A tight construction budget informed the choices Sean Guess made as he designed a house for a couple in Austin, Texas. Budget-minded materials, like the James Hardie fiber-cement siding, helped hold construction costs to $130 per square foot. Sherwin-Williams’s Cyberspace hue colors the exterior and Parakeet coats the custom kitchen cabinets by Austin Wood Works. The planter is made from Cor-Ten steel.

Masahiro and Mao Harada of Mount Fuji Architects Studio wanted to break with the traditional definition of a house when they designed this small Tokyo home. They achieved their goal by using the same material for the ceiling, the walls, and the floor, creating a space that flows beautifully. Photo by Ryota Atarashi.

A view of the sauna building before the patio and seating were constructed on the other side. The log cabins were constructed by a specialist company, and another builder helped with the interior walls. Jussi-Pekka and his father did all the other building and landscaping work, apart from the electrical and plumbing—often working 12-hour days.

Tanya, Chris, Jackson, and Zeke spend much of their day outside.

Architect Christopher C. Deam, Dwell founder Lara Deam's husband, designed Airstream's newest travel trailer, the International Sterling.

The Perch at sunset.

The wood-wrapped tiny home features a deck pierced by a tree trunk.

The steel structure is suspended two feet above the roof of the existing bungalow, supported by four steel columns, one of which screens utility lines running from the Perch to the house below.

Looking back to the rear of the sauna and guest bedroom from the field. The large windows not only invite the view inside, but also reflect the landscape and allow the built forms to dissolve.

A pop of red distinguishes the front door, paired with vertical cedar siding with an ebony stain, and Richlite panels and detailing.

Utility equipment and storage is hidden in the hexagonal "systems ring" below the living space modules.

"We imagined how six people would use the space and developed the shape accordingly," says Hello Wood cofounder Dávid Ráday. "We took inspiration from the design of space capsules, and the cabin was refined step by step before reaching its final form."

The reclaimed hickory facade of the Micro Cabin by BC-OA is punctured by windows that overlook National Forest Service land.

Kasita prefabs started at $89,000, and they were marketed as tiny houses for those who wished to live simply.

Custom-perforated Swisspearl anthracite panels—made of minerals, sand, and cement—allow light to flow into the pavilion.

The interior walls, shelves and other fixtures were built using 19mm CLT and have been left with their natural spruce finish that will turn golden with exposure to the daylight.

The KODA Concrete is Kodasema's classic model, with 282 square feet of space and concrete exterior panels.

Light and shadow play on the textured facade. Greenery frames the simple, geometric form of the house.

Escape made a splash by launching a property in Tampa Bay filled with its trailers. But you don’t have to live there to own one.

The Ecocapsule fits inside a standard shipping container, and it’s lightweight enough to be towed on a trailer by a passenger car.

On one side of the house, a white central staircase leads to a split-level landing the Robertsons call "the reading room." "We needed a place to hang out and for the kids to read," explains owner Vivi Nguyen-Robertson. Awaiting the birth of the couple's son, she relaxes in a built-in reading nook in the library.

With its stucco facade and steel-framed, arched windows, Plaster Fun House is an architectural anomaly amidst the cottages and 1960s brick residences of Torrensville in South Australia.

Liz and Matt had to drill a well to provide water for the property. Wastewater is captured and treated with a gravity-fed septic system that will also serve the main dwelling, when it’s completed.

After renting in San Francisco for a decade, DIY couple Molly Fiffer and Jeff Waldman bought 10 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the pair and their friends built a cabin compound complete with sheds, tree decks, a pavilion, a wood-fired hot tub, an outhouse, and an outdoor shower. The cabin is made from locally sourced, rough-sawn redwood, which the couple stained with nontoxic Eco Wood Treatment to give the panels an aged appearance and a dark patina.

This 195-square-foot, shingled studio includes a library, reading nook, and workstation—and it’s totally DIY. Creative couple Michael and Christina Hara built the retreat just steps away from their back door, in order to carve out "space for creativity and respite from our chaotic, toddler-filled house," as Michael explains. The project, called the Fish Scale Studio, took eight months to complete, with Haras doing all of the design and construction themselves—for just $18,275.

This compact vacation home by TACO—or, Taller de Arquitectura Contextual—is immersed in southeastern Mexico’s wild landscape. The home is designed for a pair of young adults, and the firm’s objective was to achieve a reflective and contemplative place that links the occupants with the surrounding environment. The result is an intuitive, functional, and simple living experience that offers great spatial warmth.

Texas. The Cricket Trailer, made in Houston, can sleep up to two adults and two children. With integrated fresh water and greywater tanks along with a water heater, campers can live off-the-grid in the easily towable unit.

Black-painted window and door frames contrast with the white-painted steel siding and offer a crisp, clean aesthetic for the exterior of the cottage.

Folding doors create an indoor/outdoor experience.

Madison points out that the pod concept would make it easy to add an extension if necessary. “We see it as a house that can grow with us—and that we can pay for as we go along.”

If you’re traveling to Puglia in Italy, one of the most iconic sights are trulli (trullo is the singular), an ancient hut that's specific to the Itria Valley in the Apulia region of Southern Italy. Made with dry stone, trulli date back to medieval times.

In accordance with the brief, the firm left the landscape largely in its natural state.

The rollable wood-clad walls help the retreat further blend into the surrounding nature.

Michael specified that the corner window be mullion-free so sitting in the nook feels like you are outside. "By being immersed on two sides without any real obstructions, you get a sense like you are out there in the natural world, in the yard," he says. "This is a particularly wonderful feeling, especially during our long, snowy Minnesota winters, where we can enjoy the beauty and stillness of the snow but still enjoy the warmth and comfort of being inside."