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The mesh continues around the exterior balcony. In the dining room, the table and chairs are by Gazzda.

In the main living spaces, Montgomery exposed the Douglas fir LVLs, which are structural support beams that span the entire ceiling and don’t necessitate support columns.

The family spends summers and school vacations at the bach. New Zealand's relatively mild winters mean they use the house year-round.

Kate and Gerald relax in the living room.

A bathroom with corrugated steel walls opens directly to the outdoors, making it easy to shower post-beach.

Fed up with flashy, environmentally insensitive beach homes, architect Gerald Parsonson and his wife, Kate, designed a humble hideaway nestled behind sand dunes along the New Zealand coastline. Crafted in the image of a modest Kiwi bach, their 1,670-square-foot retreat consists of a group of small buildings clad in black-stained pine weatherboards and fiber-cement sheets.

Seen from the guesthouse, the new home touches every corner of the property without overwhelming its natural beauty.

Florida couple John Pirman and Steve Tetreault built a new house inspired by the Sarasota School. Today’s FEMA codes required a plinth to lift the house five-and-a-half feet above grade and a roof that can withstand hurricane wind loads, making it a challenge to re-create the lightness of midcentury design, Pirman says.

from Pavilion. Backyard overview

Outdoor Living

The bi-fold glass wall opens up to, and celebrates, the pool house's natural setting.

The side yard is filled with a long, narrow built-in swimming pool. It is the perfect environment to enjoy the Australian sunshine.

"My client’s highest priority was building a pool," says Hannah. "The property had 2 flat acres—rare in this neighborhood—which was ideal for a pool. We were able to do a very simple and modern granite pool with a beautiful contrast of concrete and decking... and still have room in the back yard for a giant vegetable garden."

For the landscape and redesigned pool area, Terremoto kept “their movies simple and elemental,” matching the subtractive approach taken in the house. The firm collaborated with Farnham on the design of the long-span pergola, which is cleverly engineered to only need four support posts.

Large sliding glass doors open onto a backyard retreat complete with a fire pit and swimming pool.

Much of the new building and interiors was constructed using natural material: cedar walls and ceiling linings, solid American oak joinery and floorboards, off-form concrete countertops and backsplashes, limestone and bluestone paving, and charred (Yakigugi) silvertop ash cladding.

Any chance they get, the active family takes a dip in the backyard pool, often with a running start from sliding doors in the living room.