Favorites

Perforated metal walls protect the patio from the area’s intense winds.

On the other side of the porch is the guest suite.

A playful mixture of antiques and mid-century furnishings adds personality to the white-box interior of a cottage.

Sustainability and forward-thinking architectural techniques merge in this experimental tiny cabin clad in 3D-printed tile.

Watch the Northern Lights from the comfort of your warm bed at Panorama Glass Lodge Iceland. Designed by the Estonian company ÖÖD Homes, the two 200-square-foot prefab cabins are thoughtfully made for small-space living. Each has a bedroom, living room, bathroom, and kitchen.

The home’s walls are clad in Oregon white oak reclaimed from a dismantled barn on the property. Jessica Helgerson chose to paint them white to create a bright, airy look, but she left the kitchen wall au naturel for a visual pop. With storage at a premium, the kitchen needed ample cabinetry as well as some ingenious solutions—including a pull-out cabinet hidden in one half of the range hood. A vintage cabinet on the left wall provides open storage for everyday dishes.

A young Finnish designer bypasses building permits by creating an affordable tiny home under 100 square feet.

The steel platform enabled the architects to site the building on a slope without digging a deep foundation.

In the kitchen, a Vipp island holds a Gaggenau induction cooktop. The oven is by Bosch, and the hanging LED lights are from PureEdge Lighting.

The loft floors are made of white pine recycled from a tree on the property. Todd and Maria designed and fabricated the sitting room’s daybed as well as the table that swings out from the CabParts prefab Catskills Watershed House cabinetry; the stools are from IKEA.

When Maria Ibañez de Sendadiano and Todd Rouhe decided to build a family retreat in a protected area of upstate New York, their goal was to maximize sustainability and minimize their impact on the land. The longhouse-style dwelling, erected on a raised platform between two seasonal streams, benefits from passive thermal strategies and is powered by solar energy.

The house is clad in Siberian larch and has a standing-seam Galvalume roof. Landscape architect Karin Ursula used native plantings to help the land recover from construction. The gravel put down in lieu of new soil will gradually fill in with plants as leaves decompose and produce a layer of soil.

For Melbourne Design Week 2020, Sydney-based art and architecture collective Studio Rain created Atmosphere: A Revival, a sauna installation along the picturesque Yarra River meant to revive bathing culture.

Builders, developers, designers, and architects have developed a range of homes that are composed of prefabricated, modular, or kit-of-parts pieces that can allow for lower costs, faster and easier on-site construction, and even higher quality spaces. Here, we delve into the differences—and similarities—among these manufactured residences.

Jody’s favorite spot is outside on the deck. “I spend most of my time there. We’ve got two braais, and I braai just about every night,” he says, using the Afrikaans word for barbecue. “It’s not about the food for me,” he adds, “It’s about standing around the fire.” The platform sofas were designed by Scott, the dining table is by James Mudge Furniture Studio, and the Hee lounge and dining chairs are by Hay.