ideas

One of the system's best new features are the interior drawers, which can now be as detailed as the most expensive high-end systems, providing a place for everything with drawers for pots, knives, tablelinens, and dinnerware.

The dining room of The Barn by La Firme

Stoned by ElasticoSPA

At under 100 square feet, the 8' x 12' Site Shack includes just the essentials: a wood-burning stove, a desk, and storage.

Although the orientation of the site was not ideal as the extension faces south, the strategic location of the addition and high-level kitchen window draws sunlight deep into the space in winter, while the deep window reveals restricts sunlight penetration in the summer months.

The home’s geometric silhouette echoes the classic typology of the region’s gable roof barns. “We took our inspiration from this vernacular architecture and re-interpreted it with a contemporary twist,” Dworkind says.

A former factory for Alexander Thomson & Sons Pattern Makers—a company that made wooden forms which were then cast in metal for propellers—this old building now has a new second floor and an excavated cellar, which has increased its floor space from 3,500 square feet to a whooping 8,500 square feet.

The master bedroom overlooks the landscape through a glazed gable wall, which is shaded with a deep overhang.

By reversing the positioning of the gabled roof form, and presenting and empty gabled space within the monolithic cube, he could create a parody of a “house” within the negative space.

Klopf Architecture updated this Eichler with a radiant floor heating system, re-stained paneling, and a new office/guest room filled with Eichler hallmarks like dark bronze door handles.

"We wanted something lively for the house, something spectacular but not vulgar," says Bériault of the blue hue of the modest 1,690-square-foot house.