermaid emerging from a swirl of waves. Elsewhere, arched windows, sloped ceilings, ornate moldings, and wooden doors elegantly play off Portuguese marble and patterned ceramic tiles. With the go-ahead from the city, the architects were also able to construct a modern addition at the rear—The Mustard Building—that pairs natural wood partitions with the subdued tones of creamy terrazzo.

The office is a showcase that includes an Eames Storage Unit for Herman Miller, a wall-mounted Eames leg splint, and chairs by Eero Saarinen and Harry Bertoia for Knoll.

A steam shower was one of Daniel Staackmann’s main requests; this one is by Mr. Steam with faucets from the Axor Bouroullec line.

A 1,435-square-foot apartment tops the three-story structure. In lieu of a dining room, the kitchen features a built-in bar with a pair of Konstantin Grcic’s Stool_One chairs for Magis.

The floors are polished concrete, a money-saving move that allowed for splurges like the floor-to-ceiling windows from Chicago Tempered Glass set in Tubelite frames.

A writing desk is paired with a classic Series 7 chair by Arne Jacobsen.

The updated bathrooms include floating mahogany vanities with black, leather-finish granite countertops.

An artist by trade, and gardener by passion, Allison Paschke commissioned Providence-based architecture firm 3SIXØ to build a modest cottage that would allow her to reconnect with nature. She landscaped the home’s lush gardens herself.

The Pierre Frey mural of an 18th-century French countryside scene is visible to passersby when the blinds are open. The bottom half is clad in ribbed tambour wood giving the space a more modern feel.

Douglas fir boards follow the angle of the roof, exaggerating the cabin’s form.

Jane and Dan Wright furnished the living space of their new studio building with a rug from West Elm and a wood stove from Morsø.

Clinton Hill Brownstone floor plan

Architect Michael K. Chen, founder and principal of the eponymous New York–based firm, resuscitated a four-story, 3600-square-foot home that had been abandoned for 20 years by incorporating a playful color palette and interesting details, such as this oval-shaped skylight.