A covered walkway provides a sheltered passage between the main house and studio. The fire pit is used during social gatherings.

The custom cedar tub, fabricated by Dovetail, elegantly fits into the master bathroom.

Hale and Maisie peer out of one of the living-room windows, from where Edmonds (pictured at left with Pippa) dreams about installing a zip-line directly to their garden patch.

A door frame was preserved as "a sculptural memory piece," Sara Imhoff says, after a wall separating the old kitchen from a small dining room was demolished. The countertops and backsplash are by Caesarstone.

The studio addition is part of a revamp that unifies buildings, canopies, and the courtyard. It was a three-year job for architect-owners Matt Wittman and Jody Estes, with many materials opportunistically salvaged.

For this kitchen, the architects paired slate-gray HPL (high-pressure laminate) cabinets by Henrybuilt, cool Basaltina countertops, with custom shelving and a white Corian backsplash.

The main living area is connected to the back unit by a modern bridge. Polished concrete is used for both floors and ceilings, and a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Stool accents the space.

In Seattle's rapidly developing South Lake Union neighborhood, the Art Stable is a classic example of urban infill. Built on the site of a former horse stable, the seven-story mixed-use building carries its history into the future with highly adaptable live/work units.

The owners were passionately involved in every aspect of the design, and pushed the team to make choices they normally might not have, including using Western red cedar for the master bathroom countertop. The spa-like space features a soaking tub, tile from Statements Urban, an MTI sink, a custom mirror, and a Vola faucet.

The cedar-clad front facade features one of the home’s defining design elements: a cantilevered gable that appears to float over the garage. The project is composed of two unique forms, divergent in convention but complementary in execution. A traditional gable, simplified and modernized, sits next to a striking modernist cube. A custom entry gate fabricated by Dovetail’s metal shop and a steel privacy fence add color to the front elevation.

Working with a limited budget, First Lamp designed and built one principle architectural flourish: exposed Douglas fir rafters that would weather to a brighter red over the years and accent the white siding.

The top floor holds two offices—one for the husband, the other for the wife. Hers opens out onto a small private deck furnished with wire Eames chairs.

Carport doors swing open to the alley outside of the studio, where the property extends enough for additional landscaping. The corrugated steel siding comes from a surplus from a nearby apartment building. “There’s a lot of urban infill potential in Seattle’s neighborhoods,” Wittman remarks. “We’re catching up to older, denser cities in this regard.”

“The house turns its back to the street while opening up to the views to the northeast through a large glazed corner window system,” Hutchison says. One-by-four and one-by-six inch cedar siding, which were pre-stained in Cabot Semi-Transparent Black, were placed vertically and horizontally on the exterior as a subtle detail.

The architects worked closely with the clients to match the aesthetic of the vintage furniture they collect. The midcentury modern Danish chair, seen right, has been refurbished and reupholstered.

The glazed envelope and overhang of the new studio puts the material collage on full display. It is designed in the Miesian pavilion tradition, a study in planes and columns. A crushed stone perimeter fills in the carport and steps to the courtyard. Wittman explains: “We wanted to continue the blurring of Japanese landscape design with modernists like Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright.”

Inside the studio, sliding fir screens hide storage, utilities, and a bathroom. The ceiling and wall panels are plywood, the floor is radiant heated concrete. An Eames lounge chair from Herman Miller mingles with an IKEA sofa.

A side view of the house and of Salmela’s signature architectural feature: the “unchimney.” All windows are from Loewen.

Metal surfaces are left exposed in certain places, like the passageway, to reinforce the structure's simplicity.

“Durability drove the selection of metal panels,” Schaer says of the home’s industrial exterior. Manufactured by AEP SPAN from corrugated cladding, it looks like zinc but costs significantly less. It also contrasts nicely with the natural siding and trim. “All of the wood inside and out is Douglas Fir, the predominant wood species in the northwest,” Schaer explains.

The studio occupies the corner of a backyard filled with carefully-tended plants. They positioned the studio at the yard’s far corner, diagonal from the main house’s back door, to create a path through the garden that would engage visitors in landscape.

The culmination of the collaboration was the design’s simplicity: a single neutral, durable, versatile volume that can easily host a changing collection of hobbies, art, furniture, and guests.

The single main room features ample glazing to provide natural light for cultivation of artistic endeavors. In the words of Witt, the “studio is the anchor for the backyard."

Two art studios adjoin a central volume at this work/live residence built from terracreto (sustainable concrete), glass, and painted steel just outside of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Residents Austin and Lida Lowrey, retired design and museum professionals, collaborated with their two daughters—Sheridan, an artist, and Elizabeth, an architect—to design the structure as a place for creative contemplation.

Steel pipe columns and wood beams were recycled from a 1960s church carport; the old-growth fir sliding screens, fence, and gate originate from a heavy timber warehouse in Pioneer Square; the aluminum-and-glass garage door is reclaimed from a downtown condo conversion; and the studio’s shelving and track lighting is courtesy of workstations from another downtown building.

The coffee table, red Memorex video ball TV, and red Mercer candlestick phone are all thrift store finds. The ceiling fan from Modern Fan Company is contemporary, but matches the retro aesthetic.

The floor is polished concrete, chosen for its durability, low-cost, and minimal maintenance. The red fiberglass armchair is from Modernica.

Příhoda thought that the highly trafficked courtyard in Prague would in a way replicate the ocean setting; the upper window faces passing crowds (or 'waves' of people), whereas the lower portion is more quiet and solitary.

The lower portion of the structure contains a glass-clad sleeping area, while the upper portion contains a study. A staircase and small passageway connect the two parts.

The architects divided the home into separate floors for sleeping, living, and working. Since the house is situated on a hill that slopes 20 feet from top to bottom, there are plenty of stairs. Those pictured above were crafted using wood salvaged from a 100-year-old bungalow that previously stood on the site.

A patio spins off the northern end of the house’s main level. It fronts “Main Street,” which unwinds from the heart of downtown Seattle into a pedestrian foot path bordered by a woodland. “We went with a low and robust barrier instead of a tall wood fence to preserve views to the park,” Schaer says. The table and benches are by Crate & Barrel.

The house has a small environmental footprint. SHED built it using advanced framing, a technique that cuts down on the use of lumber by 30 percent. Another benefit of the method is that it prevents heat from escaping the home, making it more energy-efficient. Additionally, the architects installed a high-efficiency boiler that preheats water with rooftop solar panels; a heat recovery ventilation system that efficiently controls the climate; and a rainwater retention tank that conserves water.

The renovated stable's living room is extra bright thanks to walls painted with Benjamin Moore’s Atrium White and reflective polished concrete floors. The latter conceal a radiant heating system.

The backyard sports a sequence of raised flower and vegetable beds and two green roofs—one atop the workshop and other atop the back entrance.

The two volumes converge at an exterior courtyard. On the gabled side, skylights bring light into the artist studio; on the cube side, a garden occupies the flat roof. The team used eco-friendly Wet-flash on the roof to draw away moisture from the outside, while allowing a permeable escape for water vapor from the inside. During the estimation and design phases, Dovetail worked closely with Heliotrope to cost engineer and rework elements in order to stay within the client’s budget. The metal roof of the original design was discarded in favor of a simpler and more economical black composite roof.

Architects Sara and Jeremy Imhoff and their son Jonah use the renovated kitchen in their 1918 bungalow in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.