Architects: Kirsten Murray, Tom Kundig

This 3,200-square-foot structure was assembled with a prefabricated foundation, concrete panel siding, and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins—such as concrete foundation tar—on the site.

This classic owned by writer Susan Orlean and her husband John Gillespie was updated by architect Jeff Fink, who specializes in restoring homes by Austrian-born architect Rudolph W. Schindler. The couple has previously owned his Los Angeles Roth house, buying it even though they lived in New York. Then, they sold it for the Kallis-Sharlin House, known for its butterfly roof—which allowed Schindler to add clerestory windows, and more light to the home. For the exterior, they ordered a custom hue from Behr, channeling the grey-green of a Martini olive.

This dwelling joins a number of structures—such as a boathouse and guesthouse—owned by one family and used for vacations. They needed a new house to accommodate new generations at the reatreat.

The structure's unique H-shape layout is designed to separate living and sleeping areas, and for maximum natural light.

Designed by New York firm Desai Chia Architecture in collaboration with Michigan firm Environment Architects, Michigan Lake House was dramatizes the experience of dark and light as the sun moves through the day.

For a family of four, Ueda Design Studio restores the luminous-yet-drafty midcentury home of Alden Mason with warm materials and sensible restraint.

The ADA compliant, handicap-accessible guesthouse at the Butterfly Gap Retreat in Maryland, Tennessee, just outside Knoxville.

A one-foot-thick concrete retaining wall partially wraps the pool and garden area, which is set atop the lower level’s strong and flat roof.

The mid-section of the siding was done in a shou-sugi ban method. Custom brass was used for the awning, alongside a standing-seam metal roof.

Rolling Huts by Olson Kundig There are a lot reasons to follow Olson Kundig on Instagram. One of them is their seminal Rolling Huts project.

Cement plaster was used on the base of the exterior, with double-paned windows throughout.

One of the main goals of the construction was to do as little harm as possible to the existing environment, which includes waterways that salmon depend upon. Herrin and his team created a garden roof that covers the full extent of the home to meet this objective. “This helps control storm water runoff and also replaces lost insect habitat—insects being a critical food source for juvenile salmon,” he says.

Wood from the property’s felled trees was incorporated into every room in the 3,000-square-foot house.

Located in California’s Sugar Bowl neighborhood, this shadowy lair by Mork-Ulnes Architects looks like something out of fairy tale. "We call the house Troll Hus, with a reference to the otherworldly beings in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore that are said to dwell in remote mountains," architect Casper Mork-Ulnes says.

Erin Moore of FLOAT Architectural Research and Design, based in Tucson, Arizona, designed a 70-square-foot writer’s retreat in Wren, Oregon, for her mother, Kathleen Dean Moore, a nature writer and professor of philosophy at nearby Oregon State University. The elder Moore wanted a small studio in which to work and observe the delicate wetland ecosystem on the banks of the Marys River. Enlisting her daughter’s design expertise, her professor husband’s carpentry savoir faire, the aid of friends, and a front loader, Kathleen and her crew erected the structure in September 2007. Photo by Gary Tarleton. Totally off the grid—–Kathleen forgoes the computer and writes by hand when there—–the Watershed was designed to tread as lightly on the fragile ecosystem as the wild turkeys and Western pond turtles that live nearby. “

In the couple’s bedroom, a back corner window that had been straightened by the previous owner was restored to its original slant, and an interior clerestory was uncovered and used to brighten a bathroom on the other side of the wall. The vintage teak bed with built-in headboard and side tables is from Vintage on Point in Los Angeles. A signed Andy Warhol screen print hangs overhead.

Adjaye cut a gap straight through the roof and facade.

The material was gathered from soil with high sand content on the property as well as a second site in the vicinity. Certain volumes of the home consist of a concrete structure and brick masonry.

Additions of color in the interior are minimal, but when they are included, they make a lasting impact, such as with this rainbow art piece by local artist Roi James. “Although we had commissioned the piece based on a recent show we went to, I don’t think either of us realized that it would work so well with our [colorful] cookbook display [in the dining area],” Flournoy admitted. The rug and brass side table are from West Elm, the couches from Scott+Cooner. The butterfly chairs were custom made by Robert Smith.

Intended for squeezing into narrower spaces, the Butterfly Recycler by Simplehuman has room for trash and recycling in one compact package.

“From the street, it appears as a rectangular building with sloping shed roofs, but this is actually an illusion,” Hutchison notes. “The floor plan is actually U-shaped, wrapping around an entry courtyard that is contained by the continuous west facade.” A standing seam metal roof by Custom Bilt Metals blends in with the cedar siding.

A sofa from Design Within Reach opposes a Hi Turn chair by Bensen in the living room.

Untitled (gap) by Chris Ballantyne

“Consistent with the lakefront cabin charm, the owners liked the idea of accessing much of the house from outdoor porches and walkways,” says architect Ted Flato. Supplies from Dynamic Architectural Windows and Doors bring light in to the home’s covered spaces.

Custom-designed furniture outfits the interior of a bunker-turned-vacation retreat in the Netherlands.