outdoor living

The living room section of the ground level opens into this tiled patio, furnished with a long wooden table. In the background is a pool.

There is still visible char on the tree next to the rebuilt deck (the old deck, which was in the same location, is where the fire started). "I've noticed the char gradually lessen over time," Sammie says. "Now all of the leaves and branches are nice and green."

“We designed this home so that we can be here forever,” says Steph. Accessibility features include a ramp leading to the front door and showers with small curbs. The materials selected for the deck and roof intentionally have 40-year lifespans, while gutter protectors eliminate the need for cleaning: “There will be a point where we don’t need to be on ladders cleaning out gutters,” adds Steph.

A new deck was built to be wider for more accessibility, and to also make space for a dining area and hot tub.

New steps on the house's addition pair garapa wood planks atop concrete forms. "I did research and got advice to make it work without warping,

The large backyard space extends the home’s 1,378 square foot interior, with a Milgard bifold door creating fluidity between indoors and out.

A walled patio with a sunken garden takes up fully half the ground floor. Open to the sky, it allows sun and rain to enter, while the walls offer protection from the area’s constant winds. “The home takes a piece of the site into its enclosure,” says Barache.

An expansive deck, shaded by surrounding trees, offers a relaxing welcome upon arrival.

In 1979, architect Gary Michael designed a roof structure that mirrors the form of the original house to cover a section of the large ipe deck.

Tiles surrounding the pool are from Eco Outdoor.

When architects Melissa and Jacob Brillhart set out to design a home for themselves in downtown Miami they drew inspiration from a wide range of sources, including the city's trademark postwar tropical modernism, glass pavilion typology, and the classic dogtrot model. The resulting home features an elaborate red cedar shutter system, which produces a stunning interplay of shimmering light in the front patio.

The studio is set upon a floating concrete slab. The wood-wrapped facade provides passive cooling through cross ventilation.

The pine-and-steel outdoor dining table is from Hatch Workshop, while the benches were built by Clifton Craftwork and Design.

In contrast to the industrial neighborhood, the views from the upper-level deck look directly into the canopies of surrounding established trees.

Italian terracotta tile flooring and porcelain tile walls have been used for the courtyard.