Hotel

Having bought and restored several quirky properties in Washington over the years, including a five-story tree house and a 100-year-old barracks, architect Jason F. McLennan and his wife, artist Tracy McLennan, bought the camp-like retreat in 2020—even though it had no power or running water at the time and is on a secluded island with no ferry service.

The award-winning Ion Adventure Hotel is located in the geothermal area of Nesjavellir, Iceland.

Blue Sky Building Systems worked with CB Architecture to create a modern home for a family of four in Orinda, California.

The original layout was very much of the time: a perfect midcentury modern flow, with a closed-off kitchen and a fire put in the floor. “They were cool but impractical spaces,” says Schaer.

After staying in a tree house listed on Airbnb, Remo Kommnick and Emi Moore wanted their own getaway in the woods. "It was amazing being up in the trees,

The brick-and-glass residence accommodates limited mobility with a lift between levels and seamless thresholds between indoors and out.

This countryside residence favors simple, sustainable moves over square footage, and strategically captures views without walls of glass.

The rebuilt “Idea House,” designed by Holly Freres and David Horning of JHL design. The driveway is permeable to encourage good drainage: crushed granite gravel is installed over a stabilization mat. James Hardie exterior siding is painted in Benjamin Moore ‘White Dove,’ with reclaimed wood used for the entry and garage.

An expansive picture window frames views of the natural landscape in the bedroom area, where the headboard doubles as a bar for the dining space.

This prefab also has a wraparound deck with a shaded dining area.

An aerial view of ESCAPE's new "The Oaks

The 800-square-foot cabins in Pioneertown, California, near Joshua Tree, designed by Duane Smith of Palm Springs-based Hundred Mile House are sided with vertical tongue-and-groove pine.

The Fish Camp acts as the couple’s forest getaway, just a quarter mile from their main house.

The weeHouse exteriors are clad in corrugated Cor-Ten, but with a custom pattern of folds to create an organic randomness. The foundations were designed with a shallow recess around the top to make the modules look like they’re hovering. After they bought the property in early 2014, the Siegels camped there for two summers while they saved up money and planned a permanent structure. In his research, BJ came across this design, a customizable prefab house by Alchemy Architects. "Of all the things that I found, I was drawn to that one because it was absolutely the simplest and cleanest," he says.