A look at the small reading nook located on the level between the bedroom and ground floor.

“A building can have far greater impact than the space it stands in.”—William Carpenter, architect and resident

New zoning allowed for a zero-lot-line structure, but required a public storefront, which Carpenter uses as an art gallery.

Sleeping nooks that look like the grooves in a block of cheese.

A passage between the walls for hide and seek.

See Arch restored the exterior fireplace wall and painted it a deep blue hue to match the repainted blue timber cladding.

Marble countertops of black and white with kitchen cabinets finished in sparkling white are offset by a unique glass backsplash, which offers a hint of the surrounding rainforest.

Both cabins are elevated on wooden pillars about 260 feet above sea level.

Haines House by Christopher Polly in Newtown, Australia

In Esperance, Australia, Fiona and Matt Shillington turned an outdated holiday resort into a cozy compound with restored A-frames, log cabins, and cottages.

The clients for an existing home in Seattle approached Best Practice Architecture with a need to make space for an aging family member, but the home on-site was already filled to the brim. The firm's answer was to expand the existing detached garage into a gracious and airy living suite. The architects worked with the natural, six-foot slope of the site and built the Granny Pad into the hill to gain the needed interior height. The volume on the right is the original garage footprint, which now houses a kitchen and sitting room. The added volume on the left hosts the bedroom, as well as a bathroom beneath the loft space.

Clad in salvaged wood and adorned with moss, this tiny hexagonal home is #cabinlife goals.

“The inspiration for Kynttilä was fully derived from its unique setting,” the Helsinki-based firm states. “The place chosen for Kynttilä, in the middle of a pristine forest, on a narrow arm of the peninsula, provides views over the water in both sides of the cottage.”

The finished print measures approximately 5 x 5 feet.

Suzanne and Brooks Kelley at the back of their 1,100-square-foot guest cottage.

The owners toured this home, which surrounds a mature tipu tipu tree, while visiting relatives for the day. The brick is original to the 1947 construction.

Sliding doors by Quantum were made to look like the original panes that couldn't be saved, and they lead to a fire pit outside.

Coffee and Tea Set, 1995-1996. Zaha Hadid (Iraqi, b. 1950). Sterling silver. Overall: 18 1/2 x 22 1/16 x 14 3/16 in, Tea Pot: 3 1/8 x 5 7/8 x 11 in, Coffee Pot: 3 15/16 x 3 9/16 x 11 in, Milk Jug: 2 3/4 x 7 7/8 x 3 9/16 in, Sugar Bowl: 2 3/4 x 3 9/16 x 3 15/16 in. Silver. Made by Sawaya & Moroni, Milan, Italy. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

The extensive use of natural wood on nearly every surface makes the inside of The Barn feel like an extension of the landscape outside.

In 2003, Resolution: 4 Architecture was one of 16 firms who participated in the Dwell Home Design Invitational—a competition to design a modern prefab home for $200,000. Their winning design, constructed in Pittsboro, North Carolina, is a groundbreaking case study that combines prefabricated construction with contemporary, modern design.

The curved blue kitchen larder has a projecting “nose” that illuminates the worktop and a mirrored eye that “winks” each time the door is opened.

The crumbling stone walls of a 17th-century farmhouse in the remote countryside of Dumfries, Scotland, presented a unique renovation opportunity for Lily Jencks Studio and Nathanael Dorent Architecture, the teams behind this project. Rather than demolish the old walls, they inserted a crisp, modern home within them, so as to emphasize the site's history and passage of time.

The green backsplash tiles are vintage, reclaimed from another project.

Outside, a triangular saltwater pool overlooks breathtaking views.

A yellow epoxy floor matches the sconce in the tiny bathroom that sits under the staircase.

The ladder-like staircase was designed as a modern, whimsical addition to an otherwise midcentury-focused design. "I use it as a drying rack,

Nestled within a forest clearing near the Argentinian city of Córdoba, this 2,153-square-foot house named "La Negrita" is designed to exist in harmony with nature. Designed by Córdoba–based Morini Arquitectos, the house first reveals itself as a black corrugated wall in the middle of the woodlands. "The house is totally introverted [and] mysterious towards the street and extroverted towards the interior," says Morini.

Heva was designed by A6A and manufactured by My Little Loft. A spacious deck and large glass doors allow for seamless indoor/outdoor living.

A Woodchuck-made loft bed anchors Sam's room. The dark green playmat is by Alex Playmats.

Marble is a beautiful natural material—but one of our industry experts thought it received too much attention in 2022.