Outdoor

The Free Float Pool House's exterior shower is located on the back of the cabana, hidden from view.

The pool, lighting, and landscape frame dramatic views of sunsets over the Long Island Sound.

Entry Showing Internal Spotted Gum Stairs

Pool flow

Roof deck

“When I come home, this is like a sanctuary. I open up the doors and sit outside and read, or work around the house,” says resident Colleen Nusinow.

Lisette requested the central work island, which cantilevers over the pool.

An ipe deck slopes sharply skyward behind Amy Persin’s house in Menlo Park, California, creating a secluded backyard getaway that feels like an outdoor extension of her living room. A single step on either side leads to patches of gravel, which her children have claimed as areas for unstructured play.

This outdoor fireplace in Austin, Texas is generously sized and created out of board-formed concrete, with a spot directly adjacent for firewood storage and a wood shelf running in front for added storage.

In consultation with the clients, Alterstudio opted to clad the house in local cypress rather than imported, FSC-certified ipe.

A Long Beach, NY project by West Chin Architects and Interior Designers. Discovered via Knoll.

Unlike the north-facing side of the home, the south-facing facade is completely windowless and opaque, with the exception of an outdoor hearth built directly into its side. The lounge chairs are from IKEA, and the MacNellys sourced the slate flagstones and gravel surrounding the home from a local quarry.

The house was designed as a long, linear structure to accommodate the residents’ request that visitors always feel connected to the site as a whole.

Reclaimed and recycled cypress beams measure 16 inches tall, six inches wide and are 36 feet long. Courtesy Architects and Artisans.

This modern residence by designer Soheil Nakhshab incorporates elements of the surrounding landscape through touches of stone, wood, and iron.

From the back of the house, two 15-foot bi-folding doors from Centor fully open up into the main living area.