Interior

The house's largest expanse of glass comes at this living-room corner, which a window seat helps make a destination, be it for Zara working with her laptop of the couple's guests.

“You can really feel when you’re in the interior that it is exterior when you make the windows disappear completely,” says architect Ignacio Urquiza. “They disappear completely so the interior dining and living turn into exterior. The architecture tries to not disappear, but rather to blend with the reflection of the windows.”

“He really understood that we wanted inside but outside space,” says one of the homeowners of Casa B, Federica de la Mora. “The house opens completely, so you’re both in the main dining room and outside. We like to have breakfast on terrace, so he made a special place where we have a lot of trees to have dining there. He uses nature as a complement to the house, but he doesn’t overwhelm the nature.”

“The houses are built around the rocks,” says Las Rocas Casa B homeowner Santiago Ortiz Monasterio. “We love it. He adjusted to what was there and we tried to preserve it as much as we could.”

Skylights allow for sun to reach the inside of the home, while providing views of the sky and wildflower roof.

The home’s elevator features a glass cab and exposed mechanical elements. The already high Victorian ceilings were extended vertically to the top of the attic’s pitch, where a skylight was added.

The BuildHer Collective, a development company whose aim is to empower women to tackle their own construction projects, teams up with architects Bellemo & Cat. For this recently sold home in Northcote, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, BuildHer partnered with the homeowner to help her purchase the land, as well as manage the design and build team, which consisted of renowned architects Bellemo & Cat and contractor Beirin. The result is a stunning remodel that combines a new sun-dappled extension with a renovated period home.

Metamorphosis House in Charleston, Virginia, was transformed from a cinder-block duplex into a New York-style loft. The transformation of a 1950s eyesore into an elegant, gallery-like home was a creative challenge for architect Kevan Hoertdoerfer and all involved.

Photo: Tim Van de Velde

The third and top level is the home's most dramatic space. The double-height master bedroom looks out on to the lush treetops as the glass walls curve to form the roof overhead.

After: Wood beams and concrete walls emerge from cutaways in the drywall, revealing the building’s industrial skeleton. The custom steel-and-oak dining table is by Ohio Design.

The living room is the largest and brightest space of the home. A bisecting staircase leads to the bedroom, kitchen, and living/dining room. As per the client’s desire for privacy and discretion, the furnishings have been staged by Etel Design.

Built for a scholar, Casa Biblioteca is a sanctuary for reading, stargazing, and enjoying a cigar or two. Floor-to-ceiling glass allows light to freely flood the interior and illuminate its jewel-like structure.

In the living area, a Hughes sectional from Joybird faces glass sliders by Windsor Windows.

All the original windows were restored and reglazed with high-performance glass. The original openings were reinstated, and the large timber trusses (and the entire warehouse shell) were strengthened to meet the latest earthquake code.

A large orange modular sofa introduces color into the interior. This warm palette is echoed to great effect in a nearby sculpture, and in other furniture throughout the living space and outdoor area.

This warehouse conversion by Ian Moore Architects also features an equine genetics laboratory and an enormous garage filled with classic cars.