houses

The altar-end of the building was also enclosed to form the boundary for the living room, with the attached office and workshop behind the wall on the lower level. The upper level walkway to the master suite provides a sense of definition in the expansive space, which is 28 feet high at its peak.

The informal side entrance leads right into the open living space, which hosts a family room, dining room, and kitchen.

The cabin's large windows allow an unparalleled view of the pond it overlooks, while lush greenery seems to almost cover the exterior.

The geometrically disciplined facade is composed of blonde cypress, white stucco, and cedar that was charred black by Delta Millworks.

The home “is really about place, how it sits on the site, how it responds to the sun,” reflects McKeel.

Working as designer, contractor, and builder, Samantha Mink took an unremarkable structure built in the 1950s and transformed it into a home for herself and her dog, Winston. “Because of its location on the street, I kept a kind of stern exterior where you can’t really see into the house,” she says. She treated the Douglas fir with a natural mineral wash and an exterior stain to give the wood dimension.

One of the most significant of Mies' works, the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois, was built between 1945 and 1951 for Dr. Edith Farnsworth as a weekend retreat. The home embraces his concept of a strong connection between structure and nature, and may be the fullest expression of his modernist ideals.