Stainless steel was selected for the kitchen countertops, and the pair relied on a local industrial sheet metal fabricator to help them prepare the material for residential application. The mix of warm and cool adds depth and dimension to the space.

Light from a new skylight pours into the home's entryway and living room. Steel columns and beams were added for structural reinforcement, and the couple left all beams, old and new, exposed.

A small, single-story addition to the row house adds a playroom without eating up too much outdoor space. A green roof also helps makes up for lost garden beds, while creating attractive, leafy views from the second and third floors. In summer, when the sliding doors are left wide open, indoor and outdoor spaces blend together.

"I always wanted to have my very own yellow brick road," says Viviana de Loera, whose favorite part of the home is the playful staircase. The original stairs and handrail were preserved in the renovation.

In the living room, and throughout the home, recessed "book nooks" are used to provide space-saving storage. The only seating in the room is a sleek black faux leather and steel daybed, fabricated by Montreal-based Surface Jalouse. Walls were removed to cohesively unite the living space and kitchen.

Rustic meets modern in this bedroom, where white track lighting beautifully illuminates a black wall and serves as accent lighting for vintage wall art.

Tina and Matthew Ford, here with daughter Daisy, are the owners of Shade House Development, the company that designed and is building the suite of houses that comprise Row on 25th in Houston, Texas.

The series of pitched white buildings was inspired by the work of architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen. “The shell of the house is a very simple form,” says Matthew Ford, “no turns or intersecting roof sections. This allowed me to use solid but inexpensive framing and roofing crews. We are always looking for the point where simplicity and luxury meet.”

Mark Fekete and Viviana de Loera, co-founders of interdisciplinary design firm MARK + VIVI, happily took on the challenge of building their dream home in a transitioning Montreal neighborhood. The couple's kitchen is an exercise in both sustainability and creativity. The island is wrapped with reclaimed scrap wood uncovered from the house during demolition. Chalkboard walls provide a whimsical canvas for graphic images and notes. Stainless steel was selected for the kitchen countertops, and the pair relied on a local industrial sheet metal fabricator to help them prepare the material for residential application. The mix of warm and cool adds depth and dimension to the space.

The chalkboard wall also acts as a sliding pocket door to the first floor bathroom. To maximize usable space, there are no hinged doors in the home's interior.

Locally sourced Canadian plywood was used for the flooring throughout the home, and all doors and windows were replaced with low-energy upgrades. The couple shares their space with guide dogs they foster through a local organization.

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.

Sunken Living Room with Conversation Pit

A new clawfoot tub sits next to an old wooden ladder that serves as a towel and magazine rack.

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.

"Checking out the best and favorites of DC by #bike."

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 clients insisted that none of the trees on the property be disturbed, so Kevin Alter and his team at Alterstudio Architecture built a deck and an overhang around two of them.

Another view of the deck.

“The house is a piece of origami made out of triangular shapes, which we then draped over the landscape,” says Arbel.

Alterstudio Architecture of Austin designed this house in the Texas capital for a young family of four.

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.

In consultation with the clients, Alterstudio opted to clad the house in local cypress rather than imported, FSC-certified ipe.

The long rectangular Field House abuts what Burnette describes as a “memory orchard,” a grove of fruit trees just beyond the deck that was planted in honor of Geller’s late father.

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.

Childrens’ bedrooms are reimagined as cozy private cubbies, much like sleeper cars on a train. These compact rooms were designed to encourage outside interaction with the rest of the household during the non-sleeping hours of the day. Sliding doors and baltic birch built-ins complete the rooms.

Bruce Thatcher and Kirsty Leighton behind their London home.

Two El Dorado principals, Douglas Stockman and David Dowell, enlisted the elbow grease of students in their fifth-year design studio at Kansas State University to help design and fabricate the bunkbeds that line the cabin walls.

Bassam (left, with Fellows) hung redwood garage doors that match the house’s exterior.

The outside of the home is illuminated at night. The crumbling slate roof was replaced with new composite tiles made from recycled rubber. The couple says their goal is to "help revitalize transitioning neighborhoods, one building at a time."

In Marquina and Font’s living room, a pair of kilim-covered chairs by Philippe Xerri, a chest of drawers by Piet Hein Eek, and a handmade Tunisian rug provide bursts of color amidst the overall scheme of white, ecru, and cream.

Every room in the house looks onto an outdoor space. Click here to see more modern homes that use courtyards as a design element.