New Builds

Just past sunrise at Betasso Overlook.

Working with architect Ravi Raj, two siblings crafted a gable-roofed house in Saugerties that’s perfect for gatherings.

The home is currently being rented out to recoup some building costs, and the owners are considering a permanent move after their daughter leaves for college.

When an urban couple decided to build an affordable tiny house outside the city as a retreat from their busy lives, they found a site in the Stockholm archipelago and called on architect David Lookofsky of Lookofsky Architecture.

Floor plan of French Creek Workshops by Wittman Estes

Set near a stream on a grassy hillside, this glass and timber home received the Bauhärepräis for architecture in 2020.

A screened porch encloses the breezeway between the main living area and the sleeping area, providing ample outdoor space for lounging or storing kayaks.

The cabin's structures are clad in stained cedar, and the boardwalk is crafted from thermally modified ash decking treated for weather resistance.

In the Dank Lounge, a film screen lowers in front of room-darkening curtains on movie nights. The deep sectional was built by Lizz and Isaac while the Blob coffee table is by Project Room, and the Scandinavian rya rug is vintage. The couple’s art collection includes works by many friends and local artists. A print by Alex Smith, along with drawings by Cammie Staros and Karl Haendel, hang in the lounge beside a painting by John Finneran and a photo by Lizz.

Floor plan of Abbott Hill House by Louis Wasserman and Associates

“Unfinished House is a two bedroom, two bathroom 1,400 square foot home in Canada that is a prototype for panelized prefabricated construction with a high-performance envelope,” says Workshop Architecture. “Panelized prefab means that instead of being framed on site, the house comes flat-packed on a truck, a jigsaw puzzle of 8-to-16 foot-wide pieces that have the structure, insulation, and vapor barrier all pre-assembled.”

“The name 'Unfinished House' refers to an aesthetic attitude…. Self-finishing materials were selected to reduce resources and reveal the building’s construction. Tile and plywood are the only added ‘finishes’; They cover areas with wiring and plumbing,” the architects tell us. “The building is an all-timber structure with cellulose and wood fiber board insulation. Many of the materials were locally-produced including the wood framing, plywood, corrugated metal, and wood cladding.”