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Just off the kitchen, the sitting room is encircled with custom steel joinery that frames the full-height double glazed windows and looks out on the pool in the middle of the garden-filled courtyard. The restored vintage Parker three-piece lounge set is from Australian midcentury furniture purveyor, Juliet's Balcony.

Concrete from the exterior continues indoors as a fireplace surround. For the couch, Annemie found the wooden base and cushion covers in a secondhand store and used baby mattresses as inserts. David made the oak back.

David and Annemie's daughter swings in the living room. A door provides access to the lush backyard and surrounding area. “The kids have a lot of freedom. They have a big area where they can go and play without needing supervision,” says Annemie.

Small details—from organic products to sustainability sourced materials—helped the couple to bring their zen MO home.

When designing her weekend getaway in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, architect Fernanda Canales knew the remote nature of the plateau and erratic weather conditions would prove tricky. In addition to withstanding the harsh climate, the house would need to also be self-sufficient. To embrace the beauty of the landscape while being open to sun exposure, the home wraps around four courtyards. Brick and concrete with high thermal mass create the foundation; its red hue and rough texture are juxtaposed against smooth concrete and wood inside. A unique facet to the home are the arches in the roofline—barrel-vaulted ceilings span the family room and all the bedrooms.

In the living room, a Stûv fireplace sits near Lori’s favorite place to paint. “We made the southeast corner glass, because that’s where the best view is,” says BCJ principal Ray Calabro.

Mauricio Ceballos X Architects

In 2009 on a quiet Los Angeles corner, Mel Elias found a severely water-damaged, crumbling 5,000-square-foot house hidden behind a tangle of overgrown vegetation. Its former owner, the late Hollywood acting coach Milton Katselas, had filled his property with industrial skylights and enormous, wood-burning fireplaces. The glass-and-concrete construction was framed by high ceilings, rusted steel beams, and varied elevations across the single-story plan. Thanks to an 11-year long, multiphase renovation by designer Carter Bradley, the home—with all of its quirks and character—shines again.

In the living area, floor-to-ceiling windows by Schüco frame a Gyrofocus suspended rotating fireplace by Focus. At night, a crackling fire appears to hover in the dark.

The great room acts as a kind of fulcrum for the L-shaped house: the vaulted apex of its roof and ceiling, and a combined living-dining-kitchen space for the clients and their children to gather.

A yellow frangipani tree surrounded by KLS sandstone pavers is the focal point of the outdoor courtyard.

You don’t need to have a complicated harvesting tank built if you want to conserve water. A simpler way is to place a rain barrel—found at your local home and garden supply store—under the downspout on your roof to collect rainwater for gardening. Invest in a good water filtration or treatment system, and you can even use your rainwater for bathing, laundry, cooking, and drinking.