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Collection by Diana Budds

The Year in Review: Dwell's Top 12 Homes of 2012

2012 is coming to a close, and to celebrate a year in modern architecture, we've collected our 12 favorite stories, one for each month. Click through for a dose of design inspiration.

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Back StoriedWithout altering its turn-of-the-20th-century facade, architect Christopher Polly transformed the rear of this Newtown, Australia, home from bleak to bright. We originally ran this Houses We Love in our February 2012 issue.
Back StoriedWithout altering its turn-of-the-20th-century facade, architect Christopher Polly transformed the rear of this Newtown, Australia, home from bleak to bright. We originally ran this Houses We Love in our February 2012 issue.
This villa in Brno, Czech Republic was a commission for the Tugendhat family built in 1930. Fritz and Greta Tugendhat worked closely with Mies, who designed the site-specific building to make excellent use of steel, glass and concrete.
This villa in Brno, Czech Republic was a commission for the Tugendhat family built in 1930. Fritz and Greta Tugendhat worked closely with Mies, who designed the site-specific building to make excellent use of steel, glass and concrete.
Just off the kitchen is the lanai, which serves as the family’s main gathering spot. The polycarbonate roof lets light through but keeps the rain at bay.
Just off the kitchen is the lanai, which serves as the family’s main gathering spot. The polycarbonate roof lets light through but keeps the rain at bay.
The vacation complex is designed to promote an easy flow between the two families' spaces, which include guest cabins and a shared porch for hanging out and eating.
The vacation complex is designed to promote an easy flow between the two families' spaces, which include guest cabins and a shared porch for hanging out and eating.
The couple snapped up a 2,600-square-foot late-18th-century flat, which they’ve since filled with vintage finds and Hayon’s own designs and prototypes.
The couple snapped up a 2,600-square-foot late-18th-century flat, which they’ve since filled with vintage finds and Hayon’s own designs and prototypes.
How a highly productive collaboration among a trio of creative Angelenas—and a good dose of Barragán—turned a dark and beleaguered midcentury house into a family home for the ages. The resulting design acquired its own flow, full of colorful narrative, spirited counterpoint, and anecdote. Now, in place of dark, disconnected spaces, outdoor rooms echo luminous indoor ones, and experimental filmmaker Laura Purdy and her family’s eclectic collections of art and personal artifacts share space with flashes of pattern and interior planes of saffron and pink stucco.
How a highly productive collaboration among a trio of creative Angelenas—and a good dose of Barragán—turned a dark and beleaguered midcentury house into a family home for the ages. The resulting design acquired its own flow, full of colorful narrative, spirited counterpoint, and anecdote. Now, in place of dark, disconnected spaces, outdoor rooms echo luminous indoor ones, and experimental filmmaker Laura Purdy and her family’s eclectic collections of art and personal artifacts share space with flashes of pattern and interior planes of saffron and pink stucco.
Mississippi QueenThe sustainability-minded Mississippi home of architect Brett Nave, a dwell.com exclusive, is our pick for the best home featured in August. In building his house, Nave took extra care to conserve mature trees on his lot. In addition to the shade from the nearby trees, the house stays cool with the help of Zero VOC closed cell foam in the floors, open cell foam in the roof deck and Knaupf ECO Batts in the walls. A 16 seer heat pump circulates the air when it's too humid for the open windows. Marvin Low E windows and Simpson Mastermark insulated French doors can be opened up to the screened-in porch on the backside of the house, which Nave says helps create a mood that is his favorite element of the house.
Mississippi QueenThe sustainability-minded Mississippi home of architect Brett Nave, a dwell.com exclusive, is our pick for the best home featured in August. In building his house, Nave took extra care to conserve mature trees on his lot. In addition to the shade from the nearby trees, the house stays cool with the help of Zero VOC closed cell foam in the floors, open cell foam in the roof deck and Knaupf ECO Batts in the walls. A 16 seer heat pump circulates the air when it's too humid for the open windows. Marvin Low E windows and Simpson Mastermark insulated French doors can be opened up to the screened-in porch on the backside of the house, which Nave says helps create a mood that is his favorite element of the house.
Stacey and Doug prepare food before the kitchen's massive wall of soothing tile from Heath Ceramics.
Stacey and Doug prepare food before the kitchen's massive wall of soothing tile from Heath Ceramics.
In the story A Little Bit Country, we learn "the couple initially planned to build a neotraditional farmhouse, which is standard fare in this corner of the world. But over the course of the year-and-a-half-long design process, their notions were tweaked, prodded, and coaxed into the minimalist incarnation they now call the Porch House—and home.
In the story A Little Bit Country, we learn "the couple initially planned to build a neotraditional farmhouse, which is standard fare in this corner of the world. But over the course of the year-and-a-half-long design process, their notions were tweaked, prodded, and coaxed into the minimalist incarnation they now call the Porch House—and home.
Wood WorksFaced with the challenge of a diminutive New York apartment in desperate need of a refresh, architect Tim Seggerman went straight to his toolbox to craft a Nakashima-inspired interior, featured in our November Small Spaces issue.
Wood WorksFaced with the challenge of a diminutive New York apartment in desperate need of a refresh, architect Tim Seggerman went straight to his toolbox to craft a Nakashima-inspired interior, featured in our November Small Spaces issue.
Cooper and her husband went in for a saltwater pool, a welcome cooling-off hangout for hot Healdsburg days - though not the only one. The entire home is naturally cool, owing to its Breezeway design concept that connects different modules (in Cooper's case, three units) via a cross-ventilating walkway space. It's wide enough to house a large dining table, with room to spare. Though the pool was an extra, Morter notes that a cost-saving benefit of Blu Homes is that all of the custom design work - from finishes to faucets - is free of charge.
Cooper and her husband went in for a saltwater pool, a welcome cooling-off hangout for hot Healdsburg days - though not the only one. The entire home is naturally cool, owing to its Breezeway design concept that connects different modules (in Cooper's case, three units) via a cross-ventilating walkway space. It's wide enough to house a large dining table, with room to spare. Though the pool was an extra, Morter notes that a cost-saving benefit of Blu Homes is that all of the custom design work - from finishes to faucets - is free of charge.