Outdoor: patio

214 Beach Hill Walk by Don Page (1962). Restored by Rawlins Design in 2013, by principal Chris Rawlins, who will be leading the modernism tours.

Sliding doors from Western Window Systems connect the living room and the deck, which is made of pressure-treated pine planks surrounding a black gravel pit.

Chile recently became one of the first South American countries to incorporate insulation into its building code. "People just accepted being cold a few months of the year," Bernal says. Instead, she and Foster shored up the Casa Cuatro to North American standards with a tight building envelope. A winter fire also helps heat the house.

The outdoor fire pit.

The Boo Fire Basket from Skargaarden is made of black lacquered steel. Designed to fit several logs for an outdoor fire, the Boo can also be overturned to hold a candle or lantern.

A mix of vintage finds and pieces designed by Mathesius, including a Cor-Ten steel fire pit on the second-floor deck, furnish a majority of the home.

Passionate cooks, the Burtons installed a Mugnaini wood-fired oven in their kitchen and had a custom Grillery fireplace-barbecue built into the concrete block wall on their deck. Beneath the grill they store oak firewood collected from their property.

In a Manhattan Beach home, homeowner Matt Jacobson and architect Michael Lee designed the long steel-and-Ipe bench surrounding a square, concrete outdoor fire pit, which suspends from the low concrete wall in their outdoor space. Dukes relaxes on a Willy Guhl Loop chair with her German Shepherd, Major.

A fire pit and garden complete the backyard as a place to relax when not making art.

The courtyard with its fire pit and infinity pond—extends the living area outdoors. The family has hosted events, weddings, and even a funeral here, and annual solstice parties are always a big hit with the neighbors.

Though the fire pit was “kind of an after-thought,” says Hannah, the family uses it year-round. “In the spring and fall, it warms you up on cool nights, and in the summer, it just adds ambience.”

A cantilevered ipe bench hugs a custom board-formed concrete fire pit.

A minimalist approach to design can make spaces feel thoughtful, bright, and more spacious than they really are—qualities that are paramount to a recent project in Poznań by Polish architecture firm mode:lina. The architects employed several tricks to make the home feel more spacious. Among them, mirrors were installed to visually enlarge the room, and smart storage spaces—even a recessed dog house—were built directly into the home’s walls. “The less visible [storage is], the better,” they say.

A spacious deck was created as part of the addition. A cantilevered concrete bench stretches out to the rear garden and complements the adjacent concrete wall.

A palette of stone, concrete, and greenery greets guests at the home’s front entrance.

Yumi (left) and Maya (right) cheese around on the steps leading into the front door. Inside, there is ample space for removing and leaving one's shoes, another Japanese element.

The project title “Casa 4.1.4” refers to the four main volumes, one central plaza and four patios. This simple configuration creates distinct, private spaces tied together with open-air common areas.

"Color simply and cost-effectively enriched and made the architectural idea palpable and pleasurable," Lehrer says about the prismatic theme. "It was used to explicitly articulate and dramatically enhance the circulation and spatial concepts. It helps make modest, but wonderful, spaces a little magical."

2014 ASID Designer of Distinction Tama Duffy Day of Gensler was recognized for her body of work in healthcare design, which demonstrates the positive impact design can have on the human experience. The ASID Awards celebration will take place during Dwell on Design in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy Alan Karchmer/Sandra Benedum.