Key to the space-efficient floor plan is a strategically placed set of recessed areas, includingthe sleeping nook and writing desk.

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."

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.

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.

A writing desk is paired with a classic Series 7 chair by Arne Jacobsen.

An artist by trade, and gardener by passion, Allison Paschke commissioned Providence-based architecture firm 3SIXØ to build a modest cottage that would allow her to reconnect with nature. She landscaped the home’s lush gardens herself.

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

All about #red

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.

Jane and Dan Wright furnished the living space of their new studio building with a rug from West Elm and a wood stove from Morsø.

Jane Wright, a painter and printmaker, uses one end of the building as a studio. The space served as a lanuching pad for her new interior design business, Roost Modern.

The deck is furnished with pieces from Design Within Reach.

The siding is locally milled native white pine, with plywood soffits and Andersen windows.

A corrugated metal roofing, pine walls stained a warm blonde hue, and an abundance of glass make this modern prefab feel much roomier than its 1,600-square-feet size.

White-and-blue, wood-grain–patterned UonUon tiles by 14oraitaliana line the bathroom walls in a loft above the garage.

Oversize, double-hung windows draw natural light into the space.

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.

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.

This dwelling joins a number of structures—such as a boathouse and guesthouse—owned by one family and used for vacations. They needed a new house to accommodate new generations at the reatreat.

Warm wooden walls ensure the simple bedroom setup, a low mattress next to a Muuto Leaf table lamp, offers more comfort than the cold stone exterior.

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.

The stair wall is clad in tongue-and-groove boards. Drywall was used for most of the other interior surfaces, with poplar trim.

The combination of slab-on-grade construction and carefully considered material choices, including poplar flooring in the music wing, helped keep building costs to $160 per square foot.

The studio building was sited to shield the property from gusty winds off the Narragansett Bay, creating a sheltered yard between the two structures.

The chromatic Paris apartment of Jean-Christophe Aumas holds a treasure trove of rare vintage furniture, displays from his work, and items curated from his travels. As the artistic director of the creative agency Voici-Voilà, he designs store windows and special events for clients like Louis Vuitton, John Galliano, Lacoste, Céline, and more; and so it’s no wonder that his own 1,023-square-foot apartment is teeming with character. The entire flat is self-designed in a fusion of his professional and personal flavors. Over herringbone wood floors, walls with painted shapes frame hanging artworks; colored cubes, created for a Sol LeWitt–themed Louis Vuitton display, pepper the space; and foraged furnishings ranging from flea market finds to designer pieces outfit the home.

Native New Yorkers, the Merola family have long held a tradition of spending summers in Rhode Island. When they learned the costs of renovating their existing cottage would significantly outweigh the benefits, they instead opted to build new. The result—a distinctively modernist box structure clad in milled slats of charred, brushed, and oiled cypress manufactured by Delta Millworks—sits nestled within the marshy landscape of Quonochontaug Pond.

The east-facing pool terrace is outfitted with a series of Eos lounge chairs (and plenty of inflatable swim toys).

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

Sited on a 12-acre lot, the structure peaks at 25 feet at its tallest points, providing spatial balance to its compact, 530-square-foot footprint. Large windows, a skylight, and a discrete chimney were all factors that contributed to its faceted form, which project architect Jack Ryan describes as a “carved gemstone.”

A custom entry door by Creekside Millwork is positioned diagonally from the home’s rectilinear form.

Bernier’s firm designed the built-in storage, seating area, and kitchen island to be intentionally abstract, directing attention to the forest outside. Cabinetmaker Pixel & Scie manufactured the furniture.

The modest entry to the cottage opens up to steeply angled ceilings for dramatic spatial effect.

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The second-floor bathroom's colorful Tex tiles from Mutina sport an array of different textures for a unique tactile experience.

“The walnut unit between the kitchen and dining room ties into the fumed oak floor,” Dubbeldam says. “The rest of the materials in the house—glass, marble, stone—were selected to offset the wood.”

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.