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All Photos/exterior/building type : cabin/building type : house

Exterior Cabin House Design Photos and Ideas

The main entrance to the home is located opposite the door of the outbuilding.
The home also includes a small outbuilding that echoes the main building's monochromatic, gabled form.
The vertical corrugated metal siding mimics the verticality of the trees.
A large cedar deck offers outdoor entertaining opportunities. The outdoor furnishings are by COOP Etabli.
A pathway winds through the woods from the parking pad to reveal the cottage and a raised cedar walkway.
A view of the house from the southeast approach.
Nestled in the woods, Chalet Grand-Pic was completed for construction costs of approximately $227,000.
Next to the A-frame sits a low-lying outbuilding (partially concealed by vegetation) that was converted from a garage into a woodshed and artist’s studio.
Because the studio does not have air-conditioning, it relies on natural ventilation for passive cooling. Its north orientation harnesses good solar gains.
At night, the circular window glows like the moon and illuminates the lower floors much like a light box.
In summer, the living area is surrounded by grass that covers the terrain. Yet, once winter comes, this same area appears to be nestled within a blanket of snow.
The home has warm interiors throughout and boasts a minimalist, cabin-like aesthetic.
The black roof balances upon its rectangular base of light pinewood, creating a dramatic contrast between dark and light.
Passive design principles were utilized in the siting of the highly-insulated cabin. Deep eaves protect the interior from hot summer sun, while a verandah overhang optimizes solar gains in winter.
The exterior combines recycled brick, radial sawn timber, and galvanized roof sheeting. "Materials were selected to meet the clients’ brief that the house fit within the cognitive idea of an old shed," explain the architects.
The clients requested the design of the cabin and shed to appear as if the buildings had been weathering over time with the site.
The chiflonera leads to the entrance of the cabin.
night view
The old property was oriented toward the east and sat parallel to the lake. This new cabin looks toward a restored cinderblock sauna to the south and is set perpendicular to the nearby lake.
Taking inspiration from the tradition of the Danish sommerhus, each volume is a simple, gabled form, clad in dark gray-stained cedar siding with standing-seam metal roofs that mirror the vertical grooves in a similar shade.
The renovated chalet is clad entirely in untreated larch (including the roof and deck).
The home is accessed via a custom-made Corten steel ladder. When the ladder is retracted, the property appears to float above the sloped terrain.
The exteriors of the two structures, the updated cabin, and the "modern box" addition were tied together with a standing seam metal facade. This helped give the connected complex a contemporary, industrial-inspired vibe.
The wood exterior blends in quietly with the surrounding timber.
The house is composed of three volumes, two of which come together at an angle to capture views of the surrounding landscape.
On the north section of the plot is a towering structure that looks like a sundial needle. This third structure, which Allfrey named "The Folly," was constructed with unfinished cedar, a wonderful contrast to the dark-stained cedar of the two other buildings.
"The forms interpret the township’s alpine setting using height, volume, and pitch to create a dynamic experience as one moves between buildings and between internal spaces," says Allfrey. "Openings are carefully placed to ensure a casual connection between buildings."
Three separate structures surround an elevated dining platform and sunken terrace. Each of these buildings contains its own sleeping areas, which allows a degree of privacy and independence for family members and guests.
forrest view
The Element House stands on pylons, creating the illusion of it hovering over the desert floor. Nine thermal chimneys, one of which can be seen right, channel hot air out from the interior living areas.
A small airspace separates the building's aluminum skin from the wall underneath. The aluminum acts like a heat sink during the day: it absorbs heat but remains thermally separated (by the narrow gap) from the Element House walls.
The home is approached from the south with views of Hood Canal below.
“The factory-built modules were carefully transported up winding roads and set in place without harming a single tree,” adds the firm.
Each cabin was assembled from single, mostly completed modules craned into place and raised atop concrete piers. The cabins include a bedroom and bathroom, a study desk, a covered porch and a fire pit.
The entry is marked by a thin, cantilevered canopy hovering over the front porch.
The dark cladding helps recede the simple, boxy home into the lush forest.
The southern and eastern elevations are mostly left opaque to provide privacy from the nearby access road.
The rich material palette of stone, timber, glass, and board-formed concrete blend the home into the surroundings.
A glazed staircase placed on the south side of the building next to the hillside leads to the bedrooms on the upper level.
The house was strategically placed between the lake and an adjacent granite rock-face to capture key landscape views.
The property in Gooderham is set at the end of the original lake access road, and enjoys 1,300 feet of uninterrupted lakeside shoreline.
“The home is quite small, but designed in such a way that you don’t feel it,” Herrin says. Lift-slide openings by Quantum Windows & Doors, which were fabricated fewer than 50 miles from the house, make the main living space seem larger.
The vertical windows along the exterior façades can be covered with board awnings to give the interiors a more cloistered atmosphere.
To evoke the feel of a tiny nature cabin, two massive sliding doors can be used to divide the common areas so that each section can be isolated from the rest of the house.
The eating and sleeping quarters have settled easily onto the shores of Shoal Lake.
Nicknamed the Floating Farmhouse, this 200-year-old home inspired one former copywriter to delve into architecture as a living. Inside, renovator and owner Tom Givone mixes vintage and industrial decor. Photo by Mark Mahaney.
The living areas have north and south facing glass walls.
A modern forest dwelling in the village of Muraste in Estonia.
The larch wood cladding helps the cabins blend in with their forest site.
The pyramidal roofs of the cabins allow snow to slide down to the ground.
The three cabins have north-facing windows that frame views of the Baltic Sea.
KUU arhitektid who designed this retreat says they were inspired by traditional Estonian "koda" huts.
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