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The white cedar exterior is rot- and insect-resistant, and has a beautiful silvery finish that will continue to patina over time.

Tsuyoshi and Maya Ohama and their daughters, nine-year-old Nana and seven-year-olds Kano and Yuno, use the narrow strip leading up to their Hirano, Osaka, home as a driveway or, during summer, a spot for their inflatable pool.

Clad in cedar and hemlock, the sauna seats six, with a wood-burning stove.

At night, light coming through the wall of original steel-framed windows illuminates the pool area.

The couple worked with architect Kevin Yoder and interior designer Louise Cohen to refurbish the brick-and-wood home, adding a 36-foot saltwater pool, where their goldendoodle likes to take an afternoon float.

Designed by the prominent midcentury architecture firm Muhlenberg Brothers in the late 1950s, a house outside Reading, Pennsylvania, proved irresistible for Philadelphians Paul Savidge and Dan Macey.

A sunken library houses Paul’s extensive Jane Austen collection. Built-in walnut seating, also by Lutz Wood, is covered in Cortina Leathers cushions. A 1960s Hungarian tapestry hangs nearby.

Across from the library, a former laundry room was turned into a bar with walnut millwork by Lutz Wood. The vintage lights are by A.V. Mazzega, and the custom-upholstered Tulip stools are from Knoll.

Since the photo shoot, the couple have placed a desk in the triangular window nook and use the perch as a workspace. “There’s just something about it that hugs you,” says Shelley. “I feel very focused and relaxed when I’m here.”

“The bones of the original stair are in there,” says McGuier. “We just sawed off the bottom half, put a new straight portion of stair onto the spiral stair, then covered the whole thing in sheet metal and painted it.” Vintage slipper chairs in mohair sit on either side of a vintage Art Deco parchment table.

Before: The bedroom contained a spiral staircase that led up to the main living areas on the upper level.