Inspiration

The flooring switches from warm, engineered white oak in the living room to concrete in the kitchen to make cleaning a breeze.

A simple floor plan emphasizes the rugged materiality of this elongated, cabin-style home in Valle de Bravo.

A custom concrete planter is now home to a 70-year-old olive tree. The couple reconfigured the front porch to allow for a straight path between the front door and the driveway for better circulation.

An expansive wood deck on the front facade extends the living space and creates an indoor/outdoor experience.

At night, the large window in the dining area creates a lantern-like effect for the cabin.

The renovation introduced a new deck, and opened up the living and kitchen areas. “The home is ‘so Warrandyte,’” says builder Hamish White. “It has a great connection with the outdoors, views of trees from most windows, and a homely and familiar feel which makes it really comfortable to be in.”

Homeowner and surfer Christopher Hansen envisions a secluded oceanfront retreat that lets him keep an eye on the waves.

A look at the wood-clad side extension, originally built as a shed in the 1920s.

The nearly 650-square-foot cabin has just enough interior space for a relaxed weekend getaway.

The larch veranda has no railing, so it appears to float in the lush meadow.

The wood-clad cabin is located on a working farm in Devon, UK.

Out of The Valley just completed their latest project, the Holly Water Cabin—and it’s available for rent.

Construction on the Monkey House began in June 2020 after a three-month design period and was completed in November last year.

A rear view of the home shows how the old structure is wrapped in corrugated Cor-Ten steel, marking it as an "artifact of the site," as John describes. The new residence gently slopes away from the neighboring house rather than towering over it.

On the front facade, ground-faced concrete blocks contrast with cumaru wood tongue-and-groove siding.

The custom sliding window screens, which shield from solar gain, were designed by the couple and are a modernized reference to the operable shutters that Denise remembers from her childhood in Austria. They first used the idea on one of their apartment buildings.

Although it’s “veiled” from the street, the light-filled hideaway amplifies its connection to the outdoors.

From the outside, large feature windows illuminate the ground-level dining room, as well as the office above.