Outsides

"With its bold New England forms, functional plan, and durable low-maintenance materials,[Family Farmhouse] will serve this family well for many memorable years ahead," says Whitten Architects.

“When you’re doing a second home, a lot of the character of the design is defined by what it isn’t,” says architect Greg Howe, as a way of explaining the minimalistic approach that was taken on this Michigan weekend home. “If you think of it as cold, you have to remember, the setting, and accessing nature, is the point.”

The long gangplank of a deck runs right out into the fields, a fact that Treanor relishes.

The home is entered from the street-facing front porch with an unexpected side-entry.

One of the pitched roofs extends to the ground, concealing an entrance. - North Hatley, Quebec Dwell Magazine : July / August 2017

A guest basement sits under the master suite toward the back of the home. Jeld-Wen Windows & Doors provided the aluminum-clad wood panes seen on each level.

“It was important to site the house in such a way that it had views to both the field and the forest, but it also wasn’t visible from the main road,” says Lewis. VELUX skylights bring extra light into the home.

Plagued by dim rooms and low ceilings, a typical midcentury bungalow in Austin, Texas, is remodeled into a contemporary, light-filled living space for an editor and her filmmaker husband. The desire to uphold the discreet architectural character of the Austin setting, while being able to create open and modern spaces, led to a study in how materials, space, and light could interplay with simple construction means. Murray Legge Architecture removed a maze of small rooms and raised the ceiling height to create a single volume for dining, cooking, and living. Working with the existing building components, the new design continues the use of traditional stick frame construction, yet accentuates its simple beauty by using the open structure as a finished product that adds shape and warmth to the interior.

When Austin-based firm Matt Fajkus Architecture was tasked with renovating this classic midcentury home, they sought to open up the interior—not only by unifying the common areas into an open-plan layout, but also by literally raising the home's roof. This strategy increased the ceiling height on three sides of the home, allowing for the insertion of clerestory windows to create a bright and airy open living space. "The raised ceiling maintains the original pitched roof geometry to stay harmonious with the existing gabled roof in the private zone," explain the architects in a statement.

Designed to comfortably accommodate three to five employees, the 1,000-square-foot home office by Matt Fajkus Architecture complements an existing midcentury abode. The addition includes two individual office spaces, a conference room, a studio, a bathroom, and storage space. An operable wall divides the main space as needed. The wood-and-stucco addition features a pitched metal roof that jives with the existing home's midcentury style.

This 1957 mid-century modern house sits on a 1 acre lot in SW Portland with an incredible view looking east toward the river and SE Portland. The single bedroom, 2-bedroom guest house residence needed a more functional floor plan. Following designs by Giulietti/Schouten Architects, 2 bedrooms were added to an upper level addition, and the guest house was cut in half to include 1 bedroom, 1 bath, and kitchenette + entertaining space. Adding a main level addition with the existing U-shaped plan left limited options with the house’s location on a steep hillside. The existing home featured low and sleek roof lines with large, thin gables, making a second level addition a challenging design problem. Ultimately, the design retained the existing and characteristic roofs while forming a second-level addition into the existing volume.

Anthony Belluschi, the son of architect Pietro Belluschi (1899-1994), refurbished his father’s 1938 Sutor House with the help of general contractor Pat Kirkhuff. A top priority for the new owners, Aric Wood and Erin Graham, was to unearth the neglected gardens, which were inspired by Jiro Harada, an authority on Japanese landscaping.

Set in the southwest hills of Portland, Oregon, this 1965 home was designed by noted local architect William Fletcher and entirely renovated in 2008. The low-lying home with a bright blue door was customized with elements that complemented the original midcentury architecture, including updates to all bathrooms, opening up the kitchen and adding cabinetry in Oregon black walnut, and transforming the car port into a dining room.