Midcentury Home

“The central vision was threefold: interiors that would bring the family joy, support their daily activities, and provide specific areas of refuge for each member and as a family,” says Chenault, who integrated a Hansgrohe Axor rain shower in the master bath, which has frosted glass.

In the depths of an ancient quarry in the south of France, a solitary chef nourishes travelers’ appetites for authenticity.

view of great room from hallway

kitchen as a sculpted volume

The play of shadows on the iconic shape, as well as on the shapes of the house numbers, is a Levy trademark.

Furniture groupings and bright, dramatic accents—like the sapphire banana-fiber rug by Kamy Maison in the main living area—further divide the interior into distinct yet flexible stations. The trio of seating options includes wood-and-cane Cosme Velho armchairs by Claudia Moreira Salles, a plush Soft Dream leather sofa by Antonio Citterio for Flexform, and a blue Fergana sofa by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso. Just beyond, a Fina table, also by Salles, joins Marta chairs by Aristeu Pires and Torch pendants by Sylvain Willenz to form the dining area.

Two Womb chairs by Eero Saarinen for Knoll and a Ring bench by Castro structure a reading area in the enclosed terrace.

A dishwasher by Miele, refrigerator by Mitsubishi, and Baumatic cooktop are nestled into the custom kitchen, which features laminate-covered cabinets and a stainless steel countertop.

Michele eats lunch in the kitchen; a view of the central hallway and master bedroom lays beyond. Three-year-old Maple slurps from a water bottle with Judith, five, at the dining table, also built by Jamie. The Arco armchairs are by Mario Bellino for Heller, and the Bubble lamp is by George Nelson for Herman Miller. The photograph series is by David Hilliard, titled "That Glorious Society Called Solitude."

Protected by an overhang, and floating above ground level, this tertiary space is known in traditional homes as the "engawa." To sustain a unified look throughout, the floor and ceiling are clad in ipe wood.

Architects Carrie and Kevin Burke designed their home to be a time-telling observatory. Sunlight is corseted through a 24-inch glass eye suspended just beneath a skylight, making the living room double as a sundial.

Inside the house, the speed of the planet’s rotation is indicated by the rate of the light beam’s movement over the floor and walls. When the Burkes first moved in, the speed of shifting light made them dizzy.

Roger and Mary Downey’s 3,200-square-foot rammed-earth home seems to float next to the forest along the Rio Grande in Corrales, New Mexico. While the home’s design and materials nod to the neighboring adobe farmhouses and agricultural sheds, architect Efthimios Maniatis of Studio eM Design calls them an amalgam of “modern contemporary regionalism,” governed by Roger’s strict mandate for minimalism.

The new kitchen borrowed space and light from the original courtyard. The spirit of the courtyard remains with the buffer between the kitchen and the exterior wall. The cabinets are from Ikea, the countertops are quartzite, and the grill top is from Bertazzoni.

A custom pivot door by Archispec opens onto a foyer with a poured-concrete floor. The oil painting at right is by Derrick Buisch.

The team matched and continued the 1960s-era red oak floor into the living room, which gained an entire wall of new sliders from Western Window Systems. “We wanted to preserve the original intent of the house wherever we could,” Dimster notes.

David Easton, a pioneer in the field of rammed-earth construction, developed sturdy blocks made from recycled and waste material and then used them to build a house for himself and his wife, Cynthia Wright, in collaboration with designer Juliet Hsu.

The courtyard divides the "bi-nuclear" house into adult areas and children's areas, including a playroom.