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Backdrop’s After Hours, a soft charcoal hue, gives Carlos Naude and Whitney Brown’s home in Woodland Hills, California, sleek curb appeal. Lund Sconces by Kuzco Lighting punctuate the exterior, and the streamlined garage doors are by Amarr.

Floor-to-ceiling glazing connects the kitchen and dining area with the open-air courtyard.

The Orchard Street Residence was renovated from a humble 1946 cottage in a neighborhood of mostly pre-World War II houses.

In the living room, a Nelson bench doubles as a coffee table, and a wood-burning stove from Cleanburn Stoves set in a white brick hearth keeps the space warm.

Thanks to a contemporary interior that she’s been updating for a decade, modern architect Abigail Turin has learned to love her traditional 1925 San Francisco home. Rather than indulge her impulse and strip away the home’s traditional flourishes, Turin embraced the dark in her striking living room—the deep paint is Le Corbusier’s 4320J from Les Couleurs Suisse. An iconic Arco lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos, Charles sofas by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia, an Extra Big Shadow floor lamp by Marcel Wanders for Cappellini, and a painting over the marble fireplace by Martin Barré shed a little light.

The dining area features a distinctive cinder block fireplace. Molded plastic side chairs are arranged around a Segmented Base table, all by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller. The space is illuminated by a Saucer pendant lamp by George Nelson from Modernica.

The Irwin pool house designed by Landis Gores in 1957 boasts a central room with high ceilings and an unobstructed view of the landscape. In 2005, the Town of New Canaan purchased the property and added exhibition spaces, as well as rooms for lectures and events. The small pavilion also houses an oversized, monumental brick fireplace design that divides the main space from the kitchen area.

In Los Angeles, homeowner Bill Thompson warmed up his otherwise dark living room with a series of Douglas fir slats applied above the fireplace, as well as other wood accents throughout the room; the slats provide both texture and pattern to the fireplace, acting as a focal point and emphasizing the space's vertical height.

Tigg Coll Architects took a new approach to a straightforward town house renovation and expansion in London. The home’s rear extension has its own personality, with with pivoting glass doors, sharp red support beams, and a wood-burning fireplace. The overhanging concrete plinth acts as a hearth or, as Tigg imagines it, a sort of contemporary inglenook. Wood piles neatly between the beam and wall. The fireplace, a Stovax Riva 2, is flanked by a Lampe Gras wall lamp; firewood is cleverly stored in the narrow space between the fireplace and the red support beam, creating a fun moment of practical texture in the room.

The 3,000-square-foot house sits partially on stilts to tread as lightly as possible on its natural island site.

The primary bedroom cabin sits in a natural clearing amongst the trees, allowing for a water view and copious sunlight. The boulder-studded coast offers gently sloping paths to the ocean for a quick dip.

Designed in the early 1950s by architect Roscoe Hemenway for the inventor of the famous View–Master toy, this ranch house was reimagined by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson for enhanced views, light, and indoor/outdoor connection.

A Rais wood-burning fireplace heats the central space and the architectural element surrounding it was designed and installed by Charlie Lazor. The sleek, minimalist kitchen is outfitted with zinc countertops and the counter stools are by Blu Dot.

On the main floor, custom sliders by Oakridge Windows & Doors open to a table and chairs designed by Paquette and built by Conrad Contracting. The wood paneling on the walls was salvaged from the original structure and resawn; each piece was scuffed with fine sandpaper and coated with Projectol.

Conrad used sprinkler pipe material for the railings on the deck, which is made of ipe from West Wind Hardwood.

Lutron Sivoia automatic roller shades in a custom valance were mounted to the window mullions, which were also painted Benjamin Moore “Wrought Iron.” The sofa is the Kasala Venice five-piece modular sofa tucked up against bespoke cabinetry by Beechtree Woodworks.