Favorites

Built-in shelves and storage save space in another bedroom.

In 2009 on a quiet Los Angeles corner, Mel Elias found a severely water-damaged, crumbling 5,000-square-foot house hidden behind a tangle of overgrown vegetation. Its former owner, the late Hollywood acting coach Milton Katselas, had filled his property with industrial skylights and enormous, wood-burning fireplaces. The glass-and-concrete construction was framed by high ceilings, rusted steel beams, and varied elevations across the single-story plan. Thanks to an 11-year long, multiphase renovation by designer Carter Bradley, the home—with all of its quirks and character—shines again.

Hufft Projects designed the blackened steel "fireplace wall," which includes a Lennox wood-burning stove and an entertainment center. Ample firewood storage is incorporated below the fireplace and television, with enough wood storage for over a week.

Photo courtesy of Standard Studio

“The inside is, for the most part, concentrated on the local craftsmanship, because I believe it is very important,” Vanotti says. “It represents our history.” Artisan Vanotti Mauro built many parts of the building, including its most prominent feature: the larch wood accents. A custom fireplace warms the living room.

A cantilevered ipe bench hugs a custom board-formed concrete fire pit.

When renovating a house in McAllen, Texas, for his brother-in-law’s family, architect Luis López designed an overhang with concrete beams that protects the front entrance from the area’s frequent rain. A large front window was inserted to provide views through the house to the backyard.

Large walls of glass facing the courtyard were original to the design.

Project: Intersect House Location: London, UK Architect: William Tozer Associates

The Casa Cuatro sits above a 180-foot cliff that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. The locally quarried stone makes the house blend in with the landscape and acts as a thermal-mass wall, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it through the evening.

Part surf shack, part modernist dwelling, this 2,500-square-foot house on Sweden’s southwestern shore is no fussy show home. Board storage is integrated into the design, so residents just grab and go—and nobody worries about sand or wet footprints brought in from the beach on the concrete floor.

Nestled into a steeply sloped waterfront site on Lake Michigan, the home is defined by verticality.