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Verdant spruce clads the T-shaped plan, which has a pile foundation that minimizes concrete and wood fiber insulation.

“We bought the land not knowing what we could build or where. It’s off by itself and pretty isolated,” says Jeff.

The Shou Sugi Ban facade is weather resistant and maintenance free. Ironically, the treatment is a bit of an ode to the site, which once held a cottage that burned down.

Carolina Correa Maturana and Antonio Mingo chose a site in the mountains of Chile’s Conguillío National Park for their vacation home.

Surrounded by forest and accessed via a fairy-tale bridge, the resilient forever home showcases the strength of cross-laminated timber.

The couple enlisted architect Smiljan Radic, who designed two structures facing each other across a wooden deck. Each pays homage to an earlier building. One re-creates Kazuo Shinohara’s 1974 Prism House. The other (shown here) reprises one of Radic ́’s own designs.

All the Shackup cabins also come with private, wood-fired hot tubs.

The cottage is located on a site just over an hour from Gothenburg and two-and-a-half hours from Oslo, Bohuslän was the ideal location. “We immediately fell in love with the slightly hilly site and its location along a narrow dirt road with cows grazing on the other side,” says Helena. “Until then, I had never thought of building a summer house but when we got the chance, we just had to take it. Especially when my old friend Susanna said she could design a house for us.”

The Little Owl A-Frame’s matte-black exterior sets it apart from its woodsy neighbors.

Floor Plan of Sugarview by David MacLean & Associates

“Everything is in the core,” Farley says. “It’s an efficient way to organize space and functions.

Hamilton preserved the home’s classic Eichler frame while introducing more natural light with larger windows and glass doors. "Creating seamless indoor/outdoor living was key,” he says. “We opened more skylights, inspired by James Turell, and lightened all the original floors.”

“I envision people writing their books, music, refuelling their creative flow,” says Castillero. He should know about its energizing power more than anyone, really: it brought him back to his love of architecture, after all. “It’s truly my new happy place.”

The kitchen before the renovation.

Small but Fine sauna section

From the living area, a winding staircase leads to the second level with an additional living space and two guest rooms.

“They really wanted to have tile in the kitchen and at the front door, but everyone disliked that hard edge line,” says Gregga. “Doing the organic edge of the tile helped make the entry space and kitchen feel like one, and then it disintegrates into the living and dining room.”