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Architect Bundit Kanisthakhon set the structure above ground as a precaution against flooding. At the Davises’ request, he ensured that the house can be disassembled for easy relocation.

“The roofline is angled so that the clients can wake up in the morning and see Mount Ka‘ala,” says architect Bundit Kanisthakhon.

Sara works in the kitchen, which contains a propane cooktop from Wolf and a propane refrigerator by Dometic. The louvered windows are from the Glass Guru and the porcelain tile is from Daltile.

The dining area is furnished with Indonesian hardwood pieces from Bali Aga and lit by solar lanterns from Goal Zero. The floors are by Trex. “The whole interior can be washed down with a hose,” says James, who made the ladder that leads to the loft.

At James and Sara Davis’s weekend home on O‘ahu, double-height doors open to a lanai-like space at the center of the house. The home’s energy needs are met via solar panels set by the entry.

The home is nestled in a stand of cedar, pine, and Douglas fir trees. The family relocated a smaller cabin to make room for their new retreat, and they plan to convert the original structure into a game room for the kids.

Extra-wide concrete pillars help to support the studio at its core.

The remote studio/office that Robert Swatt of Swatt Miers Architects designed for a Healdsburg, California, property is marked by glass walls that provide the feeling of working in nature.

Rooms branch off from a central atrium as you climb up stairs and ladders.

Designer Marc Perrotta and travel editor and writer John Newton renovated and expanded a colonial building in Mérida, Mexico, with the help of Jorge Novelo Caamal of Paralelo 20. The house’s pale-green plaster facade gives away little of what awaits inside.

Interior designer Ginger Lunt revives a 1954 residence that she fell in love with as a young girl growing up in the tropical forests of Mount Tantalus.

An in-wall fireplace in the dining room adds warmth and atmosphere. Originally, the homeowners wanted to plant a large tree in the central light well, but the logistics of planting it became complicated, so they opted to keep it open, which lets in more natural light.

As Nicolás Tovo and Teresa Sarmiento of La Base embraced modular design as part of their architectural practice, they noticed that prospective clients were wary of prefabricated construction. So the duo teamed up with Place, an Argentine prefab builder, to make a proof of concept just outside the Patagonian resort town of Bariloche.

The back patio and fire-pit area are central entertaining spaces. When the weather is nice, homeowner Joan and Ken wheel their dining room table outside for parties and dinners with friends. The fire pit was built using a steel cut-off from a natural gas tank.

Segmenting the home allows it to expand and contract depending on the number and needs of its occupants, who use it as a vacation residence.