Outdoor

Designed by award-winning Sant Architects, this four-bedroom vacation rental near Topanga elevates the concept of a mountain retreat to new heights—from its raw, concrete facade and hillside pool, to the Bauhaus-inspired interiors that feature expansive glass walls that overlook the Pacific Ocean. The clean, architectural lines are expressed using iron beams, concrete slabs, timber-panelled walls, and glass, and the sprawling, open-plan living area features a slide-away fireplace and enormous windows that seamlessly transition the property from cosy winter retreat to breezy summer getaway.

Top 9 Gardens of 2020: The verdant spaces nominated for the Dwell Design Awards help enliven their biophilic homes.

Malcolm Davis stands behind the specimen oak tree on the new cantilevered wraparound deck.

The water-resistant ipe wood deck wraps around two existing trees.

The 5,000-square-foot midcentury home sits on 2.24 acres of woodland in Armonk, New York.

Behind an unassuming 19th-century facade in Singapore's Joo Chiat neighborhood, Ching Ian and Yang Yeo's renovation of a typical shophouse venerates tradition while looking squarely to the future. Photo by Richard Powers

Outside of the studio, a small deck features a cedar soaking tub.

The outdoor fire pit.

At the base of Echo Mountain in Phoenix, a geometric home by Wendell Burnette opens up to the surrounding desert landscape. Photo by Dean Kaufman.

Garden terrace

Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers add a graphic touch to the garden.

A mature avocado tree shades the hardscaped patio located just outside the great room.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.