House

The cabin’s small footprint minimizes interference with its natural surroundings. Three stacked stories give the family plenty of living space with living and dining on the top floor; two bedrooms on the main level; and a bunk room, garage and game room in the basement.

Blend Projects offers to install solar arrays and water catchment systems in their homes to make living in them more sustainable.

Sourced from Stûv and Novo, the wood-burning stoves complement the radiant heating system build into the concrete slab.

Overlooking the Hudson River, Allan Shope’s nearly 3,000-square-foot sustainable home features handmade furniture and an undulating floor, all crafted from the site’s felled black walnut trees.

Shope and his wife carefully designed an eco-friendly landscape: For instance, they did not fell any tree with holes that could support an owl’s nest. They also planted flower species that feed hummingbirds and monarch butterflies. Shope laid out the pathway of reclaimed granite slabs that leads toward the Hudson River below.

Starting costs for these prefabs is about $1.7 million, which covers at or less than 3,250 square feet — all construction and interior design needs included.

Expansive accordion doors connect the main living areas with the central garden courtyard.

The primary bedroom cabin sits in a natural clearing amongst the trees, allowing for a water view and copious sunlight. The boulder-studded coast offers gently sloping paths to the ocean for a quick dip.

On a clear day, you can catch a whiff of sea salt from atop the cliffside.

The modular cabin's dining area showcases a built-in bar area flooded with natural light by an adjacent floor-to-ceiling window.

“I envision people writing their books, music, refuelling their creative flow,” says Castillero. He should know about its energizing power more than anyone, really: it brought him back to his love of architecture, after all. “It’s truly my new happy place.”

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The entire process takes about six months to complete, depending on the extent of modifications.

The views look like framed works of art.

From its locally quarried stone foundation to its zinc-coated copper roof, the cottage was inspired by its surroundings. “We talked a lot with our client about what the materiality would be,” says architect Karen Stonely, who, citing the organic style of Bar Harbor architect Robert Patterson, designed the structure with wood rather than drywall.

Floor Plan of Tall House by Tall Architects