ideas for my house

Pool and garden

New concrete firepit and sunken patio off the dining room.

Residential installation of Coodo 64 in Bielefeld, Germany.

A Vipp kitchen and fireplace offer an upscale dining experience, even in the wilderness.

The sleeping area features skylights that allow for stargazing at night.

“The owners envisioned a place that engaged with the outdoors while providing accommodating spaces for their off-season training for triathlons,” Flato notes. A 75-foot-long lap pool on the west end of the home comes in handy during practice.

“Exposing the craft and detail of the materials was a key part of the design,” Flato notes. The texture of the house, he says, can be observed in the concrete retaining wall for the lap pool.

The owners’ main living area has two stories with a master bedroom, which can be accessed by a rolling door, and porches on either end of the structure. “This large, barn-like building, with its moveable bedroom wall and office, allows the house to be both intimate and social, effortlessly accommodating guests or individuals alike,” Flato says.

Back yard

Backyard

Master Bathroom

View of Kitchen and Stairs

Dotted with colorful footholds, a climbing wall covers one side of the home, allowing roof access.

The architects worked closely with the clients to match the aesthetic of the vintage furniture they collect. The midcentury modern Danish chair, seen right, has been refurbished and reupholstered.

In a family home in Mill Valley, California, Lauren Goldman of l’oro designs kept her clients’ goals of “modern yet accessible” in mind while also looking for opportunities to add functionality. This proved successful when she discovered that the empty space under the steel-and-glass stair landing was the perfect scale for children to sit and read under. The team was inspired to create a kid-sized library, turning a useless space into a perfectly cozy reading nook.