New Home

Chile recently became one of the first South American countries to incorporate insulation into its building code. "People just accepted being cold a few months of the year," Bernal says. Instead, she and Foster shored up the Casa Cuatro to North American standards with a tight building envelope. A winter fire also helps heat the house.

Those hammers and saws built a home for the family’s chickens, watched over by Apolo among outdoor furniture by Richard Schultz.

The house was made from steel beams, cast concrete slabs, and a metal sheet roof. "The dining area and kitchen open north and south to capture the summer breezes during the hottest days of the year," Dumont says.

The art studio at the Garten & Reid Residence is located across the rear yard, and acts as a contemporary counterpoint to the house’s midcentury leanings.

Ingrid shows off one of the chickens the family raises in their large and very productive coop.

This low-maintenance home near Brisbane, Australia, exemplifies architect James Grose’s design philosophy based around simple, lightweight construction techniques well suited to the region’s subtropical climate.

A lone saguaro marks the southwest corner of Thomas and Laura Hyland’s property, which is situated adjacent to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. The structure’s main living volume is elevated and faced in glass, overlooking a descending pathway that leads to a pool tucked into the site.