White was used extensively throughout the addition, a choice that the architects say enhances the spacious feel of the rooms and draws attention to the views.

Architecture firm NADAAA planned a striated addition to a brick neo-Georgian house in Boston with the owners’ primary goal in mind: to engage with the outdoors year-round. The walls of the rear kitchen and living space are virtually all glass, allowing sight lines to the existing gardens and new pool house through a series of framed vignettes onto the backyard landscape. The glass box is bookended by uniform “fins” that mark the edge of each picture window, as shown here. Photo by John Horner.

Thellend Fortin Architectes designed this two-story addition in the OUtremont neighborhood of Monteal to capture views from the steeply sloping lot.

A wall-mounted fireplace is a dominant feature in the living room.

A view of the backyard through the kitchen.

The cantilevered extension is clad in anthracide-colored concrete panels that reflect the limesone that was used to line the swimming pool.

The architects sited the patio and swimming pool beneath a canopy of mature maple trees, an element that they say makes the site "an oasis in the heart of the city."

The addition was conceived as a "ribbon" that both hugs and runs lateral to the contours of the existing building, offering multiple vantage points from which to admire the surrounding landscape.

"It only cost about $48,000 to build, which was incredibly cheap," says Turner of the Stealth Barn. "We got the Timber Frame Company to supply the shell, then we clad it and fitted out the interior and windows ourselves. The idea was to take the archetypal black tar-painted agricultural building and make an almost childlike icon of that."

The semi-closed entryway contains a white cabinet for storing coats and scarves. The LED ceiling lights are from Contrast Lighting.

The renovated house is outfitted with a sauna.

The kitchen features a distinctive cantilevered countertop.

A new staircase turns a corner at the large stone chimney, an element of the original house that the designers were careful to preserve.

A clear railing follows the stairs to the second floor.

The architecture firm Open Form and the interior design firm Clairoux collaborated on this modern update of a 1950s-era house in Laval, Quebec, north of Montreal.

The architects and interior designers did away with the home's cramped, darkened layout and recast the interior as an open space defined by clean lines.

Modern bathroom vanities in white bathe the room in light, creating a relaxing atmosphere. Mirroring the kitchen of this home, the bathroom features custom wooden cabinetry and Brodware faucets.

The steel beam original to the building was left exposed but toned down with gray, flame-proof paint. It runs the length of the flat, delimiting the passage area.

Located in Springfield, Missouri, this modern farmhouse designed by Kansas-City based firm Hufft Projects exudes the traditional vernacular of Kansas with an updated take on the conventional form. The rolling hills and expansive land resemble the tone of quaint Marquette.

“There’s a presence to that place—it’s vast, and constantly shifting,” Moffitt says. “It was clear that this house should be an observation shed for the changing landscape beyond.”

Claire and Ken Stevens approached architect Ko Wibowo to create a modern addition to their 1970s home in Tacoma, Washington. The couple’s needs had changed since Ken was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years ago.

From the street, only the main house and one adjoining addition are visible, belying the spacious extension at the back. The architects call this the “Tardis effect,” named for the time machine on Dr. Who that looks much smaller on the outside than it does within.

The couple's house, designed by architect L. Jane Hastings in the early 1970s, is located on a steeply sloped site that backs up to a state park.

The bungalow had beautiful bones but some major problems, including a poorly designed addition to the back that had to be removed. In its place, Tribe Studio designed a gray brick box that connects directly to the garden. “The owners love the fact that the extension is compatible with the old part of the house, and is completely different from many renovations of this type, which simply open up the back in a single move,” Tribe says.

Buyers should cast as wide a net as possible in terms of location and amenities.

The glass balustrade and floor were sourced in Germany and installed by James Aiken. Angelique, the founder of Papillon Designs and Landscaping, clustered plantings around the exterior glass addition.

This revamped Montreal flat includes a rooftop sauna lined with torrified, or dried, cedar. Outfitted with glass paneling and oriented to capture views of Mount Royal, it is the ideal haven for this hardworking homeowner.

Architect Gregory Phillips connected the original house to a new modern extension that doesn’t interfere with the surrounding houses. “I try to be true to the location,”he explains, “so it doesn’t seem like some spaceship has landed.”

The resulting effect is a backyard with a pool at the center that is as nice to look at as to be in.

The roughly 5,000-square-foot Lens House renovation, which was finished in 2012 and just won a 2014 RIBA National Award, required six years, major remedial work on the roof and walls, approval from the planning committee, and even a sign-off from a horticulturalist to guarantee the backyard excavation didn't interfere with a walnut tree. "These things aren’t for people who are in a hurry," says architect Alison Brooks. The focus is the ten-sided trapezoidal office addition. "It wraps itself around the house with a completely different set of rules than the Victorian building," she says.

The nuri-en (an exterior overhang) is one of the few Japanese touches on the home's exterior. Paired with the continuation of the interior floor right out into the backyard, the home opens up to the outside quite nicely.

“It’s a great house for a young family—playful, practical and different,” Tribe says. “You can sit on the windowsill in the sun and feed the baby, kids can climb in and out, often through the windows, and you can see everything that is going on.”

The clients had an impressive collection of Scandinavian midcentury teak furniture that now pops beautifully against the concrete floors, white-painted brick, and pine v-joint walls.

For the the living room, the architects designed a cluster of picture windows that frame unique views—a jacaranda tree or a patch of sky—and block out neighbors from a nearby apartment building.

The custom kitchen cabinets sit on legs for easy sweeping underneath. They’re topped with white Corian counters and paired with sleek Brodware fixtures.

The renovation added a touch of modernity to the building without overwhelming it. The yard remains a work in progress, as the client is still working through ideas for a kitchen garden.