Fireplaces

Raj and Watts extended the fireplace column to the ceiling to highlight the room’s expansive scale, and had it coated in concrete plaster. It was important to retain the wood-burning fireplace—a rarity in the city—but “we wanted to re-clad it in a material that also spoke to the industrial past of the building,” says Raj.

Scandinavian architecture firm C.F. Møller designed a serene, zinc-clad home in Aarhus, Denmark. On the interior, a large, three-sided fireplace incorporated into a floating wall helps connect two spaces and warm up the home, and the wall also incorporates a purpose-designed niche filled with firewood for easy re-stoking.

This six-bedroom villa in Brussels ha a cut-in stone fireplace underneath a glass-enclosed walkway.

In Sunnyvale, California, architect Ryan Leidner cracked open a 1962 Eichler with a crisp remodel flush with foliage. He replaced the home’s vertical plywood facade with one-inch strips of American red cedar set at two depths. The rhythmic slats conceal a garage door that swings open on a hidden hinge. At the entryway, two massive panes of frosted glass shimmer with light and shadow from the atrium inside. Homeowners Isabelle Olsson and Matthaeus Krenn stand out front.

Limewashed fireplace

The home’s living room walls feature a mixed a custom color—a gallery white with a lime wash.

Floor-to-ceiling shelves and storage bookend a cabinet that conceals the television.

The original brick fireplace stands as a reminder of the home’s history.

Crafted from FSC-certified walnut, the Half Moon Dining Chair features channel-tufted cotton velvet upholstery and brass detailing on the back and legs. The Point Dume Game table can be reversed to reveal a chess/checkers board.

In the dining room, the owners started with a sculptural Palais Royal Table, a Swedish design they obtained via StudioTwentySeven. Above it is a Strikha Pendant lamp by Faina, and the leather chairs are by their design team, Klein Agency. “All our pieces are produced locally here in workshops within a radius of 10 miles,” says Maša.

Sometimes all it takes is a little luck. For a young married couple, it came in the form of this rare find: a 19th-century, three-story, single-family home in the heart of Paris. The building was a charmer with good bones, but was in need of some serious care. In a vibrant retrofit by architect Pierre-Louis Gerlier that includes structural reinforcements, the reimagined design is set off with a new floor plan. The lower level now serves as a space for the couple’s children, with the public areas—including an open-plan living/dining room and kitchen—on the floor above. Upstairs, the attic has been transformed into a very large primary bedroom with a green-and-white bathroom suite. The living room (pictured) showcases the firm’s bespoke carpentry work with a beautiful, mossy-green built-in bookcase that frames a new fireplace, and a staircase surrounded by arched doorways that hold hidden storage. “We created visual breakthroughs in order to connect the different spaces,” says Gerlier. “The rounded arches are there to help magnify these moments.”

Mac describes adding the fireplace’s Domingue plaster finish as a real "labor of love." "The end result was a credit to the builder and his team. It really pulled the spaces together, and there is nothing better than the natural light playing with the plaster finish," explains the architect.

Interior designer Heidi Lachapelle chose unfussy furnishings with clean lines. “Nothing should feel decorative or unnecessary,” she says. “We looked for things that would age beautifully to speak to the wabi-sabi concept.” The oak daybed is by Bautier, the indoor/outdoor rug is by Dash & Albert, and the trapezoidal cushions on the concrete bench nod to similar ones that the wife saw at Georgia O’Keefe’s home and studio. The Scandinavian-inspired fireplace throws heat from two sides.

The concept was simple: To create a cabin that is small and sparse yet spatially rich. The 592-square-foot structure, completed in 2016, comprises a large living area, bedroom, ski room, and small annex with a utility space. The home functions off the water and electricity grids.

Berube's starting point was the continuous wall of black millwork clad in a solid matte surface by Fenix. "We decided on a dark palette to work with the exterior,

living

A total of 14 windows punctuate the living room, with half of them overlooking peripheral rooms to give the cabin a house-within-a-house feel.