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.

Arba, the architecture firm founded by Jean-Baptiste Barache and Sihem Lamine, designed a 1,786-square-foot residence for Dominique Jacquot 45 minutes outside Paris. The house is her sanctuary from city life.

Interior designer Martine Brisson took to this Quebec country home's terrace with gusto, furnishing it with many of the same amenities one would expect indoors.

Glass doors printed with a serigraphy technique (above) are on two sides of the house. Jacquot sits at a dining table and benches designed by Arba and built by Menuiserie Ressy.

The house has four varieties of wood that relate to one another with a similar material vocabulary. “It is all about finding ways to assemble pieces of the same nature,” says Lamine.

Eric and Melinda purchased a 10-acre plot in rural Yelm, Washington, with visions of a new home on the range. There would be vineyards, gardens, an orchard, bees and chickens—typical country fodder—but they would showcase their design sensibility with a not-so-typical modern abode. Enlisting Matthew Coates of Coates Design, they ended up with a modern home that, while striking, is still a natural fit in the country location. Photo by Lara Swimmer.

Located in the Thousand Islands archipelago, the Reed's Bay House is a simple, comfortable residence modeled after a traditional barn.

Eva Zeisel, Town and Country shakers, 1945.

Lawrence House Floor Plan

The building’s interior is still a work in progress, but the residents plan to incorporate as many natural wood elements and low-impact design details as possible as they furnish. The loft’s floor will eventually be finished with floating parquet.

Bent Wall Lamp by Workstead for Another Country British brand Another Country will debut a new lighting collection by Brooklyn-based Workstead, the edgy architectural, interior, and lighting firm founded by Stefanie Brechbuehler and Robert Highsmith in 2009.

A solid wood exterior retains heat in the winter and keeps the house cool in summer.

Though it’s built with sturdy framing, Arba’s House in the Grove doesn’t skimp on transparency. At the top of the gabled volume, battens form a double layer with louvers that allow daylight into the two bedrooms.

The Hoover Dam, one of the country’s great engineering feats, is just a few miles from Vegas and warrants a visit.

Glaser's now ubiquitous "I Heart New York" slogan.

"Match-Maker" is designed to take on the iconic heart shape from some vantage points, though it appears as an abstract, zigzagging network of tubes from others. Photo courtesy of Young Projects.

The tubes are actually periscopes that connect the viewer with up to four ideal astrological matches. Photo courtesy of Young Projects.

The 510 Cabin is one of Leggitt's designs, executed with the help of student apprentices.

Furniture designer Percival Lafer at his country home in Campos do Jordão, Brazil, in 2011.

Fortunato Depero's Heart Eaters (Mangiatori di cuori), 1923.Painted wood, 36.5 x 23 x 10 cm Private collection © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome Photo: Vittorio Calore

The Burkes eliminated glare by minimizing the number of windows on the east and west sides of their house. On the south, though, windows are taller and offer views of trees even though the house is in the heart of downtown Charlottesville. The direct light that enters through the flanks of the house is mediated via a sophisticated array of blinds, tints, a trellis calibrated to cut light from April through August, and several bald cypress trees that provide shade in summer but lose their leaves in winter, allowing light (and heat) to infuse the house. Baby cypress trees, about nine feet tall, should cost around $100 each at your local nursery.

The Montezuma Hills of Solano Country in Northern California are home to wind farms.

The internal courtyard is the heart of the home.

A small country road borders the property to the west.

The kitchen and dining area is the heart of the home.

The white cedar board paneling in the interiors mimics the exterior; the ones inside are bleached for a lighter finish. Fixed glass picture windows are by Town & Country Glass. Unalam and JIG Design Build fabricated the staircase with ash risers on a single stringer, a Gray Organschi hallmark.

An ITEM-curated object: a wax votive heart from Portugal, priced at $45.

One of three new canals that were cut to carry the water into the heart of the city.

Wilkin and Pini, together with their children Ava and Tom, sit at a dining table made from black heart sassafras, an Australian wood.

The cover of Murakami Versailles.

The simple, clean-lined kitchen and dining area is the heart of the home.

A true, original classic, the Liberty Americana Picnic Basket is sturdy enough to hold an entire feast, but light enough to lug around from home to park.

Whether it’s cross-country skiing in the winter or trail running in the summer, the 330-foot home’s minimalist design encourages Catherine to be outside in the surrounding landscape throughout the year.

The kitchen is the heart of the home and features a nearly 20-foot-long Tasmanian Oak workbench.