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Tasked by John Powers and Jennifer Bostic with renovating a run-down cottage that was never meant to be lived in year round, Otto Ruano of Lead Studios transformed the space while keeping as much of it intact as possible. Potence lamps by Jean Prouvé illuminate the kitchen and living area. The bifold doors are by Loewen.

The couple painted the camper’s wood paneling a crisp white, and installed vinyl wood floors.

For Gabriel Ramirez and his partner Sarah Mason Williams, following the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. The architects love Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, and they made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house “was very crisp and clean,” he says. “This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi.”

Burch Cottage floor plan

Winter blankets The Chalet 300