Gray-purple iron railings, a fuchsia and green wooden entry, and garage doors provide contrast to the white walls of this Santa Barbara home. Photo by Steven Holmes.

In the living room, the architects painted the limestone fireplace a dark shade of blue-green. The walnut coffee table is by Noguchi for Herman Miller. The Barcelona chair is by Mies van der Rohe.

Walnut panels and touches of bright red warm up the minimalist space, which the owners wanted to be “clean, eclectic, and modern.” The pendant is Big Bang by Foscarini.

The couple asked for a “no maintenance, not low maintenance” backyard. However, Shino tends to “Carlsbad's largest public bathroom for cats” (otherwise known as their Japanese-style rock garden) about once a month. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

The bedroom is outfitted with only the basics.

The veranda looks out onto the harbor.

The office looks out on the spacious deck.

Here's what you need to know before undergoing a building project with a contractor but no architect.

When not in use during winter, the tub is hidden from the home’s view. The entrance has a sheltered overhang for car parking.

Crittenden Frum prepares food in the galley-style kitchen, which is outfitted with a Cascade Taupe Vintage countertop from Marble Trend.

The rear of the house looks onto a lush backyard. The rough, industrial prefabricated concrete panels by the German manufacturer Syspro are the building blocks of the home.

Moseley notes the home’s distinctive staircase as one of her favorite features. "When the steel was ordered from the steelyard," she says, "it was marked with our metalworker’s name, for easy pickup. That scribble still exists in random places in the staircase and is very industrial—we love it!" Hand-welded by Mike Carman, a local contractor, the staircase runs through all three floors, and it was custom-sized to fit the dimensions of the shipping containers, measuring nine-feet-six-inches tall and eight-feet wide.

Formerly an office building with a dark basement, the structure—reminiscent of the Flatiron building in New York—was updated with a curved window on the street level, as well as a perforated white acrylic panel that allows light to enter the house.

The price is right.

“I love the house more each day,” says Tamami Sylvester of her and husband Michael's home by Sebastian Mariscal in Venice, California. The kitchen, which includes all Miele appliances, is sheathed in custom woodwork from Semihandmade. Accessories from A+R complement the Caesarstone countertops and Franke faucet. A LifeSource Water System provides filtration. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

Six-inch-square blue tiles cover the walls and floor of the girls’ upstairs bathroom. The towels and rug are also by H&M Home.

"How would a kid draw a house?" architect Per Franson asked himself when designing the Olivero-Reinius family home. The simple prefab structure’s unusual color comes from a traditional source: falu rödfärg, the historic mineral paint that gives the region’s famous barns their red color.

Vintage furniture looks right at home in the refurbished mid-century space.

Architect Gustavo Costa calls the home library the “project’s heart.” This central space houses the owner’s expansive collection of about 5,000 books, and acts as a meeting place for friends and colleagues. A Gerrit Thomas Rietveld Red and Blue chair completes the space.

5. "What are the top 10 most important things I must have in a home?" "If there are two people buying the home, write your answers down separately, starting with your absolute must-haves," Hoffman explains. “Putting together a list separately can give both parties and the realtor a clear picture of what the perfect home will have for both of you."

An outdoor shower was the family’s first construction project. “Doing the shower made us realize we can build things the way we want to build them,” says Meg.

“We sought to create a house that would not damage the environment and not be too visible,” says architect Tina Gregorič. A single zigzagging roof stretches over 5,380 square feet, doubling the area of the interior spaces and serving as an ideal spot for sunset cocktails and whale-watching.

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.

Escape made a splash by launching a property in Tampa Bay filled with its trailers. But you don’t have to live there to own one.

The courtyard is just one of many open spaces that will be highly utilized—in the non-winter months anyway. Concrete worked well with developing the language of FlatPak. The second level is a wood panel that can be clad in corrugated metal or cedar—different layers that can be plugged in like covers on your cellphone.

The kitchen is situated in a sunken basement, underneath the staircase’s walnuts steps. The same joiner who built the house’s timber elements built the white cabinetry which are finished in a 40% gloss lacquer. Silestone countertops and integrated appliances maintain the space’s simple lines. Additional storage is fitted under the staircase.

Located on a steep site with limited suitable building ground, the firm decided to cantilever the home over the hillside, which has the effect of helping the structure blend in with the landscape.

These wood-wrapped spaces take oriented strand board to new heights.

In Montara, California, architect Michael Maltzan designed a home for, his sister and brother-in-law. From certain vantage points, the home’s unique angles result in M.C. Escher–like optical illusions.

In the kitchen, walnut cabinets and polished concrete create a clean atmosphere to cook and entertain. The marble table and purple Fermob chairs are perfect for light meals.

If you’re traveling to Puglia in Italy, one of the most iconic sights are trulli (trullo is the singular), an ancient hut that's specific to the Itria Valley in the Apulia region of Southern Italy. Made with dry stone, trulli date back to medieval times.

In the open living-kitchen-dining area, the pendant is Rock by Diesel for Foscarini. The yellow dining chair is About a Chair by Hay.

Kaz-ma holds up the charred post while the rest of the family attends to affairs at the sunken table.

At night, the exterior screen provides privacy when the house is illuminated.

"The building form was intentionally asymmetric and clad in hand-stained, split-face shakes and metal," says Campos Studio.

The architects inserted skylights in an artful pattern in the rooftop.