Idaho

The Classic Bed features Japanese joinery that allows for a tool-free assembly process—a design detail that makes set-up surprisingly simple (instead of a weekend-ruining ordeal).

The windows direct views all the way through the front facade through to the western exposure.

Facade detail

Reilly, pictured here, deleted the original front door in order to create an expanse of uninterrupted wall in the living room. The existing slider is now the main entry point. She clad the exterior with planks marketed as a shou sugi ban product that reads as burned, knotty cedar. A new, corrugated metal roof replaced asphalt shingles.

"The house is designed to change with the family's needs and weather with the elements,

The parlor features a white oak window seat that receives eastern morning light.

Linden specified a black stain from Cabot for the house’s exterior. The shade draws on Scandinavian and Japanese building traditions and helps the structure blend into the landscape. Native grasses populate the courtyard.

The couple often relax by their vintage Jøtul stove—“our dream one,” Audi says—purchased from a neighbor. The rocker is a family heirloom, and the armchair is a roadside find.

The workshop interiors emphasize function, with polished concrete slab floors and 35-foot-high ceilings to accommodate large projects and gatherings. The disco ball, set to spin via a smartphone app, can be lowered with an industrial winch and is visible from the overhead studio suite through a peek-a-boo window.

“Everything needed to be approachable and simple,” says Hilary. “The house reflects who we are.”

The landscaping was careful to not take away from the scenery.

The jaunty roofline of James and William’s Shenandoah Valley house mirrors the slopes of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.