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"The fixed glass without a door really makes it feel like a room within the room, and the plastered walls allow a continuity of subtle texture from wet to dry areas," Lanigan says. The lightwell is connected to the roof deck above.

Entry bench, screen and stair

Rural and urban sensibilities mix indoors. The double-height living room nods to the loft-like spaces the family was accustomed to in Seattle; rough-hewn wood boards appeal to their "wabi sabi" taste in design.

The use of wood throughout the headquarters instills a lodge-like sense of warmth and comfort.

The nearly 2,500-square-foot house is built primarily from locally sourced Douglas fir.

A sizable oak staircase, with a large landing and storage beneath it, leads to each level of the home.

Architect Johan Sundberg looked to Japanese architects like Kengo Kuma for inspiration for the design of a holiday home in southern Sweden. "We call it the Katsura typology, but that's probably sacrilegious," he says. The eaves of the gently sloped hipped roof extend generously in all directions, turning the deck into a covered retreat that’s part veranda, part engawa, the Japanese version of a porch.

The firm also designed a slatted screen next to the staircase.

The new staircase to the bunk room also has a privacy screen made of a bookcase with storage.

The stairs are partically hidden behind a slatted ash screen that supports steel bookshelves.

Cabinetry maker Forest Designs used birch plywood to craft the U-shaped kitchen island, which is topped with quartz from Floform. The Ziro floor tiles in Gris are from Navarti and the contemporary metal edge pulls are from Richelieu. The appliances are from Whirlpool.

“We wanted to tackle the dream and challenge of designing our own house and create a space that would get us close to nature,” Alessandro says.

The island helps to define and separate the open-plan kitchen, dining, and living areas.