houses

Now at the center of the home, the kitchen blends Victorian moldings and a parquet floor with soapstone countertops and streamlined custom cabinetry painted in Clunch from Farrow & Ball.

The dining room and kitchen swapped places when architect Sarah Jacoby renovated a 1905 Brooklyn townhouse for attorney Katie Fallow and her family.

Floor plan of Stained Glass Townhouse by Sarah Jacoby Architect

FLO is a prototype of sorts—and a successful one at that—with potential ambitions for more cabins to come pending funding.

Sustainable building practices were key to the cottage’s rebirth. The home’s green roof system consists of a vinyl membrane topped with small trays filled with ferns and mosses from the nearby Columbia River Gorge.

Lee Buchanan of Lee Build created a screen of white ash slats beside the kitchen as well as the entry. "The stairs are beautifully integrated into the kitchen so the kids and I are always talking and someone is always sitting on the bottom steps,

The prefab homes are built from a structure of 8-foot-long glulam (a robust, structural material made of laminated wood) sections sourced from Western Archrib.

After more than 15 years spent in construction, high school friends Simon Fyall and Richard Egli started to imagine an architecture that blended in with the landscape of British Columbia better than industry-standard buildings. Soon after, the pair founded Blend Projects to build their vision: crisp gabled homes strung together from eight-foot-long cedar-sided glulam sections.

Floyd Home provided furniture for the compact space, including the bed, the table legs and the cozy rug.

This particular cabin may be done, but Castillero and Reed are just getting started. “I like the idea of working on something and tweaking and perfecting it,” says Castillero, who is now envisioning building a network for Hideouts, each iteration improving on the next to provide an even better getaway for creatives to disconnect with the world and reconnect with nature.

The cottage is located on a site just over an hour from Gothenburg and two-and-a-half hours from Oslo, Bohuslän was the ideal location. “We immediately fell in love with the slightly hilly site and its location along a narrow dirt road with cows grazing on the other side,” says Helena. “Until then, I had never thought of building a summer house but when we got the chance, we just had to take it. Especially when my old friend Susanna said she could design a house for us.”

A night, the expansive windows and doors allow a warm light to emanate into the isolated forest.

Another view of the boardwalk en route to the car park.

Connecting the structure with a car park, the boardwalk winds between large, moss-covered boulders. About the pathway, Peck adds: “It was meant to recreate the experience of leaving everything behind. I stare at the immense boulders and most of the stress, for me anyway, just melts away.”

A large deck lines one side of the home, which is mostly built on piers. “One of the big challenges was finding a way to float the home above the landscape,” Robbins says. “We weren't trying to exaggerate or make a statement in any way. Rather, we wanted the home to sit lightly.”

A wall of Ultimate Picture windows stretch across the bedroom. “Staring through the glass on a clear night we can see an incredible view of the stars,” Peck says.

A series of Ultimate Casement windows line the bottom of a hallway leading to the principal bedroom, providing an ideal spot for Luke to observe the action outside.

The en suite bathroom is clad in Brazilian marble and features a pair of Ultimate Awning and Picture windows surrounding the sunken tub. “I see the glass as more than just a transparent barrier to the outside,” Peck comments. “The Marvin windows take a back seat—so much that you don’t even notice them.”

Walls on each side of the open-concept living area are framed in full-height Ultimate windows and doors, which balance the couple’s desire for a modern aesthetic with the durability required for Maine’s extreme weather variations.