He worked around existing oak and eucalyptus trees for the new building, and retained the vernacular of an original barn, at right, where Frankel hosts concerts. Check out MVRDV's Balancing Barn.

The framed aluminum of the corner window by Natralight breaks up the roof of recycled slate tiles, which is entirely of a piece with the roofs around it. The Scottish oak cladding comes from Abbey Timber and the black aluminum cladding from MSP Scotland.

Davor and August check out the yard from the living room. “The bifold Vistalite doors allow us to open the house up completely and enjoy the fresh, warm air,” Davor says.

A dramatic black island is expertly balanced by a wall of white cabinetry and a refrigerator that blends perfectly. The kitchen’s black countertops were cut from Nero Assoluto granite. The sink and faucet are from Quebec-based company Rubi. Appliances are from Wolf.

The juxtaposition of black and white is perhaps the most notable detail of the home’s interiors. In the guest bathroom, black and white tiles provide visual interest.

The iT House offers cross-ventilation through its wide, expansive doors and windows, which naturally help cool down the home's interior temperature. Photo by: Gregg Segal

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."

A side view of the house and of Salmela’s signature architectural feature: the “unchimney.” All windows are from Loewen.

Since Copenhagen is generally cold, the house was painted black to trap warmth. The result was that in its first year, it consumed so little energy that the client received a generous refund from the heating company. “Many wooden houses in Scandinavia use this trick,” Larsen says. “On sunny days it even radiates warmth, so that in spring and autumn you can sit outside by the wall and in this way extend the outdoor season by a few weeks every year. These weeks are valuable in places with little light.”

The smooth, raven-hued island in this kitchen is made of oak with a thin stone countertop. A Foscarini Gregg Pendant hangs overhead.

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

A wall of built-ins in the kitchen houses a raft of Miele appliances including a refrigerator, microwave, and espresso machine.

The back wall of the garden, made from stacked concrete blocks, was initially meant to be a row of vertical planting boxes.

"The cedar siding is simply stained with a black semi-transparent oil stain [from Cabot], which allows the color of the wood to still emerge through,” architect Robert Hutchison says. “We love how the black color makes the building recede into the background, and how it in turn allows the trees on the site to emerge as the highlight.”

The resident, a Tokyo transplant, commissioned architect Tadashi Murai to create a fully-equipped structure that comes with its own power, heating and cooling, water, and waste-disposal systems.

A departure from the mod-meets-baroque dining room, Turin’s breakfast area is far more sedate. She and her daughter, Helena, have a chat at a Progetto 1 table by Monica Armani for B&B Italia surrounded by four Lia chairs by Roberto Barbieri for Zanotta. The painting behind Helena is by Ricci Albenda.

Back Camera

“From the street, it appears as a rectangular building with sloping shed roofs, but this is actually an illusion,” Hutchison notes. “The floor plan is actually U-shaped, wrapping around an entry courtyard that is contained by the continuous west facade.” A standing seam metal roof by Custom Bilt Metals blends in with the cedar siding.

The flat roof of the Nakhshabs’ energy-efficient home is topped with photo-voltaic panels. It is the first single-family LEED Gold–certified residence in San Diego.

The owners’ goal was to transform the 19th-century building into a bold single-family residence. Historical architectural details were made modern with a striking black facade, while inside, a flexible living space that opens into an exterior garden enables a simplified lifestyle.

Cambrian black granite countertops lie in contrast with white cabinetry below and open shelves above in this contemporary kitchen. "One of the favorite things I have to do in the kitchen is wash dishes, just because it’s such a delightful view out the window," says the owner.

In the kitchen area and throughout the home, Mads Odgård, shown here, and Mette Lyng Hansen mixed Odgård’s pieces, such as the Odgård kettle for Raadvad and custom table, with Ikea basics and the Workshop pendant lamp by Louis Poulsen.

Loft Szczecin designed several pieces of original plywood furniture for the kitchen. The jet-black refrigerator is from Smeg.

The Boo Fire Basket from Skargaarden is made of black lacquered steel. Designed to fit several logs for an outdoor fire, the Boo can also be overturned to hold a candle or lantern.

The bathroom includes a stainless steel-and-aluminum Vipp bath module with integrated sink, faucet, and Corian countertop; Vipp spot lamp; glass-walled shower with a complete set of Vipp bathroom accessories; towels; and a Duravit toilet.

In the dining room, a Smoke chair by Marten Baas for Moooi keeps company with a glass-and-ceramic vase by Hella Jongerius and a mirrored steel painting by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto.

A simple poster with bold colors adds to the industrial character of this Paris abode. Photo by Céline Clanet.

The rear facade, like the top-floor addition, is faced in rectangular panels of black rainscreen Richlite over exterior mineral wool insulation.

Brothers Nima and Soheil relax in the family room on an Eames lounge chair and a custom sofa they designed. “Mid-century architecture draws the outdoor environment indoors,” says Soheil. “There’s a lot of natural light, a lot of ventilation.”

Margaret Oomen created the perfect pegboard sourcing inspiration—and got a can of chalkboard paint—from the aisles of Home Depot.

Atherton made the bathtub and sinks by hand, out of marine-grade plywood held together with aluminum spline joints and dyed with Behlen Solar Lux in jet black. To make them waterproof, he coated every surface in a thick layer of West System marine epoxy, popular with builders of wooden boats. The components are inexpensive, but the process is time consuming: Each piece took five days to make.

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50 years Gerrit Rietveld’s Steltman chair has recently been reissued by Rietveld Originals to mark its fiftieth anniversary. The chair, originally designed to seat engaged couples as they choose rings at the Steltman jewelry house in The Hague, was reproduced based on Rietveld’s drawings and one of the two original chairs, currently housed in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. Photo courtesy of Rietveld Originals.

While Brooklyn brownstones conjure up memories of their turn-of-the-century roots, they also remain the modern-day face of New York’s coolest boroughs. With brownstone living, however, comes responsibility—many of these classic beauties are in need of renovation and restoration. Here are 10 standout, renovated brownstones that retain their original charm with added contemporary cool.

Speaking to his original design, architect Saul Zaik says, “We were really just building boxes with a bunch of windows but experimenting with how you integrated indoor and outdoor spaces.” The house has seven different openings to the exterior, allowing different courtyard or patio settings for a range of outdoor activities, including seating for a gathering on the street-facing side. The Milfords hired Lilyvilla Gardens for the landscaping around the house, including variegated bluestone steps with thyme joints.

Architect Christopher Polly kept the Australian home's original facade, which dates back to 1980.