Photos for condominium on Dwell.com

Durango Urbano - Eskema Arquitectos

In Chicago’s Lower West Side, editorial director Chelsea Jackson and and her chef husband Arthur renovated their fourth-floor condominium to include a custom Bulthaup kitchen. "We wanted to find a kitchen island that would be light enough to make the room seem large while still standing up to heavy-duty cooking," Chelsea notes. Calls to kitchen retailers were fruitless until Arthur reached the Bulthaup showroom, where the staff suggested he come check out a floor model of the discontinued System 20 kitchen. The stainless steel island, with its precise profile and gas cooktop, was exactly what the couple was after, and they bought it on the spot. A full Bulthaup kitchen—completed with components from the B3 range—would soon become the centerpiece of their new home.

The four-story townhouse is set on a tree-lined West Village block and is part of the Superior Ink condominium project designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects in the late 2000s.

Kings Point—located at the Indians Canyon Golf Resort—is home to 44 condominiums designed by Dan Palmer and William Krisel in 1968. High ceilings, ample clerestory windows, and extensive views of the Jacinto Mountains are among their defining charactertistics.

Phase one consists of 23 houses and two apartment buildings with 10 units each. The next two phases, The Grove and The Park, will offer a mix of town houses and condominium apartments. Some critics see these more conventional schemes as diluted versions of the original concept.

The 1,605-square-foot condominium is one of 24 units located within the building.

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.

A tiny apartment in a Hong Kong high rise is named Mini Tree House Residence after its little lofted bedroom. Located in the residential neighborhood of Ho Man Tin in Kowloon, Hong Kong, this apartment was designed with a box-loft bedroom that's suspended above the main living and dining area. The little nook looks out to views of tree canopies along the hillside where the condominium is sited.

Some real estate factoids: 1) Condominiums, long popular overseas, got their U.S. start in Puerto Rico in 1958. The Federal Housing Administration didn’t recognize condo ownership until 1961. 2) In California, the Mills Act provides tax relief to homeowners who preserve their historic architecture. Similar tax rebate and abatement programs exist in other states.