This unique plywood-and-slate combination makes a great choice for small bathrooms that require a corner bathroom vanity.

Ryan Anderson of RAD Furniture designed the stools as well as the table and benches on the pool deck.

Classic butterfly chairs from Universal Patio Furniture are stationed by the pool. The mural is by street artist Morley, a close friend.

Composed of primarily steel, this prefab home has sufficient outdoor space. Photo by: Daniel Hennessy

New pine and spruce wood from the Pyrenees (both recyclable and PEFC certified) were selected for the façade of the 1,000-square-foot prefab. Smart blinds cover the windows, rigged to open and close depending on the weather forecast.

Michèle Monory’s Chinon farmhouse is an idyllic getaway from her home basein Paris. After she inherited the property and centuries-old structure from her father, she hired Matali Crasset, who runs a cutting-edge architecture and design firm, to update the living spaces.

Seen from the guesthouse, the new home touches every corner of the property without overwhelming its natural beauty.

The back of the home glows at night as the giant, two-story glass doors swing open to remove the barrier between inside and out. A polished concrete patio deck and pool, along with a simple block perimeter wall, make smart use of available materials. The pool acts as a passive conditioning tool, cooling air before it enters the house. The block wall is positioned 31 inches from the house, creating a gap or "air chimney" that allows air to circulate up and away from the home, while simultaneously letting light filter down.

The residents decided to convert a koi pond on the property into a petite pool. Next steps for the renovators are updating the kitchen and increasing its size by expanding it into the mudroom and laundry room.

The inner courtyard is the core of the home.

Prioritize either storage or easy cleaning. While extra storage is always nice, it is important to note freestanding vanities are also known for being harder to clean, since there are more corners and nooks where dust can hang out around them.

The Purist kitchen faucet by Kohler

Masi also turned the miniscule guest quarters into a pool house.

In the master bath, a custom raised Silestone sink is surrounded by a teak countertop and Porcelanosa glass tiles. Teak slats anchor the glass-enclosed shower.

The sink in the half bath was special-ordered from Home Depot and Pavonetti designed the base to give the basin a snug fit. He built it out of a steel rod and painted it with black shoe polish.

To most eyes, Ezequiel Farca’s 1970s-style concrete home in Mexico City looked like a teardown. Even the lot itself—shallow and crammed against a steep hillside—wasn’t particularly alluring. But Farca saw through all the restraints to create a spa-like refuge in one of the world’s most energetic cities. "It’s is such a hectic place. You’re bombarded by so much information the moment you step into the streets," says Farca, who first gained prominence as a furniture and interior designer. "So we envisioned this house as a retreat, a kind of a temple." The rooftop courtyard is lined with a verdant mix of indigenous plants, including banana trees, palm trees, lion’s claw, Mexican breadfruit, and native vines. The chaise longues were designed for Farca’s EF Collection.

In the guest bathroom, Givone installed a hand-chiseled sink made of 17th-century marble quarried from the hills outside of Rome.

Though the front of this 1880s home in Adelaide, Australia, maintains a traditional facade due to strict heritage laws, the rear is modern eye candy at its best. See more of the home.

Melanie Maher sunbathes beneath the lattice of a pool house, which is clad in Cor-Ten steel.

The pool feels as laterally finite as the house feels spacious—but the view goes up forever.

The swimming pool offers an alternative plunge to the nearby Bantam River.

The concrete wall echoes the curves of the pool’s portholes.

White walls, a luxurious marble double-sink, and an area rug give this bathroom an inviting atmosphere. “The natural light, open spaces, and light color palette make it a great place to wake up in the morning,” Flournoy says of his home. The sink is from Restoration Hardware and the rug is from West Elm.

Architects Anne Marie Lubrano and Lea Ciavarra limited the material selection in their renovation of a town house dating from 1899. The powder room on the first floor is located in a former waiting area (the previous resident used the level for his dental practice). It features a custom Alabastro marble sink and fixtures by California Faucets. The architects kept the original marble fireplace, paying homage to the structure’s history. Benjamin Moore’s Super White paint was applied to the ceiling and the White Dove hue to the walls. "Positioning the faucets on the side wall emphasizes the horizontal," Lubrano says. "Wall-mounted fixtures feel less grounded and materials can continue uninterrupted below. We wanted the spaces to feel light, spacious and light-filled."

The geometric pool also captures views of the lush landscape.

A Dornbracht tap sits above a custom-built glacier white Corian countertop and sink. The sink is covered by a removable cutting board that can be kept in place for an added work surface, or removed for dedicated sink use. The cutout in the center allows water from the tap to flow straight through to the custom Corian drainer.

Lisette requested the central work island, which cantilevers over the pool.

Custom shoji-inspired screens of Roberts’s design conceal the closet and extend to provide privacy for the adjacent shower and soaking tub.

The home's exterior, composed of concrete and glass, welcomes guests with a traditional water fountain in the entryway. Photo by: Bill Timmerman

Their property features an abundance of local flora and fauna. “We have deer that come from Griffith Park through our garden,” Judith says.

The architects discreetly sunk a pool into the roof terrace of the old corral. In order to shade part of the terrace, the architects designed a freestanding sun shelter. So as not to damage the outer walls of the old building, a galvanized-steel frame is secured to the terrace floor. A bamboo-reed covering projects a soft, filtered light onto the outdoor living area below.

Just off the bedroom, a restrained bathroom combines Duravit D-code sinks with Techno by Cifial faucets and a Toto Aquia toilet.

The pool of the Phoenix house feels as laterally finite as the house feels spacious—but the view goes up forever. Photo by Dean Kaufman.

Counter and sink (€6,800), mirror (€680)

In an effort to create an abundance of light and air flow throughout the space, the home follows an L-shaped floor plan that wraps around outdoor areas. “We designed several open spaces, each with a different feel: the garden and pool, the terrace, and the back patio,” says Cesarman. “The idea was to reduce the area to the most basic and essential [elements].”