Outdoor

“There is a lot of glass so you can enjoy the view and the outdoor lifestyle even inside,” Henrik explains. “You live in the middle of the weather somehow. It’s a really harsh environment, as you have these southwesterly winds blowing through the house. But it is really beautiful as well.”

Two-year-old Annika and five-year-old Soren make music on the "nap swing," a popular hangout spot for kids and adults alike.

Russell-Clarke tends a small garden.

A gravel path leads to a guesthouse, where Trainor supplemented an existing garden of yuccas and palm trees with succulent aeoniums and flowering euphorbias.

The deck off the front is also minimally furnished with elegant lines of beach rock and two Leaf chairs by Arper.

The rain-catchment system next to the outdoor shower collects and disposes of the first five gallons of rainwater to ensure that the cleanest water is diverted into the cistern.

The simple, pared-down aesthetic and the open-ended time frame of the project—along with the couples’ building and design skills—helped Odgård and Lyng Hansen achieve their renovation on a miniscule budget, with a project outline that ebbed and flowed with Odgård’s professional successes in product design.

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 terrace deck, also part of modern addition, adds outdoor living space to the home’s upper floor. Sapote hardwood makes up the deck, which connects intimately with the home’s own nearby tree. Bamboo floors in the adjacent master bedroom offer tonal contrast, and a stainless steel and custom plastic rocking chair accents the deck space.

Design details include mahogany and granite where the deck meets a stone retaining wall.

A wood-lined outdoor shower adds a modern touch to one of the decks.