House

A Room & Board record console behind the couch is mixed with a vintage mushroom lamp and Flos Arco Floor Lamp.

Award winning kitchen opens up to dining and living space. Kitchen designed by Mick De Giulio. The kitchen lighting is by Belgian brand, Delta Light, and the dining room table, benches and barstools are AM Designs. The living room is furnished with Ligne Roset sofa and chairs, Flos floor lamps and a handmade hemp rug from Turkey.

Exterior of residence

The courtyard in the center of the compound opens with a lovely lap pool.

The architect and owners were in sync on every aspect of the design, including the desire for shou sugi ban siding. “I had been interested in shou sugi ban for a long time,” Herrmann says. “These Japanese cypress boards have been charred, wire-brushed, stained, and oiled. We did a lot of testing to come up with the right dark grey color; it changes in the light.”

The house is hidden from the road and sits on a hilltop clearing that overlooks the rolling farmland of the Mississippi River bluffs in Western Wisconsin. From this vantage point, there is a 270-degree view, with dramatic sunsets over the distant hills.

Built by Sheehan Built Homes www.sheehanbuilthomes.com

New life built in to a mid-century modern home

A street view of the residence.

The use of consistent and contrasting flooring minimizes disorientation, and decks are accessed via zero-step thresholds. “More and more, I’m having talks with clients about flexible homes,” Wylie says. “They want homes that will work now and for future needs.”

The renovation introduced a new deck, and opened up the living and kitchen areas. “The home is ‘so Warrandyte,’” says builder Hamish White. “It has a great connection with the outdoors, views of trees from most windows, and a homely and familiar feel which makes it really comfortable to be in.”

The Tinbeerwah house and studio keep a low profile among the site’s eucalyptus trees.

The kitchen layout was reconfigured so that the focus is on the view—the wall of windows, which look out on the ocean, is now underscored by one long, uncluttered counter. There, the faucet is Delta and the dishwasher is Bosch. The range stayed in nearly the same spot, and the opposite wall has been thickened with storage and the refrigerator column. Both the refrigerator and range are by Bertazzoni.

Now, built-in sofas line the perimeter of the room and utilize the room’s shape better.

The exterior was sealed through shou sugi ban, an environmentally friendly fireproofing practice common in Japanese architecture. The black exterior seems to disappear into the evergreens from one angle, and pops against the white snow from another.

A 16-foot-wide, multi-slide door leads from the main living area to a covered patio.