“At first we thought we might not need that much space, but then we started thinking long term. We look at this house as the home of our lifetime.” —Guido Chiavelli

With a nod to the natural skew of the cliffs nearby, the roof creases inward on the edges, with folds called crickets. The design is twofold: The lower roof utilizes a number of super-integrated gutters and the upper roof collects rainwater.

“In this house, the roof is the only facade—the rest is dissolved beneath it.” —Architect Aljoša Dekleva

The defining gesture of a house on the Big Island of Hawaii by architect Craig Steely is a 139-foot-long, four-foot-tall concrete beam spanning the roof.

Green roofs are aesthetically pleasing and have multiple positive environmental benefits, even if they are small in terms of square footage. Here, a green roof blooms atop the detached garage of a home.

In an industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn, a verdant green roof of native grasses, wildflowers, and fruits creates an oasis.

The table is situated in front of the house’s rear wall of skyscraper glass. Laminate kitchen cabinets by Ikea are framed in wraparound bluestone; the 48-inch commercial range is by FiveStar.

A massive pine beam defines the master bathroom.

Purple thistles, California poppies, clover, and dandelions have all taken root in the roughly 10-inch-deep, lightweight humus and grape-husk soil in this 580-square-foot green roof. Designer Peter Liang says that he "wanted to plant a green roof for its thermal mass, but I wanted it to be as natural as possible."

"In this project, we got so much benefit out of this 'secret garden' for the master suite along with all of these environmental benefits that the residents were excited to embrace. It's one of the pieces we are happiest about," says architect Jonathan Feldman.

Landscape architects Reed Hilderbrand helped fill out the completed prefab by planting sedge grass on one of the house’s two green roofs to reflect the texture of the surrounding meadow.

The house is oriented to maximize views of the ocean and Edgartown to the west, and Nantucket and Cape Pogue Bay to the east. Natural sea grasses sourced from the surrounding area cover the roof of the building, providing thermal insulation while also dampening the noise of rain, improving air quality, and helping to manage rainwater flow.

Just up a ladder is the green roof, which is planted with maintenance-free sedums and tall grasses near the patio that Monkman tends carefully.

Architecture for Humanity Home “We are enthusiastic about these home designs that reflect traditional life ways, while exemplifying deep green public-impact architecture," says Nathaniel Corum, architect, Architecture for Humanity.

According to Remijnse, since the only direction they could build on the small site was up, they decided to add height with a gabled roof.

One of the main goals of the construction was to do as little harm as possible to the existing environment, which includes waterways that salmon depend upon. Herrin and his team created a garden roof that covers the full extent of the home to meet this objective. “This helps control storm water runoff and also replaces lost insect habitat—insects being a critical food source for juvenile salmon,” he says.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, food scraps and yard waste make up 20 percent of what we throw away. Composting organic materials keeps them out of the landfill, which cuts down on greenhouse gases, and enriches the soil. To compost at home, make a pile in your backyard, or introduce an indoor bin for throwaways like apple peels and eggshells.

The roof deck is a place for entertaining, and offers scenic hillside views. During the design process, the team was challenged with preserving these views while adhering to the required 3.5-foot railing height mandated by building code, a height that would block all views while seated. As a solution, the team came up with open metal railings that would maintain safety while preserving the view.

The roofs of each of the three sections of the home are constructed of zinc and are insulated for added protection.

The architects discreetly sunk a pool into the roof terrace of the old corral. In order to shade part of the terrace, the architects designed a freestanding sun shelter. So as not to damage the outer walls of the old building, a galvanized-steel frame is secured to the terrace floor. A bamboo-reed covering projects a soft, filtered light onto the outdoor living area below.

“They wanted to keep the house to one level so that they could retire there without worrying about stairs and access,” Hutchison says. The home features two bedrooms, and the second one is available to guests and the homeowners’ college-age son.

The winglike dips in the roofline situate and hold the house against the region’s brutal winds. As the outdoor chairs attest, lifestyles here pass easily between inside and out; a long hike and a good swim are always just steps away

Angled beams are a fixture of the structure, both inside and out. The beams “are an expression of the design, so they’re reinforcing view lines,” Winkelman says, “but they’re also weaving together the different axes of the site."

“We have all these different destinations,” says Sardinas, a writer who works from her home office. “I’ll be working, get stuck on a passage, and take a break to go read outside.” On the lower roof, red Vegetal chairs by Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec for Vitra provide moments for repose.

The 925-square-foot house Maggie Treanor calls home blends into the landscape somewhat; with a galvanized steel shed roof and siding, it looks like a high-design little brother to the barns on the surrounding farms.

On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, author Chris Brown and his dog Katsu head to the river; the path was once a dumping ground on top of a long-defunct underground oil pipeline. The green roof was conceptualized by John Hart Asher of the Ecosystem Design Group at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

“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.”

Painted beams serve to separate interior spaces.

Exposed beams continue into the kitchen ceiling, where minimal details and contrasting dark shades emphasize the natural materials. The window frames are positioned as “fins” to draw in just enough southern-facing light to keep the room comfortable.

Some 35 percent of the materials from the renovation were resurrected in the yard: Redwood panels became fencing. Blocks cut from original concrete patios form the snake wall. And Purdy plans to crochet colorful cozies over various branches and stumps.

Vegetation from the garden on the lower roof provides a contrast to the backdrop of Gowanus’s rapidly changing landscape.

A couple takes a minimalist approach to their Brooklyn apartment, focusing on supple materials, subtle gradations of color, and custom finishes by local craftsmen. The Mandayam–Vohra family gathers under one of Workstead’s signature three-arm chandeliers, shown here in its horizontal configuration. Bartenschlager designed the white cabinets and is responsible for the walnut counters both on the kitchen island and near the stove.

At a design-focused mansion in Belgium, the soaring atrium is home to a jacaranda high board from the 1960s, a chrome and glass lamp from Italy, a black leather chair and footstool by Sergio Rodrigues, a Berber rug, and a pair of photographs by the Brazilian artist Luiz Braga.

Exposed beams and a cantilevered loft soar over the high-traffic eating area, giving the family a sense of spaciousness.

In the kitchen of Floating Farmhouse in Eldred, New York, a custom-built wood-fired oven extends up to the ceiling, accentuating its steep pitch. Photo by Mark Mahaney.

The living and kitchen areas were reconfigured to seamlessly join a terrace surfaced with artificial turf and Nature Teka decking by Disegna. The beam was coated in a shade of turquoise paint that matches the Acapulco chairs.