Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan collaborated with New Haven, Connecticut, firm Gray Organschi on their midcentury-inspired New York vacation home.

The Risom plot, located on the northern portion of the island, is bordered by a low stone wall, an aesthetic element that appears throughout Block Island.

On the north-facing facade, it’s easy to discern where the original glass doors used to open directly to the deck. In spring of 2012, Block Island contractor John Spier replaced the entire wall of glass panels.

Originally, glass doors opened to the deck, but after years of gusty winds, it was decided that a side entrance, protected by a sliding steel door, would be the preferred entrance.

A bright-yellow “R” sign, from a truck that used to deliver furniture from Jens Risom Design, sets off the southern facade. When Jens designed the house, he stipulated that he wanted cedar shingles, not the asphalt ones that came with the original design from the catalog.

The skylights are constantly changing the home's interiors. It's "not just day/night, or dark/light," says Bernheimer, "but the quality of light...changes at any given hour, depending on where clouds are, where the sun is, whether the moon is full or not, all dependent on the time of day, time of year, and so forth."

The quiet, minimalist kitchen features a wall in the same “criptoméria" wood used for the bookshelf in the living room. A Davide Groppi Punto 2 PL light hangs over the dining table.

“I wanted to do a house that belonged on the site,” she says.

A Simple Plan A Marmol Radziner–designed prefab house, trucked onto a remote Northern California site, takes the pain out of the construction process.

Light streams from above into the living room and kithen thanks to the home's largest skylight. This skylight isn't one large window but two: one on the eastern side of the double-height volume, and one on the western. In between them are sculptural, pyramid-shaped forms that block and diffuse the sunlight throughout the day. In the words of the architects, they "add to the unexpective quality of light" in the space.

The cedar-and-glass structure rises over an expansive rear patio. Although it is larger than some of its neighbors, the home nearly matches the height line of the surrounding houses due to its flat, modern roof.

Orpilla pecks, Apolo pedals.

The home is defined by two types of windows: large punch openings for views onto the landscape and vertical windows everywhere else.

Porches and rolling glass doors draw in the river breeze to keep the home cool.

Mid-century designer Jens Risom's A-framed prefab family retreat, located on the northern portion of Block island, is bordered by a low stone wall, an aesthetic element that appears throughout the land.

For a bit of elevation in the overwhelmingly horizontal compound, step onto the deck of the Stealth Barn. A strip of mowed grass delineates a path between the two structures; otherwise the grasses grow wild.

Down on the cedar dock, the view of nearby Bowen Island generates a dramatic foreground view, while the British Columbia mainland in the distance appears to be a world away.

The view of Kapiti Island is fully revealed from the tower.

The kitchen contains an island countertop made of Corian in Glacier White.

Architect Jesse Garlick’s rural Washington vacation home references its rugged surroundings. The steel cladding has developed a patina similar to the ochre-red color of bedrock found in the area.

Rachel Nolan and Steven Farrell’s weekend house is located a couple of blocks from the beach on Australia’s Mornington Peninsula. Built with passive principles in mind, the low-slung structure features double-thick brick walls for thermal massing.

The Conine family’s Jackson Hole hideaway is completely wired.

Architect Paul Hinkin and his partner, Chrissy Pearce, bought and restored a 538-square-foot Deckhouse at Emsworth Yacht Harbour in Hampshire, England.

Steve Conine, a software engineer, installed and programmed many of the details himself, like the Dell UltraSharp flat-screen panels inlaid into the entryway of the home.

A narrow building next to the main structure houses storage and an outdoor kitchen.

As the facade of a Bates Masi-designed home in Water Mill, New York, rises from eight to 14 feet high, the mahogany planks subtly widen. “It was quite a demand to make of the contractor,” architect Paul Masi says. “But the design was so much about traveling through the site and weaving [the house] together with the deck.”

Rachel Nolan and Steven Farrell’s weekend house is located a couple of blocks from the beach on Australia’s Mornington Peninsula. Built with passive principles in mind, the low-slung structure features double-thick brick walls for thermal massing. The vertical wood cladding is unfinished spotted gum, a local timber.

Landscape designer Vickie Cardaro used native grasses and plantings near the swimming pool (opposite). Cushions upholstered in Sunbrella fabric rest atop a Trex deck. The western red cedar ceiling extends through the deep eaves and covered seating area.

With the help of builder Peter Watts, the couple returned the house to its original early-1970s glory, utilizing the space beneath for both boat and car.

The long, lean Kobayashi complex includes a bathroom and storage room in the structure on the far right.

A Hunter Pacific fan cools the master bedroom, which has a custom hardwood bed.

“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.”

In the master bedroom, a custom ash frame takes advantage of the expansive view.

Jean-Christophe Aumas’ multihued Paris apartment houses both the highly sought artistic director and the stunning assemblage of furniture he’s brought back from his travels. Aumas designed the kitchen island, which is covered in marble tiles from Carrelages du Marais—the geometric floor tiles are from the same place—and strung the matrix of lights up above it. The barstools by Charlotte Perriand were discovered in a vintage store in Antwerp, Belgium. The green wall is covered in paint from Emery & Cie.

In keeping with the island’s rugged character, the new home was pared down to the essentials. Even the floor in the living room, elevated during the construction process to give seated guests sight lines of the coast, helped frame the outdoors. With this philosophy in mind, Vieira da Silva sourced and designed simple, light furniture, such as the custom bookshelves made from “criptoméria," a type of Japanese wood planted in the Azores for construction. The floor lamp, a Sampei model by Davide Groppi, is set above a Lamino Easy Chair by Swedese. Both the sofa and table are also Swedese.

In the kitchen, the cabinetry is walnut veneer with a weathered finish applied by cabinetmaker David Rogers. “The process involved sanding and rubbing in stain as well as adding a clear finish,” project architect Eero Puurunen says.