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Located in the sylvan enclave of Innis Arden about an hour north of Seattle, this home soaks up the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. This beautifully maintained midcentury home was designed in 1962 by Seattle–based modernist architect Ralph D. Anderson—who was an early advocate for preservation in the region. A soaring, double-height wall of glass in the living room brings a sense of the home's forested surroundings to its interiors. Character-filled elements of the home's midcentury roots remain—including a slightly sunken living room, a circular staircase, a tongue-and-groove ceiling, wood paneling, and a kitchen countertop crafted of salvaged teak from a 1960s battleship. Updated elements include a renovated kitchen, which kept the original salvaged teak and updated appliances as needed.

Avon House featuring yakisugi (shou sugi ban) japanese charred wood siding

The home’s three low-lying rooflines subtly emerge from the landscape.

The home sits lightly upon its heavily wooded site.

The open-plan living and dining room look out to the forest and pool through operative glass panels. The kitchen is partially concealed behind cabinetry at the far end of this space.

The regularly spaced structural columns impose order on the irregular footprint and, along with the trees on site, helped to define the floor plan.

The roofline of the Tind house prototype, designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune for prefab company Fiskarhedenvillan, has more conventional Swedish gables than the flat-roofed modernism of typical prefab units.

The sloped metal roofs were designed to capture rain, which is used in the cabins.

Glass sliders lead to a 200-square-foot cedar deck that overlooks the Straight of Georgia.

Windows wrap around the sides of the cabins to maximize views.

"The client’s goals were to create an open and light-filled home that maximized views of the Coachella Valley below and the Santa Rosa mountains to the south and west," says designer Stuart Silk Architects. Thunderbird Heights Residence enjoys a fluid connection between the primary indoor rooms and the outdoor terraces both for entertaining and casual outdoor living.

As well as a sequence of innovative country houses, Peter Foggo and David Thomas complete a number of residences in Wimbledon. The most accomplished of these was this project, completed in 1963, sitting on a street of traditional and substantial period dwellings, mostly in brick. Foggo & Thomas’ house, in contrast, is both low slung and distinctly modern. Its structural framework is provided by a combination of concrete trusses that span the flat-roofed house, forming a series of spider leg ‘bridges,’ working in concert with a linear and lighter steel frame.

In response to a geotechnical report that revealed poor soils, the architects deepened the piers to support a structure slab that floats eight inches above grade. The unusual foundation design allows the elevated home to sit very close to the trees without negatively impacting the root systems.

One of the building challenges was transportation through the steep and windy roads to the isolated site, which is 0.5km away from Cornwall, one of Connecticut's smallest towns.