Future Home Themes

A three-story mahogany screen partially veils the backyard retreat designed by Flavin Architects for Ed and Kathy Kelly in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Incorporating a renovated garage, it includes both closed and open spaces and a potted rooftop garden. The garage door is by Garaga and the Exotic Red paint is from Benjamin Moore.

Steps away from the kitchen is a covered outdoor eating area that offers a cabana-like vibe.

Inside, the U-shaped floor plan spans 3,402 square feet. Vaulted ceilings enhance the sense of space, while skylights and French doors invite in natural light.

Bomanite of Wisconsin

In Pukwana Beach, Wisconsin, Lindsay Pauly and Daniel Ohrtman married their desire for minimalism and sustainability with their wish for a family-friendly summer house.

Floor plan of Aegean Pool House by Lake|Flato Architects.

Thin, slatted wood paneling adds warmth to this bathroom.

Many of owner Ben Kinmont's culinary craft projects are an extension of his work as an artist and dealer of antiquarian books about food and wine. Off the kitchen, Ben stores his inventory—faded spines lined up on long shelves and a tall cabinet where a few select objects are kept. Next to a gaping fireplace in the sitting area is the most prized and frequently used of his antique cooking implements, an 18th-century French tourne-broche à poids—a delightfully analog contraption for turning a spit over a flame. In the master bedroom, more shelves were installed to accommodate the book collection.

An outdoor shower is made from one complete concrete module—a visual demonstration of how the entire house was built.

By using the units repeatedly, the architects saved on cost and materials as well as scaling the work to be manageable with one concrete truck and a two-person crew. The resulting facades are textured from the rough wooden planks.

The Andersons designed a system of four-by-four-foot concrete modules, created from a reusable formwork of 2-by-12-foot boards that could be easily moved around the site.

A massive slab of cypress perched atop sawhorses provides storage for pots and utensils.

The Hupert-Kinmont house lies low in a century-old apple orchard, far from neighboring houses. The spaciousness of the rural surroundings is echoed inside.

The timeless character of the black concrete is felt as one enters the semi-hidden entrance path to the house, and each of the volumes gradually reveals itself.

The roof has a large tongue-and-groove wood overhang that shades the pool deck and outdoor dining area.

The bi-fold glass wall opens up to, and celebrates, the pool house's natural setting.