All Photos/exterior/roofline : flat/building type : cabin

266 Exterior Flat Roofline Cabin Design Photos And Ideas

Winkelman Architecture delivers grown-up summer-camp vibes with this unassuming retreat on the coast of Maine.
The Bracy Cottage — Front Facade
The Bracy Cottage — Front Facade
Fed up with modern-day society’s obsessive pursuit of things rather than lived experiences, Michael Lamprell, the designer of this cabin in Adelaide, Australia, set out to create an antidote to what he quips is a “craziness we’ve brought upon ourselves.” In 160 square feet, CABN Jude includes space for a king-size bed, toilet, shower, heater, two-burner kitchen stove, full-size sink, and fridge. The interior is clad with light-colored wood, which helps to enhance the sense of space. Large windows bring plenty of natural light, while the clever design means everything the resident needs is within easy reach.
David has built a number of screens and fences around the two cabins to increase privacy. "We now have a good feel of rustic isolation," says Diane.
The logs stacked between trees give the cabin a wood supply for the wood burning stove which can heat the whole place in winter and cuts down on electricity. "The guys are out chopping and splitting wood every visit," says Diane.
The breezeway between the main cabin and the summer porch acts as a third living space in the summer and on mild spring and fall days, linking the separate structures. “The walls slanting over the breezeway create an implied arch between the cabin and the summer porch, lending a sense of intimacy to the heart of the house,” says Diane.
“It was very important to me that the cabin be low to the ground,” says Diane. “I love the forest floor and the sway of our huge ponderosas, so I wanted as little disruption of the natural ecosystem as possible—a request which our builder, Trevor, honored admirably.”
Fifteen years ago, the “rickety” cabins that the family had built over the years on their lakeside property were reassessed as lakeshore homes, and the family’s taxes soared. They decided to subdivide the lots—they sold two, and three of her brothers took lakeside lots, while Diane and another brother took back lots. The old boxcar has been preserved and encased in one of her brother’s lake homes. “I didn’t want to build a lake house,” she says. “I wanted to give my grandchildren the old boxcar experience of freedom and simplicity. I wanted them to be able to hear the wind, feel the rain, and be one step from nature.”
Diane—who taught art history at the Alberta College of Art and Design—adapted a Japanese design for the Moongazer, and her husband David designed and built the clerestory roof. “The cabin is cedar, somehow perfectly proportioned and a fantastic little spot to be,” she says. “On the strength of that, I figured I could do it again.”
Diane Douglas’s family has owned five acres of land by the lake since 1933, and her grandfather had dragged an old boxcar to the side of the lake by tractor. “When we came as kids, we’d turn off the paved road and drive on a dirt track through a ponderosa forest to the lakeshore,” she says. “I couldn’t wait for that first scent of pine.”
The firm wanted the materiality of the cabin to be "in harmony with the site," says Shaw. "So, that over time, the building could weather gracefully and the site around it would change, and they would do so in tandem."
The materials were kept simple: a foundation of board-formed concrete that reveals the wood grain of the boards used to make it, Cor-Ten steel siding that will develop a characterful patina, and rafters made of hemlock, a local species. "In terms of materials, we wanted the full exterior of the building to be something that would weather gracefully, that required very little maintenance, and that had a long life cycle," says Shaw.
Sited on a rock ledge, the Far Cabin’s screened porch cantilevers over the forest floor for a tree house effect.
The Far Cabin by Winkelman Architecture is set on the forested coast of Maine.
Sliding glass doors open wide to the great outdoors.
The cabin thoughtfully blends aesthetics from Japanese design and Scandinavian minimalism.
Shutters that mimic the cedar siding can close off the expansive glazing, which encompasses 60% of the dwelling.
Clad in 2.5-inch custom-milled white cedar, the house blends into its surroundings.
A rotating fireplace, a glazed facade, and a cozy sauna complete this wonderful woodland retreat.
The Lost Whiskey Cabin stands on a rocky bluff overlooking Virginia's countryside.
This remote cabin in Sullivan County hovers above a steep slope, suspended by the trees that surround it.
The ultimate escape for forest bathing, Denmark’s Løvtag is a tree house hotel that features three cabins that embrace Scandinavian minimalism. With tree trunks intersecting the interior, large windows, and a rooftop deck, these treehouses promise to make you feel at one with nature.
Illuminated roof lanterns beckon to visitors, who must descend a forested roadway to approach Bowen Island House.
"We were interested in this idea of treading lightly on the site. Using a green roof is a logical extension of that. When you introduce a building that supplants a little piece of the forest floor, it's nice to replicate that on the roof as a return gesture to continue to create habitat for birds, animals, and plants, and to help manage the flow of storm water," explains McFarlane.
McFarlane wanted to create opportunities for the client to experience the "intimate moments
Just a short walk away from two of Norway’s largest hospitals in Oslo resides a tranquil forest featuring the trickling Sognsvann Creek. It’s in this lush oasis that Norwegian architectural and design firm Snøhetta has built the Outdoor Care Retreat, associated with the Friluftssykehuset Foundation. The project allows nature to provide a healing respite for patients who’ve been kept in isolation. For that purpose, the interiors have been left relatively bare, in stark contrast to the crowded, tall hospital buildings they’re associated with.
Architect Eric Logan took minimalism to the max when he rebuilt his family cabin on a Wyoming mountainside.
At night, with the interior lights in use, the mirrored glass becomes transparent, exposing the interior to the outside.
The mirrored box disappears into the hillside, reflecting the dense foliage.
The surrounding landscape was subtly modified to create a path to the bathroom, and to hide the columns on which the structure sits.
Windows wrap around the sides of the cabins to maximize views.
The timber structures are made from durable Douglas Fir posts and beams.
The sloped metal roofs were designed to capture rain, which is used in the cabins.
An outdoor shower lets guests fully connect with nature.
The home’s three low-lying rooflines subtly emerge from the landscape.
Except for a few chairs and a wood stove, there isn't much to Eric Logan's two-room cabin in the forest of Wyoming's Casper Mountain. After the original antiques-filled family cabin was destroyed in a brush fire, Logan, principal at Carney Logan Burke Architects, built this minimalist iteration to reinforce the importance of one's relationship with nature, magnified by the post-and-beam structure comprised of charred trees.
Located on a 50-acre site along the Appalachian Trail in the tree-covered hills of Virginia’s Hunt and Wine Country, the Lost Whiskey Cabin is an off-the-grid, 160-square-foot dwelling that invites guests to unplug and reconnect with nature. Designed and built by GreenSpur, the cabin is part of a larger development called the Lost Whiskey Club, which includes a communal farmhouse, a mobile whiskey bar, and more rental cabins. Though the dwelling has much to offer, its mountaintop perch and cantilevered outdoor deck—which floats above the trees and showcases a fire-warmed hot tub and a built-in hammock for taking in the landscape—are arguably its best features.
"My goal was to carry on the client’s family legacy by creating a very special place that took inspiration from the landscape,” explains architect Tom Kundig.
The giant windows make you feel as if you are standing amidst the tree canopy.
The exterior combines charred cedar siding, cedar beams, and black cement board siding. “Black may seem like an extreme choice sometimes,” says Howe. “It would be hard to imagine any other color though. It sits lovely in the woods. It falls into the shadows in the summer, under the canopy, and it blends with the dark tree trunks in the winter.”
“The ceiling plane starts with giant beams as you step up on the front porch, and they run at the same level throughout the axis of the house,” says Lamaster. “As you step down into the home, they accentuate the feeling of moving down the hill. We wanted to create that intimate, low feeling when you walk in.”
Nestled within Verholy Relax Park in Sosnivka, Ukraine, these contemporary guest cottages by YOD Design Lab offer a sense of solitude and a meaningful outdoor connection. Highly reflective windows mirror the forest, while an outdoor terrace wraps around each cottage. Inside, interiors are swathed in organic hues and materials to allow the views to be the focal point—each dwelling is arranged so that windows peer at pines rather than another building. The houses are even installed on geo-screens to save the root systems of the surrounding trees in the forest, to prevent them from being cut down.
The floor to ceiling glass sliding doors opens the living spaces to the surrounding waterfront and landscape
Tiny homes have officially become a thing—and these woodsy getaways will make you want to downsize ASAP.
Affordable, adorable, and in many cases, transportable, these tiny homes made a big impact on our readers this year.
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Zoom out for a look at the modern exterior. From your dream house, to cozy cabins, to loft-like apartments, to repurposed shipping containers, these stellar projects promise something for everyone. Explore a variety of building types with metal roofs, wood siding, gables, and everything in between.