Small-house

The second-floor landing leads down a hall to the south-facing primary suite.

Terracotta tiles in the kitchen lend a sense of warmth. The stools are from Blu Dot and the pendant light is Foscarini.

The new kitchen connects with the dining room to make hosting friends and family easier. Neal specified a durable quartz for the counters and backsplash, and used red oak for the cabinetry.

Alaskan yellow cedar. Neal milled the boards from previously felled trees on their family property in northern Washington.

Floor Plan of Alicia and David’s Farmhouse in Bavaria

Floor plan of Belnord Kommunalka by Soft-Firm

Liu and Tsien created two green built-in displays, perfect for holding photos and sculptures made by Liz and Adam’s son, Sasha.

New York designers Talitha Liu and Lexi Tsien took cues from the shared kitchens in Soviet communal apartments to create a functional but flexible space where Liz and Adam could host dinner parties, work on craft projects, or do a quick tarot reading.

Floor plan of House in Hirano by FujiwaraMuro

A peekaboo window from a room upstairs overlooks the central atrium with the open kitchen and dining and living areas.

Just past the upstairs landing, there’s an open space with a tatami mat beneath the lofted office nook where Tsuyoshi, a systems engineer, works from home a few days a week. Both receive lots of light from the central skylight. A hallway below Tsuyoshi’s workspace leads to the family’s shared sleeping area, which has a small window.

Longtime resident Elizabeth Seacord cringes remembering her neighbors gutting their historic units. “It’s like deforestation,” she says.