summer cabin

Before: Exterior

Backdrop’s After Hours, a soft charcoal hue, gives Carlos Naude and Whitney Brown’s home in Woodland Hills, California, sleek curb appeal. Lund Sconces by Kuzco Lighting punctuate the exterior, and the streamlined garage doors are by Amarr.

Here, laminate kitchen cabinets are topped with Corian in Glacier White for a fresh and fun color-blocked look.

An Eames lounge

The Barcelona daybed is by Mies van der Rohe and the Reve bed is by Niels Bendtsen.

A basalt fireplace w

A pivot-hung door

The home essentially comprises two structures that are unified by a double-height, courtyard-like space with clerestory windows allowing for ample natural light.

The house’s construction employs an aluminium-and-plastic composite structure and double-glazed insulated sash. The large openings use wood sashes with higher thermal insulation to minimise energy loss.

Another space with deck access is the bright and airy home office, which could easily serve as a sixth bedroom. The skylights and picture windows invite plenty of natural light inside.

Techo-Bloc’s Ocean Grande in Beige Cream and the smaller, rough-hewn Valet pavers in Onyx Black have been used to create a visually exciting layout with charcoal grout to emphasize the basket-weave pattern. “Stunning textures are revealed under different angles of the sun,” says Ciccarello.

To complement the white-washed custom cabinetry in her kitchen, architect Julie Salles Schaffer has designed a tile backsplash to resemble "melting butter in a white pan." Daltile arranged her two-color AutoCAD design—white and off-white—onto a mesh backing for a small fee. To soften the edges of the cabinets’ drawers and doors, Schaffer requested radial edging.

To accommodate a young family leaving New York City, design firm Stewart-Schafer revamped the kitchen and living areas of an outdated upstate home in just three months.

Everything brought to the island must be transported by boat or barge, so furniture is minimal. Carsten purchased the 1960 Rais wood stove more than a decade ago with the intention of using it in a cabin one day.

The furniture throughout the summer home is custom made to perfectly fit the compact interior. “Because the space is so small, you have to think of it as like a sailing boat and it has to be as smart as possible,” says architect Line Solgaard. “If we bought furniture it would be too big or take focus away from the architecture. The furniture we designed is integrated into the building.”