The units don't even require foundations—simple ground screws from Krinner are enough to support them.

In the kitchen, the continuous kitchen worktop and table are made of marble from Caledonia Marble. The pink Tamatik dining chairs are by Connie Chisholm and are from the Canadian design shop Made. The Blinding Love pendant lights are by Periphere, which has shops in Montreal and Toronto. Photo by Naomi Finlay.

Wooten handpicked every piece in the house, such as the 1955 Medea chair by Vittorio Nobili, near which he placed an abandoned bird’s nest he found on the property.

The rooftop tent can be accessed from the interior via a wooden ladder or—for the more athletic—via a series of wall-mounted climbing holds, made by Vock and carved from persimmon-tinted hardwood.

The master bedroom interior is finished with cherry wood.

The compact, hardy cabins were designed to work in a variety of park settings, including the beach.

Architect Christopher C. Deam, Dwell founder Lara Deam's husband, designed Airstream's newest travel trailer, the International Sterling.

Sliding fritted glass doors provide privacy and sectioned-off spaces when needed.

"Smart is not just a car. It is a statement of urban living and the perfect city car in terms of beautiful, functional design" says Claus Ditlev Jensen, Collection Director at Boconcept.

No compromises were made throughout the development process or the various stages of production. The sleek and clever city car in essence is a transportation solution to urban living challenges.

To complement the white-washed custom cabinetry in her kitchen, architect Julie Salles Schaffer has designed a tile backsplash to resemble "melting butter in a white pan." Daltile arranged her two-color AutoCAD design—white and off-white—onto a mesh backing for a small fee. To soften the edges of the cabinets’ drawers and doors, Schaffer requested radial edging.

In the living room, a Nelson bench doubles as a coffee table, and a wood-burning stove from Cleanburn Stoves set in a white brick hearth keeps the space warm.

In contrast from the sleek matte exterior, the vehicles interior combines tobacco brown leather with ash grey sofa-style fabric seats.

The door to Eoghan Mahony’s office is set on a caster and has a hinge that runs the entire ten-foot height.

Photo by Laziz Hamani

The Blues Are Still Blue Grinding down the concrete floor was too costly, so the Benoits had it painted blue with inexpensive Benjamin Moore latex floor-and-patio paint and then sealed with Zinsser shellac—a natural, nontoxic product that brushes on and can be easily touched up. It darkened the blue paint a bit and gives the floor a hand-worked luster. benjaminmoore.com rustoleum.com/zin... Scandinavian Grace The Benoits bought their Scandinavian modern table from Klassik Living in Berkeley. “Their prices are very reasonable for the uniqueness and quality offered,” says Peter. They chose teak since it darkens nicely and naturally when exposed to sunlight—–helpful since their table gets blasted by morning rays. klassikliving.com

The kitchen, living area, and bathroom are located on the ground floor. Large windows overlook the surrounding forest, and Italy to the west.

In Yuen Long, Hong Kong, a 452-square foot residence is designed to accommodate a young couple, one of their mothers, and their pets: a cat and a parrot. The home features transforming furniture and nooks and crannies that are perfect for the pets. A bench by the door doubles as a litter box.

A calming vibe is immediately instilled at the entry.

No whiteware here. In this moody apartment in Berlin, multi-toned charcoal gray subway tiles make up the backsplash, which contrasts with the pop of rosy color on the kitchen cabinets.

“I love the house more each day,” says Tamami Sylvester of her and husband Michael's home by Sebastian Mariscal in Venice, California. The kitchen, which includes all Miele appliances, is sheathed in custom woodwork from Semihandmade. Accessories from A+R complement the Caesarstone countertops and Franke faucet. A LifeSource Water System provides filtration. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

Sævik designed the wood tub in the bathroom, which features an adjacent sauna. The Inxx A5 faucet is by Mora.

The architects designed the large dining table, which is framed by the open kitchen, the wood-burning stove, and the garden beyond.

Corrugated siding usually used for roofing is used for the exterior.

At a home renovation in Connecticut, cabinet fabricator Michael Madore experimented with what he calls an "aggressive" metal-sanding process to pull out the grain from the whitewashed oak plywood. For the hardware-free cabinets, Julie Salles Schaffer looked to a drawer pull detail derived from Giò Ponti’s work—though she admits the radial edging is an effect entirely her own.

A linear sequence of eight, 12-foot bays extends the length of the home from rear bedrooms and an office to the open kitchen and living room space. The modest form, a reflection of the owners' desire for simplicity, required few materials: wood, concrete, and steel. Photo by Ron Johnson.

“Everything needed to be approachable and simple,” says Hilary. “The house reflects who we are.”

In short, "turning the trailer into a smart home has also eliminated a lot of potential stress." Air cards connect the trailer to the internet via cellular networks, so Pendl can monitor it from anywhere.

Pictured here is the door to the bathroom. White curtains inside the bathroom provide privacy.

This photo of Sævik Retreat, a 1960s artist’s retreat in southeastern Norway designed by Irene Sævik (featured in Dwell in November 2013) will be displayed in the Scandinavian pavilion at Dwell on Design in Los Angeles. Photo by Ivan Brodey.

The front door is by Simpson Door Company.

Using another service, Outback Power, Pendl can see how much energy he's drawing from (or sending to) the grid when his 450 watt wind turbine and 800 watts of solar panels are operating. This all being said, the trailer isn't yet fully integrated with smart technoly: climate control and HVAC are still a separate system. "Another nice addition down the road would be to add smart tires to the trailer so that I can monitor and adjust air pressure from afar," Pendl says. "I take the Airstream on some pretty bumpy forest roads—the high desert of Nevada for Burning Man included—and it'd be great to quickly see an adjust tire pressure for better traction."

Dyer allocated the entry to the niche, saving and reinstalling the woodwork. It frames a beckoning view of the kitchen, as well as the striking new windows over the sink.

The Lai family—Mayuko, baby Shota on her lap, David, Maya, and Yumi sitting on a cushion on the deck—relaxes in their indoor-outdoor living space, made by opening the glass sliding doors to connect the living room and engawa deck.

A Question of Truss The beautiful latticework of metal and wood is over 150 years old and proved costly to strengthen after the damage done by a long-forgotten bash from some farm machinery. Add in the cost of the walls that had to be rebuilt, having the purlins repaired, and tripling the thickness of the wooden trusses, and by the time the scaffolding was down, the pair had laid out $190,000.