Living

"I've loved taking showers with my toddler in the primary bath's double shower,

In the main bath, a wall of Heath Ceramics tile joins a terrazzo floor from Ann Sacks.

A moodier aesthetic emerges in the guest house with concrete and inky tones.

Rain shower

The eponymous founder and principal of Michael K. Chen Architecture resuscitated a four-story, 3,600-square-foot home in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood that was built in 1895 and had been abandoned for 20 years. Its newest owners—a tech investor and an art teacher at a public school—were inspired by the playful color palette that was still apparent underneath the building’s decay. "We had epic color palette meetings, looking at deck after deck for paint colors that spoke to us or provoked a particular sensation,” says Chen. “You don’t look at the color, you inhabit it.”

Photography by Matthew Millman

“Although the LDK (living room, dining room, kitchen) faces east, it is bathed in light reflected off the hill in the afternoon,” say the architects. “With the absence of beams and sealing strips, the rafter seems to protrude from the white structural wall, making the LDK seem like a semi-outdoor veranda. The living room has become part of the garden, where you can naturally engage with the children playing or sprawling on the slope of the hill.”

Case Inlet Retreat

Living Room

The Ori Cloud Bed fits perfectly into the wooden baffles of the canopy above. The back cushions of the sofa turn into a headboard when the bed is lowered.

The main level living space of Industrial Farmhouse by Christopher Simmond Architect Inc. is a transparent social hub for viewing the rural landscape. The house is situated to optimize views, as well as protect occupants from the blazing summer sun and stiff winter winds.

“An important part of the work was to design large common spaces, and to be able to receive a large number of people,” note the architects. “The common spaces are designed for the coexistence between family and friends.”

Inside Fallingwater on iconichouses.org

Oak slats in the living room echo the timber slats that enclose the entry courtyard. The black-marble Empire side tables are by local furniture brand Seer Studio, and the white-marble Tulip table is by Eero Saarinen for Knoll.

Interior designer Laura Britt followed WELL Building Standards to source the home’s non-toxic furnishings and finishes, which include living room chairs and a sofa from Thayer Coggin that use flame retardant– and formaldehyde-free cushions.