“The home is quite small, but designed in such a way that you don’t feel it,” Herrin says. Lift-slide openings by Quantum Windows & Doors, which were fabricated fewer than 50 miles from the house, make the main living space seem larger.

The Best Watering Can Although they admit that a watering can is a luxury (any old pitcher will do the trick) having a good watering can does make the chore easier. They recommend the Haw Bosmere V115 5-liter because it “produces a gentle rain the spindliest seedlings could love.”

The sauna is a decidedly Scandinavian touch.

Constructed using a single tube that is bent three times to create the handle and pour spout and then soldered onto a metal can, the x3 Watering Can is an elegant and modern upgrade to a plastic or silver tone metallic watering can. Of it, Santos says, "Art and function in one—there's no need to hide this watering can under the sink when you're done using it."

Architectural designer Sebastian Mariscal and project manager Jeff Svitak created a house in Venice, California, for Michael and Tamami Sylvester. Known as Dwell Home Venice for its role as an exemplification of modern architecture, the house is an homage to indoor-outdoor living. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

A guest bedroom, with furniture from Room & Board, overlooks the bridge above the dining courtyard. The home’s landscape architecture is by Ventura, California–based Jack Kiesel. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

The X3 watering can by Paul Loebach for Kontextür is a minimal vessel inspired by Eastern European motorcycles, and the company’s first product for use outside of the bathroom, $120.

Aldo Bakker designed a watering can that's reduced to the simplest shape possible.

The living and dining room look out to the central courtyard, promoting indoor/outdoor living. Here, five doors slide into a pocket in the wall to create a nearly 23-foot-wide opening on one side looking into the garden. Another set on the opposite side enhances cross ventilation.

Requirements for licensed contractors depend on the scope of work and the location of the project.

Pikaplant and Pikaplant One Water is free, but your time isn’t. If you’ve suffered through the guilt of letting houseplants brown and yellow due to lack of attention, the Dutch company Pikaplant has two products that do almost all of the work for you. The glass-and-steel Pikaplant One shelf is designed with a passive watering system that only requires a occasional fill-up, and the Pikaplant Jars are all-in-one terrariums for the watering deficient. Unless you’re clumsy enough to knock it down, you’re set.

Tall indigenous wetland grasses grow fecund, right up to the border of the saltwater swimming pool.

It is all very mindful. “We proceeded with a philosophy and a vision,” says Chamberlin. “All of us understood that the poetry of what you look at is very important.”

Mila designed the home’s concrete pool, which is finished with a custom plaster. The pool area includes sleek chairs from Cast + Crew.

Maggie Treanor waters plants around her rural home.

Designed by Paul Loebach for Kontextur, the x3 is actually a single metal tube bent three times to create a handle and spout.

At the pavilion devoted to Design for Humankind, innovative products emphasized an expanded notion of design for all populations. Moen's Folding Teak Shower Seat and OXO's Good Grips Salad Spinner and Indoor Pour & Store Water Can caught attendees' eyes, along with photographs of Dwell-featured homes such as Orchard House in Sebastopol, California.

A 41-foot-long heated saltwater pool includes a submerged tanning ledge. The hot tub was created using concrete and stucco. The outdoor area includes lounge chairs from Jøna’s curatory, Cast + Crew.

Michael and Tamami brought greenery to the master bath courtyard, which is lined with Eco Arbor Designs deck tiles, in the form of succulents in a ceramic Peanut planter by John Follis for Architectural Pottery from Vessel. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

The knotty cedar cladding from Crenshaw Lumber was pretreated with an ebony stain from Timber Pro UV—twice on both sides—prior to being brought to the site, where it was left for eight weeks so that it could adjust to the moist seaside air before installation. “Cedar siding swells or shrinks when it gains or loses moisture while it reaches equilibrium with the content of the surrounding air,” says Michael. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

Once through the street-level entrance, the property's modern garage door comes into view. Stairs lead up to the kitchen.

“It’s never static or solid here—with thelight, there’s always some sort of movement.”—Austin Lowrey, resident

Two-inch-thick bamboo treads and a bamboo handrail on the stairs lead the way to the second floor.

Designed by Hawkins, the Perch by Canary 3 offers additional outdoor seating. The 22-foot-long triple slider facilitates indoor/outdoor access.

Mary Henning and Ann Wansbrough's renovation of a semidetached cottage enables them to use 75 percent less town water than the average two-person home.

Bakker has designed many new kinds of vessels for producer and curator Thomas Eyck, his friend and first patron, including a watering can made of a single copper tube. “With the watering can, I questioned the relationship of its elements. I made the spout, handle, and container continuous and the same size. Everything is now container, handle, and spout at the same time.”

Located in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, the original 1916 factory building was converted to rental units in the 1980s and condominiums in 2005. The extensive drop ceilings were probably cost-saving heating measures by the original owner. With the apartment facing the less-exposed North and West elevations, the architect had to maximize the amount of sunlight the space could admit.

Eujin: Soma Water Move aside Brita and Bobble, because there's a new water filter in town. And it's 100% biodegradable and sleeker than that decorative object perched on your living room table. The simple and elegant design (which immediately reminded me of Dieter Rams) is all thanks to great talents Markus Diebel, IDEO's design director, and incase's cofounder Joe Tan, who designed the curved beauty and Manual's Tom Crabtree who took the helm on packaging. The release date is near, so I'd hop to it if I were you.

The house rises to nearly the height of the neighboring structure. The plantings on the bridge, which connects the guest pavilion with the master bedroom and media room pavilion, will eventually grow in to create a privacy screen. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

A 22-foot-long door allows easy access to the backyard. "We paired the lift and slide door with a retractable screen for insects and a retractable canopy above, to shade the deck and control heat gain into the house," Horowitz says.

On the rooftop deck is an outdoor fireplace clad in cement board panels, plus a custom wych elm table by Arnold d’Epagnier and Charles Outdoor sofas by B&B Italia.

"When I was furnishing the place, I made sure it’d also be a good place for art," Judin tells FvF. "After that, I considered my other passions: cooking, for example. My kitchen is the heart and center of the house."

In the backyard, Umerani and Fashandi decided to limit the lawn to minimize water consumption.

The couple made the house feel even more spacious by flooding a series of levels with natural light.