The view from Bruce's cabin is a sight for sore eyes. One of the outermost inhabited islands on the American eastern seaboard, Criehaven (technically Ragged Island) is located 20 miles off the Maine coast and one mile south of Matinicus Island.

“When I first thought of moving to Harlem, I looked at a map,” says Ryall. “The island’s about 210 blocks long, I’m near 110th Street—I thought, ‘It’s right in the center of Manhattan.’”

Three 28.1 Single Mini pendant lights by Bocci hang above a dining table that was custom-built by the owner and her father. Bikappa dining chairs by Kristalia mirror the clean lines of the vintage chair in the living room.

On San Juan island, Pole Pass is an intimate waterfront retreat built to serve as a gathering space that takes advantage of the temperate Pacific Northwest summers.

While the first home Walter Gropius constructed in the United States was his own home in Lincoln, Massachusetts, his first official commission was the Hagerty House in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

The captivating and colorful cityscape of Reykjavik, Iceland is composed of both traditional and contemporary architecture. Photo by: Jesse Chehak

Sweeping 180 degree Water Views from Both Homes

Spectacular Sunrises - Watch the San Juan Ferries Go By

Consider this lively bathroom that sits within a recently completed waterfront home in Bridgehampton, New York. Situated on two-and-a-half acres of land with 360-degree views of the nearby bay and ocean, it's covered with brightly colored floor-to-ceiling tiles that reflect the shades of the neighboring water. One step through the sliding glass doors and you’ll find yourself on an open terrace.

Cairns is a waterfront tourist town and retreat for Aussies escaping the winter weather. Though on the coast, it lacks a proper beach due to its large, long mud flats. Instead, the center of town features the Cairns Esplanade Pool, a public saltwater pool/fountain/lagoon.

The inspiration for this prefabricated, modular family home on Fishers Island, New York, were the views that Tanney and Luntz saw from a 12-foot stepladder, which was balancing on the bed of a pickup truck when they first visited the site.

Clear glass panes set strategically into the otherwise translucent curtain wall expose the mezzanine to fresh air and rear views.

A simple chair, re-covered and re-veneered.

Richardson Architects' original plan for this waterfront plot in Belvedere, California, was to revamp an existing 1960s house, but the discovery of powderpost beetles put that idea on pause.

Despite the 1,900 square feet limit architect Cass Calder Smith faced in its renovation, this Stinson Beach, California home feels as spacious and uninhibited as the water lapping beneath its tiered dock.

Overnight, the project turned from a renovation into a full bore demolition. In its wake, a FEMA-compliant 5-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom house rose on the site.

Gunnar Knechtel Photography, Italy, Sicily, Town: Syracuse, Island of Ortigia. The house of Francesco Moncada,Town houses and sea wall Syracuse Sicily. Syracuse is famous for its rich Greek history culture amphitheatres architecture and as the birthplace of Archimedes photographed on the 27+28,12.2010 for Dwell Magazine

The 3,767-square-foot apartment was carved out of a former cattle-fodder factory.

Yvette Leeper-Bueno and Adrian Bueno’s home, on West 112th Street in New York City, is recognizable by its two-story bay window angled to bring light and views into the dark, narrow structure. "There’s a threshold of planting between the outside and inside,” says architect Laura Briggs, citing the blooming boxes on the sidewalk, the rear deck, and the master-suite terrace (above the bay window). Photo by Adam Friedberg. See how the rooms stack up inside the narrow shell.

Bridge House Living Room

Sea Oaks - Waterfront Estate

The modular system created by the architects at Resolution: 4 allows them to customize a home’s floor plan by stacking, lining up, and joining factory-built, rectangular modules. This is the largest prefab house the firm has completed to date with eight modules amassing around 4,500 square feet.

Harlem Town House Renovation After enduring what she calls “the Bermuda Triangle of New York,” otherwise known as the city’s planning department, Alysia Reiner and her partner, David Alan Basche, embarked on a massive renovation of their multiunit building in Harlem. Built in 1909, the structure, which was dark and had already been stripped to its original brick walls before the couple inherited it, became a blank slate for a thorough environmentally sensitive restoration. With help from architect Nicholas Moons of local design-build practice MontesBuild, Reiner and Basche updated their own triplex unit over the course of two years on a tight budget, integrating such elements as natural light, slate and bamboo flooring, and understated modern furnishings.

Architect Joseph Tanney says the house was designed as a safe haven for Wexler and Zimmerman’s children.

The exterior view of the Douglas House stepped walkway that extends over the surrounding trees.

Michael McCarthy and Marcia Myers spent years rehabilitating the Douglas House. The double-height living room features a custom sofa and low table of Meier’s design, and an Edward Fields rug based on a sketch Le Corbusier created in 1956 for a Tokyo theater.

Approach via long gravel driveway; Great Peconic Bay seen beyond

Courtyard deck: Guest Bedroom to the left/Dining center/Living Room & Kitchen to the right

The fireplace wall, a Resolution: 4 signature, is made of 14-gauge hot-rolled steel panels with storage components in one-eighth welded steel. On one side is a pivoting privacy panel that allows the guest wing to be closed off. Art attaches to the metal with magnets.

Natural ledgestone surrounds the fireplace in the living space

Decorative Accessory: A careful curation of decorative accessories finishes the styling of a room. Give this Re-Turned Owl Wood Figurine designed by Lars Beller Fjetland. Works great as an accent on a bookshelf, desk, or even a nursery shelf.

The Re: Tool-Kit for Detroit study sought to create an honest assessment present-day manufacturing in the city and metropolitan area.

For his RE:Cover series, Swedish designer Fredrik Färg gives salvaged chairs a new lease on life with the help of sculptured, moldable felt.

A bedroom in a renovated townhouse in Harlem, New York, makes the most of a tight space with orange-tinted pink walls. Pink bedding keeps the space monochromatic but adds depth with a range of reddish tones.

A pair of re-tooled bedside tables.

Swiss-born artist Ugo Rondinone converted an abandoned Romanesque church in New York's Harlem neighborhood—a sublime place he now calls home. In the plywood-outfitted kitchen, a bookshelf displays a series of his scholar's rocks. "They inspire me," the artist says.