The Lost Whiskey Cabin stands on a rocky bluff overlooking Virginia's countryside.

"The brief was to efficiently and cost effectively transform a light-starved weatherboard into an open and modern home with a good connection to the rear garden and a relaxed yet refined feel," says the firm. The owner charred and oiled the shiplapped cypress siding himself.

Beolit 15 Bluetooth Speaker by Cecilie Manz for Bang & Olufsen, $599 from store.dwell.com From Bang & Olufsen, the Beolit 15 Bluetooth Speaker is a sophisticated portable speaker that blends exquisite technology and thoughtful design details.

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

A small terrace outfitted with an H55 easy chair by Björn Hultén offers a view of the San Francisco Bay.

Fashion designer Josie and her husband Ken Natori are big fans of traditional Japanese architecture, so when Brooklyn-based practice Tsao & McKown Architects designed their home in Pound Ridge, New York, they used a heavy, exposed-timber structure, and included Japanese-style gardens and landscaping.

The owners of this 2,300-square-foot converted loft in SoHo have a penchant for color and collections. To make way for these elements, BC-OA kept new materials simple and desaturated with super white walls; oil-finished, white oak flooring; and white lacquered cabinetry. In the dining area, a custom designed, built-in, tufted banquette adds soft juxtaposition against the live edge dining table. The velvet upholstery is meant to provide contrast against the exposed, white-washed original brick in both texture and era. Overhead a brass chandelier with exposed Edison bulbs references the former Swan Incandescent Electric Light Co. which occupied the loft after construction was completed in 1897.

A look at the home's front facade. In a Melbourne suburb, Splinter Society Architecture designed the versatile home for Mark and Cara Harbottle and their three young children.

Inspired by modern Japanese minimalism, Hong Kong practice JAAK demolished the walls of this two-bedroom apartment and remodelled it into a studio with an

The living area boasts nearly 10-foot-high ceilings that impart a feeling of airiness and spaciousness. Discreet, built-in storage in the floor at the top of the steps prevents clutter from accumulating.

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"In this project, we got so much benefit out of this 'secret garden' for the master suite along with all of these environmental benefits that the residents were excited to embrace. It's one of the pieces we are happiest about," says architect Jonathan Feldman.

Moonshine is beautifully set in an isolated spot in the English countryside outside of Bath. The dramatic juxtaposition of a stone gamekeeper's cottage and a modern timber framed addition gives the home a quaint, pastoral feel while capitalizing on the dramatic view of St. Catherine's Valley.

Living in between the woods

Behind an unassuming 19th-century facade in Singapore's Joo Chiat neighborhood, Ching Ian and Yang Yeo's renovation of a typical shophouse venerates tradition while looking squarely to the future. Photo by Richard Powers

This Eichler is wrapped with vertical western red cedar. One of the reasons Klopf Architecture selected this material is because of its low-VOC stain. It matches the color of the original siding, which had sadly seen better days.

Nestled in a celebrated midcentury neighborhood, the Riley Residence was a 1957 ranch house two doors down from Crestwood Hills, the Los Angeles cooperative development known for its collection of A. Quincy Jones masterpieces. The L-shaped floor plan on a large wooded lot was reimagined by architect Cory Buckner, who remodeled and developed an addition inspired by the nearby icons. Quirky retro charm radiates from the home with pistachio green cabinetry in the eat-in kitchen. These were complemented with some quiet complements like Blizzard countertops by Caesarstone and white tile by Ann Sacks. A nook with a tulip-style table by ModShop, a custom upholstered banquette by Johannes Interiors, and a Caboche chandelier by Foscarini accentuates the home's retro charm.

The vibrant tiles in one of the showers were left as is, an homage to their predecessor, the ceramics studio J.Schatz.

The Slow offers much more than boutique accommodations, steeping guests in a curated experience that blends art across several disciplines.

The infinity pool seems to stretch into lush views.

Inspirational spaces

Paving with a jagged edge connects the living room to the pool in the northeast section.

The interior palette of this kitchen includes bespoke limed oak cabinetry. These white kitchen cabinets were fabricated by local outfit Panorama Cabinets. Finishing the look are polished concrete floors and black accents, such as in the rectangular light fixture and the barstools.

A 1'5" by 2'6" Mondrianesque boucherouite.

In their concrete-walled courtyard, Yuka and Aaron watch as twins Emerson and Jasper, daughters Maude and Mirene, and Alfie the dog play. The house is painted in Black Bean Soup by Benjamin Moore, a color in keeping with the period of the original architecture. The garden was designed by Lauren Hall-Behrens of Lilyvilla Gardens.

Day takes a swim in a new lap pool framed by a lush Southern California garden. The lower wall next to the pool is made from stacked Pennsylvania bluestone, which was used for all exterior stone as well.

Niko Architect and landscape firm Ecopochva designed a Moscow home that doesn’t play by the rectilinear rules of conventional architecture. Vegetation blankets the home’s concrete form, and its walls sweep upward and outward to become roofs. Molded floor-to-ceiling windows curve to grant panoramic views of the backyard and swimming pool.

Homeowner Simon Doonan stands next to the front door. "We have flamboyance, and we’re not inhibited about anything. [Architect] Gray Organschi gave [the house] that intellectual rigor needed to make it beautiful. We were well matched."

Karen White, David MacNaughtan, and their sons, Griffin and Finlay, hang out on the front deck, which lines up next to the neighbors' porch.