Architect Craig Steely has become fast friends with Russell-Clarke and Moolsintong. He hangs out in the kitchen and lives not far from the house.

The public staircase is directly adjacent to the house, though the louvers mitigate the view of passersby in favor of views of San Francisco.

At night, opening the entire top floor is a breeze. Russell-Clarke and Moolsintong are even planning of rigging some kind of sail over the back patio for shade. The hot tub is by Roberts Hot Tubs.

Russell-Clarke and Moolsintong designed their bed. Credit for the custom joinery of the closet and cabinets goes to woodworker Wayne Berger.

Architect Janna Levitt devised a creative emellishment for a residence in Canada. Photo by: Philip Cheung

Thanks to a contemporary interior that she’s been updating for a decade, modern architect Abigail Turin has learned to love her traditional 1925 San Francisco home. Rather than indulge her impulse and strip away the home’s traditional flourishes, Turin embraced the dark in her striking living room—the deep paint is Le Corbusier’s 4320J from Les Couleurs Suisse. An iconic Arco lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos, Charles sofas by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia, an Extra Big Shadow floor lamp by Marcel Wanders for Cappellini, and a painting over the marble fireplace by Martin Barré shed a little light.

Another simple, white kitchen with black countertops is this diminutive kitchen in Singapore. Light pours in through the large window, and a tiny but tasteful farmhouse kitchen table rests in the middle of everything.

Two trunk-like columns support an aluminum-and-zinc-clad home in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains designed by architect Craig Steely. With an intention to disrupt as few oak trees on the dense site as possible, Steely built the glass-walled house to nestle against the steep hillside. Visitors access the entrance from above, descending to the living spaces via a native grass-covered roof.

Though the daughter didn’t want all-glass walls, natural light and airflow were key. Levy and Connect:Homes fellow cofounder Gordon Stott used an LED system to offset light from windows and doors. Says Stott, “It’s about 150 watts to light the whole house.”

HEXAGON WALL TILES

Located in Aarhus, Denmark, Villa R is a minimalist, serene structure clad in zinc panels. "The objective was to create a house that brings the forest inside through large glass panels—and create an ever-changing seasonal backdrop for the interior living spaces," stated the architecture firm, C.F. Møller, of the 3,200-square-foot abode.

Architect Craig Steely designed this house for himself, his wife Cathy Liu, a painter, and their son, Zane, that looks out to the Pacific Ocean from a lava flow on the big island of Hawaii.

For an escape from bustling San Francisco, architect Craig Steely and his wife Cathy have created a modernist getaway on a lava field next to a black sand beach on Hawaii’s Big Island. Fitted with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the ocean, the steel-framed home is one of several homes that Steely built on the recently active lava field.

Six staircases, many open to outside light, serve as pathways between the private interior spaces.

For the primary ensuite bedroom, Hylton-Daniel designed and added a small deck that connects the space to the outdoors.

To access a secret play area in the 2 Bar House by Feldman Architecture, children clamber up climbing holds purchased from a local sporting goods store.

Arbel’s “14” sconces spot the wall to ethereal effect in the master bedroom. “I wanted this place to be habitable. One of my greatest criticisms of modern architecture is that it often forgets to make things cozy.”

Hynam built additional storage along one angled wall of the bedroom loft and beneath the skylight.

Located on Hawaii’s Big Island, the Lavaflow 1 - Robert Trickey House was designed by San Francisco-based architect, Craig Steely. Captured by architectural photographer Mike Kelley, this home and studio was built on hardened lava from the 1955 Kilauea eruption.

Six-year-old twins Nicolas and Constanza use Pentimento as their “little battleground,” says Pasternak. “They have some options here that they will not find anywhere else.” Among those options are a climbing wall offering easy access to the roof.

Though most of the home's interior comes without a splashy designer's name attached, the bathroom is kitted out with a toilet, sink, and bath/shower from Jasper Morrison's line for Ideal Standard. The cabinets are from an Ikea kitchen system.

The Wall Lamp is the simplest yet most adjustable of all of the fixtures in the Workstead line by Brooklyn-based design duo Stefanie Brechbuehler and Robert Highsmith. It can be utilized as a wall sconce, reading lamp, ceiling washer or even a task light. Shown here with a companion lamp, the Workstead Wall Lamp can be grouped with other wall lamps to create a versatile and graphic display. Complemented by a handsome black shade, the lamp is an elegant and flexible frame for a single bulb. The wall lamp is crafted from iron, steel, and brass in India.

The Type 75 Wall Lamp is an elegant wall light that is designed to fit seamlessly into a modern home. The lamp is defined by its classic Anglepoise looks—it features clean lines and a simple shade. The Type 75 Wall light can be used on its own or paired with another Type 75 Wall light to frame a bathroom mirror, headboard, or desk.

An IdeaPaint wall in full effect in a family's kitchen. The company, which is exhibiting at Dwell on Design (booth #1009), is recruiting their onsite artist, Derek Cascio, to create a special wall for kids to color and scribble on in the Modern Family Pavilion (booth #901) Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31.

Plant Wall Design created a custom, self-sustaining vertical green wall for the show.

Graphic Novelty A textile designed in 1998 by Scandinavian designer Carl Johan Hane serves as an artful accent to the guest bedroom. Neely found the patters--Mobile, created for the Swedish textile company Kinnasand--as Skandium, in London. "I wasn't sure how best to display it. Then a painter friend of mine suggested I have it stretched across a wooden frame, just like artists do with raw canvas," he says.

The couple initially painted partition walls between the children's room and their own with black metallic paint creating both a writing surface for the children and a magnetic bulletin board for notes. However, "the black looked too oppressive," Astrakhan says. So they applied several coats of lively lime green paint to brighten up that section of the house.

A series of plywood panels separate the large common area of the cabin from the smaller private areas. They slide open to reveal the sleeping area, outfitted with custom bunk beds.

A good dose of inspiration from Luis Barragán turned a dark and beleaguered midcentury house into a family home for the ages. The paint colors chosen by the residents and architect Linda Taalman are American Cheese and Blushing Bride, both by Benjamin Moore, creating a tapestry of color and texture.

A wall of bamboo adjacent to the atrium floor provides a dramatic and seductive green entrance—“natural art,” Eric calls it.

A ‘light soffit’ offers a dynamic view of the stream below, providing both visual and audio stimulation. Throughout the year, the studio is filled with the sound of water, from the ocean waves to the rain and drizzle, to the flowing stream below. The artist, who has a longstanding connection to the site, focuses on “art which leaves marks at once permanent and delicate,” much like the structure itself.

The Heath tiles in the bathroom were hand-selected from boxes of factory seconds.

Sherman’s friend Anna Chang prepares tea in the kitchen. The range is by Wolf. Walls are coated with parging, a type of concrete made with sand instead of gravel—-more typically used in an industrial context.

Minimal interventions by architect Andrew Simpson allowed this former jam warehouse outside of Melbourne, Australia, to be turned into a family residence. "To draw light and ventilation into what was a poorly oriented and deep footprint, an extensive number of operable skylights were introduced on the north- and south-facing roof pitches, and a large void connecting the floors was strategically positioned to also take advantage of this amenity," Simpson says. American oak floorboards and Dulux paint were used throughout the property for continuity.

The PH 3/2½ Wall Sconce was designed by Poul Henningsen as a member of his three-shade family, a series of lights that were constructed with a three-layer shade in place of the traditional one-shade model. This sconce directs the majority of light downward, but the diffused light also plays off of the other shades, creating a warm, ambient light.