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Collection by Diana Budds

Modern and Affordable Houses

Flip though our gallery of five high-design modern houses built with low budgets.

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Singapore is a famously expensive place to build, especially in soft-soil areas where pilings must be constructed before driving the first nail. But this 2,965-square-foot house cost a mere $122 per square foot.
Singapore is a famously expensive place to build, especially in soft-soil areas where pilings must be constructed before driving the first nail. But this 2,965-square-foot house cost a mere $122 per square foot.
Architect Joaquin Castillo blends inexpensive materials, the odd splurge, and a refined modernist sensibility to create an affordable weekend house for brothers Alfredo and Guillermo Oropeza. The facade is a juxtaposition of rough-hewn local stone, smooth concrete, glass, and steel—the material palette used throughout the structure.
Architect Joaquin Castillo blends inexpensive materials, the odd splurge, and a refined modernist sensibility to create an affordable weekend house for brothers Alfredo and Guillermo Oropeza. The facade is a juxtaposition of rough-hewn local stone, smooth concrete, glass, and steel—the material palette used throughout the structure.
Resident Brian Whitlock saved some serious cash by taking on much of the construction and electrical work himself.
Resident Brian Whitlock saved some serious cash by taking on much of the construction and electrical work himself.
At $167 per square foot, this high-design, low-cost barn in rural Wisconsin is an American idyll.
At $167 per square foot, this high-design, low-cost barn in rural Wisconsin is an American idyll.