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In 2020, Greg Bosi and Frederico Leonardo Dora bought a new, two-floor apartment in São Paulo, Brazil with incredible views of the city.

Molly Turner and Alex Meyer lived in a Pei-Weese town house for five years before moving to a slightly larger unit in a separate development that was designed by Weese alone. Interior furnishings include an Eero Saarinen Tulip table and Cesca chairs in the dining room and an Eames lounge chair and ottoman in the living room. The Noguchi coffee table is from Design Within Reach. The leather sofa and media console are from West Elm.

The workspace is divided from the living area by a Reese sofa from Room & Board. The Hahn wall shelf hanging above the desk is also from Room & Board. The Herman Miller Aeron chair is from Design Within Reach, the 606 Universal Shelving System is from Vitsœ, and the Delia Frosted Globe table lamp is from Urban Outfitters.

A book-filled credenza from Urban Outfitters sits in the couple’s workspace.

The galley kitchen features white oak drawers and Caesarstone counters and cabinets. The kitchen faucet, filtered water faucet, and mounted soap dispenser are from Baril. The gas and induction cooktops and electric oven are from Wolf, and the refrigerator is from Bosch. The range hood is from Zephyr, and the lighting fixtures are from Lightology.

The dining area includes cantilevered oak benches. The Nelson Saucer Bubble pendant, Nelson X-Leg table for Herman Miller, and Eames Molded Plastic side chair are from Design Within Reach.

Tech entrepreneurs Sue Khim and Silas Hundt and their young children are among the many families living today in town houses designed by architects I. M. Pei and Harry Weese in the late 1950s as part of an urban renewal plan on the South Side of Chicago. The couple worked with Alex Krikhaar of Vinci Hamp Architects on a preservation-minded renovation. “It was one of the few remaining houses that had not been touched,” says Krikhaar. The stepped, recessed entrance—referred to in plans as the “porch”—is a place to connect with the neighborhood.

In Orinda, California, Pearl and Larry Toy hired Blue Truck Studio to adapt the home they built in the ’70s for aging in place.

The bathroom can now accommodate a wheelchair if needed. The floor is slightly slanted so that any water that splashes will flow to the drain.

Another dramatic fireplace!

A close-up of the fireplace, with its slithery and sinuous snake that wraps around the border.

DeNiord designed a simple concrete bench with a honed top to run parallel to the randomly sized concrete pads that lead to the covered entry. He planted blueberry bushes behind the bench and a river birch tree behind the boulder. To conjure a wabi-sabi feel outdoors, diNiord poured concrete around a boulder. “It represents the interruption of perfect geometry,” he says.

The salvaged 1950s-era kitchen cabinets by Republic Steel, covered with a new Formica countertop, represent both a significant cost savings and Carpenter’s commitment to sustainability. The kitchen opens onto a 72-square-foot deck that offers a view of the Statue of Liberty.

Carpenter poses outside his house, which is shoehorned into a tiny nonconforming lot among a block’s worth of older row houses and a derelict public park.