Inspirations

A Le Corbusier chaise longue invites guests to relax in front of the stunning panoramic view.

The house that Henri Sayes designed for himself and his wife, Nicole Stock, is distinguished by a cutaway in the cedar cladding that mirrors the angular double-height space within. In the yard, a grassy berm, fashioned from earth excavated for the foundation, takes the place of a fence.

The old classroom space is now an open-concept living and family room. With a family of five and limited interior space, creative storage solutions were essential to the functionality of the home. Simple birch plywood built-in storage under the stairs provides a place to stash kids’ toys, as well as a platform for playing and sitting. Concrete floors flow through the entire home.

Architect: YAMAMAR Design, Location: San Francisco, California

Roof deck

Plaster walls mixed with gray marble powder dominate the interior of the bottom floor, complementing its spruce wood carpentry.

Viewed from the street, the triplex’s brick wall and raised porch echo its neighbors’ visual cues. Its dark grey, Extira-clad upper level and bay window, however, hint at the expansive spaces that lie within. Full-height windows allow light to stream in on all three levels.

Höweler + Yoon squeezed high-design landscape elements, like a fountain and built-in seating, into a small 15-by-13-foot space.

Mudrooms aren't seen too often in Florida homes but they make for an ideal transition space at the family's main entrance, from the courtyard. The Young home is meant to be lived in, which means that everyone's books, toys and piles are welcome, but it sure helps to have a place upon entering to leave, and keep organized, each person's belongings.

The long hallway from the kitchen to the master bedroom is often used as a racetrack for scooters or cardboard box bobsledding. The exposed steel support beams are at the heart of the home, and the project's design.

Designed in 1972 by local architect Edgar Waehrer, this home was renovated by creative director Ben Watson and his partner, painter Claudio Tschopp. As a later example of Northwest modernism, the home combined the clean lines and open plans of mid-century modernism with an emphasis on natural local materials and natural light. However, while the 16-foot ceilings in the home gave a sense of airiness, the plentiful wood paneling on the walls kept it dark and feeling damp, and so the couple bleached the walls to better reflect natural light.

Sustainable elements of the home include a geothermal heat pump HVAC system, energy efficient windows and sprayed foam insulation. The exterior wood is a vertical shiplap siding milled from FSC certified Machiche. BauLinder Haus was designed to meet and exceed requirements put forward by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their Indoor airPLUS qualified homes, and is working toward Energy Star qualification. #sustainable #courtyard #wood #kansascity #baulinderhaus #hufft Photo credit by Mike Sinclair

Streetside, foliage and a concrete wall by artist Evan Holloway camouflages Anthony Pearson and Ramona Trent’s low-key Mar Vista home.

Playful panels of color on closet doors and the stair risers break up the white walls. The homeowner explains, “I took as inspiration Imi Knoebel, whose work I had seen at the Dia Beacon, and who works with large shapes of color placed in relationship to one another.”

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Moreland House

Spruce wood also lines the floor, walls, and ceiling in the bedrooms. The residents must climb a ladder to access the loft above.

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.