Perched just above the edge of the Narrows, the house is an ideal place to live surrounded by the wild beauty of Ketchikan.

“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.

Lightroom 1.0, a photography studio, is a freestanding structure on the property. “Together, they represent an autobiography of my career,” Carpenter says.

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

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

Beneath the postcard-like backdrop of La Concha mountain, a previously abandoned Spanish villa received a modernist revamp for a couple and their young child. Natural, earthy interiors connect the living spaces to the lush surroundings, with the light-filled kitchen opening directly onto an outdoor pergola and pool.

The two tiny homes were designed by CAST Architecture.

A passage between the walls for hide and seek.

The Mt. Buller Home of Andrew and Tiffany Percy and Family via the Design Files.

The main level features a bold blue kitchen illuminated by skylights.

The architects pulled away the roof at the house’s center to create a courtyard where the residents can enjoy meals. The ground sits below floor level, which means that the wraparound eucalyptus deck can also serve as a bench.

This living/bedroom space showcases neutral tones and shades of white to contrast the continued use of natural, treated wood surfaces.

Naturally rusted steel sheathes the cabins that Malek Alqadi built on a 1954 homestead outside Joshua Tree National Park. "I loved the idea of stitching the existing structure back together, reinforcing it, and giving it life again without compromising the beautiful setting it’s in," he says.

Paul Brown's plotter drawing "BIGDIM / 0 10 10 0 0 0 / 200,120 / 11,969" is an intricate progression and deconstruction of geometric shapes. 1979, from Digital Pioneers.

The original home’s second floor had three bedrooms with flat ceilings. Arch11 quickly realized there was a great volume in the upper floors at the gable ends of the home and chose to integrate the attic space into the second floor. This design move allowed the interior to be informed in part by the exterior while creating a bright, serene living space among the treetops.

Braun KF 21 Aromaster designed by Florian Seiffert and Hartwig Hahlcke (1976), in white or orange.