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The sunken living room features a multifunctional piece of built-in furniture that integrates a sofa, sound system, and television, and also contains a "secret door" that leads to a wine cellar. "[We incorporated this] as a clin d’oeil to the midcentury tradition of built-in work stations and bookshelves," says Morales.

In the living area, a cedar storage unit made by Grant features a five-by-five-foot sliding panel that conceals shelving and the television. “It’s a way to make it feel less like a TV room during the day,” Beer says. The sunken sofa—a throwback to the residents’ childhoods in the 1970s— is from the Houdini collection by King Living. The dining chairs were a secondhand purchase.

Architect Nic Brunsdon renovated an original heritage cottage for a young family in the suburbs of Perth, Australia. The 3,229-square-foot home includes a sunken “garden room” with large sliding doors that connect the interior gathering space to a sunny green courtyard.

Simon Knight Architects turns a historic building into a contemporary family home by sprucing up its exterior and rejiggering the ground floor.