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Upon arrival, a wide entryway, peppered with original detail, leads to the main living areas.

Tucked away under the loft in this otherwise open space, the fireplace anchors a cozy nook.

In the bedroom, the armoire and custom-milled bed-frame with floating night stands are also built into the pop-outs. "This allowed us to comfortably accommodate a queen-size bed in a space that otherwise would have felt cramped."

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.”

A Chicago-based firm known for preserving cultural landmarks builds a refined weekend home on Lake Michigan’s southern shore.

Building with Cor-Ten steel—weathering steel's nom de plume—is a bit like watching a painting slowly come to life over time. Exposure to the elements adds textured hues of red and orange to the material until it steps into a character completely its own. From the Dwell archive, we bring you nine Cor-Ten steel homes with facades that will continue to shift through shades of ochre, amber, rust, and sienna.

When OSSO Architecture first began renovating this loft in a Brooklyn paper factory, it hadn’t been touched since the 1980s. Owner Malik Ashiru says the project achieved his goal of “a big, open space where people could come in and not feel cramped.” The formerly constrained spaces in the 1,400-square-foot, two-story apartment have been reconfigured into an open-plan living space with an office on the first floor and a loft guest bedroom above. On the second floor, the primary bedroom and bath open up to a rooftop terrace. Level changes delineate different spaces in the open-plan first floor, which is stylishly furnished with Ashiru’s midcentury furniture and artwork collected from his travels around the world.

The redesign of the staircase is a contemporary touch which could have just as easily existed in the home's original state. The wood slat screen blends with the wooden staircase and the wood ceiling opening the space and making it feel bigger—a huge improvement over the sheetrock wall that had been previously there.

Custom floating nightstand

Our experts advise on choosing an area rug by pile, construction, size, and placement—and how much it’ll cost.

Lambert & Fils' Dot Line Suspension lamp hangs over an Allais Table by The Gaspé.

The kitchen bookends an open-plan layout that also includes a dining area and living room. Full-height windows help create a sense of spaciousness and open the living areas to the backyard.

Think that’s a metal fireplace? Think again—it’s Venetian plaster.

Offering far-reaching views of Norway’s Hardangerfjord, each tree house employs clever solutions to provide a private bathroom and kitchenette inside. The structures are engineered to be supported by a central steel collar that wraps around the tree trunk.

“I’ve always been crazy about tile,” says Jessy, which is why she was heartbroken when she found the 1961 powder blue tile in the master bathroom had been scribbled on with permanent marker. “Turn right for cold water. Turn left for hot,” the wall read. The new tile is by Ann Sacks. “We tried to source products that looked appropriate for the period,” Jessy explains.

The charred wood siding, inspired by the Japanese shou-sugi-ban method, comes in various stains, such as cherry (shown here). The blow-torching technique helps with resistance to insects, rot, water, mold and fire.