Inspiration

The entire family makes good use of the music room, where they hold public and private Sunday concerts with local and international musicians.

Seven and its wooden deck

Images by Raw Color hang in a room upstairs.

Once immortalized by master architectural photographer Julius Shulman and currently being considered as a historic landmark in Los Angeles County, this four-bedroom, two-bath residence was built in 1954 by builder and craftsman Ken McLeod to be his personal home. In 1964 architect Rufus Turner restored the rear after a fire damaged the living room.

Architect Drew Mandel updated a house in Toronto to look modern and cozy. The clients desired a warm material base for the interior so Mandel used American walnut for the flooring, millwork, and staircase. Loire limestone covers the landing below the steps and Calacatta marble clads the kitchen counters and island.

Stainless Steel Drop In Hot Tub

Parallelogram-shaped stone slabs line the walkway to the hot tub.

Chan outfitted the bathroom in marine fir plywood from Rosenzweig Lumber for its resistance to high-moisture environments. The fixtures are from Vola; the bathtub, countertop and sinks are of magnesite. The full-height glass is stationary except for a sliding door at left, and a curtain can be rolled down for privacy.

“The sun rises behind the house and heats up the concrete mass during the morning, and [comes] through the front of the house in the afternoon; if need be the radiant energy warms up the house when temperatures drop in the evening,” says Thorsteinsson. Thanks to the thoughtful process, the couple was able to leave out the air-conditioning, and the house’s under-floor radiant heating system has turned out to be almost superfluous.

The glowing interior palette of bright pinks and reds is sharpened by jet-black steel frames, water tanks, and roofs, while black window frames and joinery bring out the red glow of the internal plywood lining.

Perched above a lake on Australia’s verdant Mornington Peninsula, James and Imogen Tutton’s teak-clad house was designed by Karen Alcock of Melbourne-based MA Architects.

According to Remijnse, since the only direction they could build on the small site was up, they decided to add height with a gabled roof.