In Miami, even the supermarkets have flair.

When Cathy and Craig bought the land, it was completely bare. With plenty of sun and rain, these palms have grown a lot in the last two years.

Daughters Uma and Maelle have the run of the house.

The Object Design League likes to have a good time.

Let’s All Go and Have Breakfast by Teo Zirinis, from $16 for a 10 x 8 inch print.

Having a home office in an apartment of this size might seem impossible, but flexible furniture transforms one room into two.

Windows have been pushed out with deep concrete wells.

Developer Chris Sally has been known to have conversations with passersby from his “cigar-smoking balcony.”

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The minimal aesthetic is seen in the galley-style kitchen, where the cabinets have no visible hinges or knobs. The stainless steel appliances are by KitchenAid.

Neither the owner, a self-declared "card-carrying-modernist," or his girlfriend, Stephanie Kiriakopolos, miss having a big bulky refrigerator.

Dylan, 10, and Zoe, 13, have a lazy float down the creek, Huck Finn–style, in a steel horse-watering tank.

Even airplane hangars have a height limit. Photo by Sally McGrane.

We check off the pieces that we have fabricated on the master drawing.

I have a bit of a fetish for concrete inlays. This is our project logo.

Bobbie Callahan and Ed Hayes have summered on North Haven for years; Callahan bought a house there in the late 1970s and has been back every year.

New trees have been planted along the orchard grid to provide privacy.

Lucky Diaz spent three and a half months on this project, working all hours to get it done. “It was worth it,” he says. “To have Ella grow up in an original space is a gift that is beyond measure.”

Dollahite kept most rooms spare, allowing each piece of furniture and art to have a presence. In the dining room, the table is its own centerpiece.

The concrete footings have cured and now preparations will begin for the concrete slab pour.

In this image, the table's legs have been removed and placed on their respective hanging hooks.

The artist said that the goal of his work is to “allow nature to have its say.”

All kitchen appliances, cupboards, and counters have been united in a single, self-contained island, designed in collaboration with Bulthaup. The architects wanted unfussy space and they rejected easy-access overhanging cabinets. "There's an emphasis on convenience in the world that is all about numbing things," says Alan Koch.

Cut out Jabba (you'll have two identical pieces of fabric).

When we walked into the shop, the designer, Corien Ridderikhoff, was there and happy to have a little chat. Here's a view of her workspace, with pieces that have been glazed, but are yet to be fired.

In Hill's kitchen, exposed pipes behind the counter have plenty of company: the pipes that form her storage units. The rug, by Chilewich, is made of vinyl.

Since Growing Home launched two years ago, close to 600 people have enrolled in the program, Feldman says. Of those, 175 people have purchased the lots next door to their own homes, 50 have completed their landscaping projects, and the remaining individuals are waiting to close on properties. Though almost all projects are residential works, Valerie Woziniak, an Algiers resident, completed the first community garden in May.

The Airstream is tucked into the back garden of a Berkeley co-op. Having a garden at my footsteps and chickens just over the fence make it feel peaceful and private.

San Francisco’s modernists were faced with the issue of building within a firmly established stylistic tradition—think bay windows and gingerbread. Henry Hill’s 1947 renovation of a 1908 Victorian tucked away on an alley in historic Russian Hill provides a remarkable response to the dilemma.

Giant Budda at Kamakura

New residential buildings are few and far between in England, so architects like Phillips have increasingly been charged with creating groundbreaking modern environments within the shells of historic houses. “People just find it easier to work within existing houses to transform them to be sleek, stylish and functional,” says Phillips. “Extensions have almost become a requirement for any homeowner who wants to be a part of modern living within the U.K.”

“The kitchen didn’t really have a home,” says Colkitt. His solution was to build the sleeping loft directly above it, giving the kitchen some architectural congruity, and implement recessed lighting into the dropped ceiling, also the underside of the floor of the sleeping loft. Like the reading loft, the sleeping loft is open on both sides to bring in light and air, with a single ladder leading up to it. “The sleeping loft ‘fold’ is a complement to the reading loft ‘fold’—they balance each other out,” says Colkitt. Photo by Cheryl Ramsay

The curving white wall in architect Jay Atherton’s bedroom is optimally sited to capture shadows from the redbud tree outside his window. The bed rests on a concrete floor. "It was important that the rooms be pure spaces," says Cy Keener, a carpenter, who helped design and construct the spartan home in Phoenix.

Eero and Pirkko Aarnio, in their home’s kitchen, have been married for over 50 years.

“On a bright day, you have to wear sunglasses in here,” Mandolene says. A freestanding travertine-and-steel fireplace, open on all four sides, divides the living and dining areas.

The project encourages "social interactions," Garcia says, "because you have to control the piece in a group."