Hot Tropic

The spacious house features five bedrooms and six baths, plus a notable art collection and an in-home theatre.

Kelsey: William Lee at AmDC William Lee is the Brooklyn designer behind this seductively simple chair which is designed to look like an abstract piece of straight lines and planes, but actually conforms to the body's shape. (Also: neon!) It's sold locally at Voos Furniture but you can see his work in person (and Lee himself) tonight at the American Design Club's latest exhibition, "Threat". The show opens tonight at Present Company in Williamsburg at 29 Wythe Street and should be chockablock with the coalition's usual cheeky designs.

A collected bevy of brightly-colored objects such as HAY's Kaleido Trays lay smooth on a neon blue surface.

The house is largely enclosed for privacy, but hints of the outdoors, with its tropical light, are always close by. A royal palm enclosed in concrete suggests the contained foliage of courtyards found in older San Juan homes.

Kravica Croatia's Krka and Plitvice National Park waterfalls are common knowledge among travelers, but we predict this secluded oasis in Bosnia could be the next big thing. Kravica can only be reached by car and is hidden away among poplar and fig trees. The startlingly clear emerald water comes from the Trebižat river, which spills forth over lichen and moss in a spectacle of beauty. Be sure to explore behind the waterfalls—many conceal hidden caves. Insider tip: Pack reef shoes if you intend on climbing over the rock formations or exploring the shallows. Wet moss makes the seemingly steady rocks more slippery than they appear. Photo by Anwar Nillufary #croatia #swimming #travel #naturalpools

Architect Sean Lockyer designed a 5,760-square-foot concrete, stucco, and ipe home for a couple and their three children in the Southern California desert town of Indian Wells. The residents selected the home’s furnishings, including the Royal Botania chaise lounges. A covered patio, with a fire pit and bar, sits next to a 60-foot swimming pool.

A vintage chaise lounge on the upper floor patio is one of few unnamed designs to be found throughout the residence.

Geometric forms and strong colors provide a perfect backdrop for a day at the pool. The intense colors paired with translucent walls create ethereal puddles of color throughout the property. Photo by: Paul Warchol.

The hotel’s name "El Ganzo" translates to "The Goose," reflecting the property’s long, white exterior—which the lap-worthy infinity pool and glass-walled Jacuzzi sit atop. Your bird’s-eye view: Puerto Los Cabos Marina, Sea of Cortez, and La Playita Beach.

The Raleigh Hotel was originally designed and built in 1940 by Lawrence Murray Dixon. It is renowned for its Art Deco elegance and its pool just a short walk from the beach. André Balazs recently completed a thorough renovation, and the Raleigh is now a sister hotel to the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood and the Mercer in New York.

By the "Picante Pool," the walls are painted the colors of Desert Mariposa Lily and Red Desert Globemallow. The landscaping furthers the feeling of oneness with nature, which is most evident here. The architects noted, "Our brilliant landscape architect, Chris Winters, incorporated indigenous plants to the property with a focus on sustainable succulents and the flowers from which the colors were inspired." In many ways, Stamberg and Aferiat made sure that the Saguaro Hotel "belongs" in its surroundings as much as the cactus it is named after. In turn, its playful aura surely inspires optimism, fun, and joy from its guests, just as the designers hoped for. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

The living space and bedrooms are separated by two small courtyards. Linda Taalman reclines in a small, inflatable wading pool in the home's "firecourt," facing south toward the desert.

One of the client’s main requests for the home was a large pool to replace the existing asphalt backyard. Artist Nate Schnell painted a second mural in this area to add color and energy.

The Italian architect Dante Bini developed the Binishell in the 1960s as a simple affordable-housing alternative for developing countries. The domes were formed by pouring a thin layer of concrete over a membrane and inflating it. Rendering courtesy of Binisystems.

Tropical paradise.

Rebirth of the CoolThe Sunshine State once yielded a bumper crop of modernist homes that—as this remodel proves—are still worth savoring.

The Charles Forberg-designed LongHouse, Larsen’s estate in East Hampton, was inspired in equal parts by Japanese Shinto shrines and Larsen’s old New York City loft. A glass ceiling is embedded along the spine of the peaked roof, and allows for such remarkable rooms as the entryway-turned-greenhouse. Larsen says, “It’s remarkable that there aren’t more glass-ceilinged rooms. It didn’t cost more than a real ceiling, and it doesn’t lose or gain more heat, but if you can’t be outdoors, it’s very pleasant and the plants like it.” The beams and trusswork were made from Douglas fir in Minnesota.