A custom pivot door by Archispec opens onto a foyer with a poured-concrete floor. The oil painting at right is by Derrick Buisch.

Stainless-steel cables along the stairs function as a second railing without blocking views through the adjacent windows.

The house that architects Brian Johnsen and Sebastian Schmaling designed for Chele Isaac and John Neis appears to pop up from Wisconsin’s “driftless area,” an effect that is enhanced by a sedum roof that changes color with the seasons.

A sweeping terrace area is home to the hotel's restaurant, run by Chef Jose Enrique.

A room that Johnsen and Schmaling dubbed the observatory offers panoramic views of the landscape. “I think of it as kind of a tree house,” Isaac says of the space. A pair of Thatcher sofas by Gus Modern bookend a table that Isaac found on the street and refinished. The Tam-Tam tables and Marshmallow ottoman are by Trica.

In the dining area, a Campo d’oro table from De Padova is ringed by vintage Michael Thonet Bentwood chairs. The kitchen features b3 cabinets by Bulthaup and custom stainless-steel countertops. The red Stool_One counter stools are by Konstantin Grcic for Magis.

“The house feels kind of alive. It picks up the subtlety of the land and is perfectly positioned.” —Chele Isaac, resident

The restaurant El Pinton in Seville, Spain.

Grant Mudford, El Paso, Texas.

An Arco floor lamp from Flos arches over a Bend sofa by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia. A pair of Low Pad chairs by Jasper Morrison and a Sunset chair by Christophe Pillet, all for Cappellini, are arranged around a set of Pebble coffee tables by Ligne Roset.

The ground floor of the house contains the living and dining areas, as well as four bedrooms. The upper floor contains the master suite with a lake view, as well as two additional bedrooms. The large 'S' sculpture, shaken from a building following the 2001 earthquake in San Salvador, was salvaged and repurposed by designer Gerardo Dumont.

El Parnita restaurant "The owner gathered an interesting collection of recipes they found throughout Mexico and mixed them with some of their own to create a unique menu that gives this place its unique flavor. Located in the Colonia Roma neighborhood, it is a great place to enjoy a fantastic meal and a nice glass of mezcal." Check out the full article for four more suggestions!

In the bedroom, Tolomeo wall lamps from Artemide are mounted on both sides of the Astrid bed by Copeland. The coral Trellis duvet cover and pillow cases are by Trina Turk Residential.

Architect José Roberto Paredes’s crowning achievement is the freestanding concrete roof that wraps around the structure.

Shelton's team also made sure sustainability went hand-in-hand with affordability. The rainscreen double-wall system with Hardie Panels and the corrugated metal roof reflect sunlight and provide a less expensive, less maintence-intensive house, while strategically placed windows aid cross-ventilation and help cool the home during the humid summer months. The sloped roofs also empty into a rainwater collection system that feeds into the garden.

Shelton was impressed with the way the organization opened up the volunteer labor force to new material exploration and alternative construction methods. "I was blown away by Heartland Habitat's willingness to try something new, especially when they have a model that’s not broken," he says.

Shelton looks at the finished results as more of a spec home of sorts, with lessons that can be applied to future projects. "I really appreciate the midcentury California and Eichler homes, and the attention they took to indoor and outdoor flow," he says. "It’s important in this context. The first thing that happens is people mount a satellite dish and then shut down."

Nearly 200 anodized aluminum fins—each one uniquely shaped—serve as a screen that shields the concrete walls from the wind and snow. The roof extends beyond the house at its southern end, shading the living room and a terrace. At night, a cutaway frames views of the star-filled sky.

Here, one of El Cosmico's three teepees is a lantern for desert travelers.

Chevrolet El Camino by by Renaud Marion

The entire backyard area is devised for enjoying the bright blue skies. To keep all the sections connected, he built a new one-and-a-half story unit that overlooks the pool and links to an additional garage loft.

Triangular sails fold over the portions that receive the harshest sunlight.

The tent-like form—with an area of 2,150 square feet—extends past the perimeter of the house to shield it from the elements.

Paredes’s concept was to radiate rooms from a courtyard and join them with outdoor terraces—a move he borrowed from the traditional Moorish buildings he visited in Spain as a student. “It’s like a checkerboard of a house, where you have living spaces and patios between them,” he says.

"The house plan is composed of a grid with alternating interior and exterior spaces, so that every interior space is adjacent to at least two exterior ones," architect Roberto Javier Dumont says. Designed as a weekend house for a family that lives in San Salvador, the retreat totals 3,500 square feet.

El Dorado designed the interior of the ADA-compliant home with accessibility and ease of use in mind, with simple layouts and enhanced cross-ventilation.

Poured by hand on site, nearly the entire structure of the El Quinche House—including the kitchen counters and sinks—was made of concrete sourced from a local quarry.

Keeping it simple and clean, the interior echoes the open theme of the space, while the stripped Douglas fir post-and-beam frame is given a chance to shine.

Behind the perforated shell lie balconies off the guest rooms. Some of them open up to the sky.

The petite hotel was built on the foundation of what formerly was a three-bedroom house. The striking exterior features a number of perforated panels made of glass reinforced concrete.

Another view of the outdoor sitting areas.

Architect Steven Lombardi is responsible for El Dorado, a modern beauty in La Jolla Shores. Facing a multi-generational home originally built in 1954, Lombardi fully renovated both the interior and exterior. To bring the house up-to-date while preserving a nod to the past, he sandblasted the existing wood structure to expose its original Douglas fir post-and-beam frame.

The back patio overlooks a swath of forest.

The materials for the shelters, which took four weeks to design and four weeks to build, are galvanized steel, TREX composite lumber and two-layer graffitti resistant acrylic.

The pattern on the panels, which can be opened or closed, was inspired by a coral reef. The exterior shell acts as a sun screen that helps keep the structure cool.