Nicknamed the Floating Farmhouse, this 200-year-old home inspired one former copywriter to delve into architecture as a living. Inside, renovator and owner Tom Givone mixes vintage and industrial decor. Photo by Mark Mahaney.

If sleek storage is what you're looking for, consider a long and low platform bed. At a New York apartment that's just over 500 square feet, the wood platform bed features storage panels under the mattress.

Tom Givone's current weekend abode, nicknamed the Floating Farmhouse, is—so far—his capstone project, a synthesis of personal taste, material experimentation, and historically sensitive restoration: a living laboratory for how to bring the vernacular past into the present.

Adrian Jones and Allison Silverman sit at their reclaimed wood dining table. Eco-mindedness is a matter-of-fact part of everyday life for the couple and the designer, Garrick Jones. “Sustainability comes from flexibility and planning for the long term,” Garrick says. “This is not a glammed-up loft.”

Wrapped in Anne Sacks tile, the master bathroom is outfitted with fixtures by Kohler.

Envisioned as "an apartment within an apartment," the master suite is secluded from the rest of the home, accessible via the steel-and-glass catwalk. The owner's sanctuary features a built-in bed and credenza by City.

A tiny outbuilding offers a cozy living space inside a simple shell.

The core in the middle of the apartment contains the staircase, two bathrooms, and a laundry area on the lower floor, and a small workspace upstairs.

Living small is par for the course in New York City, but accommodating a family of four in under 700 square feet rarely looks as effortless as in this storage-smart renovation. Scott Oliver and Margarita McGrath of noroof architects created many clever built-ins and transformable furniture in this apartment. Photo by Raimund Koch. See how the rooms transform in this extended slideshow.

As the facade of a Bates Masi-designed home in Water Mill, New York, rises from eight to 14 feet high, the mahogany planks subtly widen. “It was quite a demand to make of the contractor,” architect Paul Masi says. “But the design was so much about traveling through the site and weaving [the house] together with the deck.”

Tanya Wexler and Amy Zimmerman linger in the breezeway designed to draw eyes, and footsteps, from the driveway through the house to the gently sloping backyard and swimming pool beyond.

"I think an architect’s job is to celebrate what people really care about and simplify and streamline the rest.” —Page Goolrick

Alan Orenbuch and Bryan O’Rourke bought a house and shed, both designed by John M. Johansen, north of New York City in 2009. The shed became a refuge for their many houseguests after an extensive renovation that trimmed the structure to 385 square feet.

During the renovation, Grimley and Smith added built-in storage to keep clutter in check.

Drew/McManus Residence Floor Plan A Bedroom B Bathroom C Kitchen D Living-Dining Area

The 1967 beach house—which underwent a meticulous renovation by Bates Masi, the original architect’s firm—is listed as an exclusive holiday rental along the coast of Long Island in New York.

A 17-foot-tall freestanding play structure that designer Sharon Davis designed for her family in upstate New York can only be entered by climbing taut netting and entering through a trap door. Descending requires sliding down two structural-columns-turned-fire-poles.

In the kitchen, the cabinetry is walnut veneer with a weathered finish applied by cabinetmaker David Rogers. “The process involved sanding and rubbing in stain as well as adding a clear finish,” project architect Eero Puurunen says.

Despite the economic downturn, the city is still booming with construction—as evidenced by the fleet of cranes on the horizon.

New York City, population 20,300,000. New York City was the world's first megacity and remains America's largest.

The wood-frame residence and studio are clad in vertical cedar siding—back then, a daring competitor to clapboard—instead of concrete to save costs. The effect is equally seamless, however: “If you drive by it fast enough,” Charles Gwathmey once said, “you still might mistake it for a concrete house.” Photo by Norman McGrath.

The exterior mixes pale gray wood on the vertical volume, and fiber cement and black brick on the horiztonal volume. The three trees in the front yard were maintained during the renovation process.

A print by the abstract expressionist Al Held hangs above a storage unit by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller. The table lamp is by Isamu Noguchi, and the cork floor tiles are from Globus Cork. A Saarinen Executive Arm Chair is at the end of the hall.

The great room in the 2,800-square-foot house that architect Drew Lang designed for his family in the Hudson Woods development north of New York City features generous amounts of white oak, which he says is his favorite material.

The Langs use an outbuilding as a rec room of sorts. "We call that the Grace Studio," Lang says. "It's designed so a car can pull in there, but we use it as more of a rec room and work space."

Houldin, 10, curls up in the playroom nook which is directly under a side skylight that Pulltab added in order to make the interior rooms inhabitable, as per New York City building code. The custom millwork around the window seat is painted in Rainy Day by Fine Paints of Europe.

A yellow Pedestal filing cabinet by USM is tucked under a built-in desk in the guest bedroom. The leather-back chair was designed by Michael Robbins, a furniture designer based in New York's Hudson Valley.

The master bathroom features a cedar screen and quartzite tiles by Walker Zanger.

White oak makes a return appearance on the ceiling in the master bedroom.

The home is embedded in a hillside with five feet of soil above it. In addition to blending the structure into the landscape, the surrounding earth provides natural insulation.

Davis worked with contractor Ted Timmer to construct the playhouse on her family’s 30-acre property.

Other furnishings include a TMM floor lamp by Miguel Milá and a four-door credenza by Florence Knoll for Knoll.

Sliding doors partition a cozy screening room, where the resident can enjoy films and television in the comfort of custom designed furniture.

Custom built-ins were essential in defining and maximizing the 520-square-foot space. Greg Dufner designed the rift-cut white oak bookcase that separates the sleeping area from the rest of the studio.

SPAN Architecture recast this two-level space in New York City—previously a photography studio—as a loft-like residence that is rich in materials. A blackened steel staircase, executed by general contractor Richard Kaleta, leads to the private quarters on the duplex's second floor. The walkway is composed of custom etched glass, stretched across an open atrium to below.

Grant Mudford, New York City.