These Are Dwell’s Most Popular Homes of 2024
In 2024, the most popular homes focused on new beginnings: After decades in her San Francisco home, an 83-year-old completes its inaugural renovation to age in place; in remote Washington, an outdoors enthusiast commits to the wilderness by building a tiny cabin; and—after a 70-year ban—a mother and son build one of Chicago’s first ADUs as a means of keeping family close. From fresh starts to groundbreaking projects, here are the most popular homes of the year.
She Built a 330-Square-Foot Cabin in One of Washington’s Biggest Outdoors Destinations
Floor-to-ceiling glazing and a linear skylight help welcome the landscape within the cabin’s small footprint.
One of the benefits of building into the hillside is that Catherine and her dog, Lydia, are able to access the home's rooftop deck.
The previous homeowners had cultivated a large, Asian-inspired garden. The courtyard centers around this towering, bushy tree.
This painting was just intended to be a placeholder in the mock up, but the homeowners loved it so much they commissioned an identical one.
Glass folding doors from Panoramic Doors reach nine-and-a-half feet high to open the kitchen to the courtyard. "It's such a unique feature, especially in Brooklyn," says Slocum. "You rarely ever see that type of thing."
The courtyard is enjoyed from multiple vantage points, including the main living spaces and an office on the main floor, as well as a second-floor hallway and bedrooms.
This off-grid retreat is quite literally nestled among the treetops in Epworth, Georgia.
A repurposed shipping container was transformed into a 300-square-foot living space.
The cabin is surrounded on three sides by Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante.
The retreat is designed with rugged material like Cor-Ten steel, split-face concrete block, and cedar that blend with the desert landscape.
The central stair landing doubles as a music room. "In many ways this is the center of our home," says Rick. "The entire house literally circles it." Hanging on the wall is a 16th-century Tyrolean wood figure of Christ purchased from the original owners.
A brick hearth designed by Winter was updated with a gas fireplace. The couple redid the kitchen without enlarging it, in an effort to stay true to Winter’s plan. "We were trying to do a modern version of what would feel right in a house designed in the ’70s," explains Rick.
An open-air boardwalk carries the family west from the gathering spaces to their bedroom cabin.
The living room’s wood-burning fireplace has a concrete hearth that wraps the chimney and runs under the windows, acting as seating, a plant ledge, and creating a spot to store logs, all of which are harvested from the site.
The gallery has a new whitewashed pine roof that covers the main villa, which includes two one-bed suites and one of the property’s three and a half kitchens. "We think it was a little church before," says architect Yashar Yektajo. The brick was stripped of plaster from a prior renovation. "It was completely rotten because there’s so much humidity here," he adds. "Now the brick can breathe, and the whitewash brings it together." Pinto, one of the couple’s two dogs, rests under a coffee table Ernesto and Ellen designed. The gallery is lined with original arches that lead to the courtyard.
The third-level bar and kitchenette have four openings with wood coverings that slide away. The space is perfect for "wine and ceviche—for enjoying the sunset," says Ernesto. The table, designed by Ellen, nests into concrete banquette seating. To connect the bar with the top-level viewing deck, Yektajo inserted a spiral staircase with a compact footprint to preserve the views.
The house, painted in Poppyseed by Behr, now features a second-floor loft for the couple’s sons and a newly vaulted living room at the front. The board-formed concrete foundation was an early change.
"They were the lightest possible way to support the roof," says Anton of the raw steel rafter ties in the newly vaulted living room. It’s a detail they’d first used in their ADU several years before.
A pink-painted front door and fascia enliven a 500-square-foot backyard ADU in Mountain View, California, designed by Shin Shin Architecture.
The open-plan kitchen, dining area, and living space are arranged in a 16-square-foot volume that features a vaulted ceiling, lending a sense of spaciousness.
The Airstream's height and length were extended for comfort and ease, and an HVAC system was installed with hydronic and radiant floor heating.
The top of the dining table can be lowered, and the back cushions can be put on top, so that this dining area turns into a sleeping quarters for kids at night.
The soaring new living and dining space benefits from an abundance of natural light from every side, and they spent a lot of time trying to find the best lighting for the kitchen. The final choice: long, narrow copper pendants from Denmark suspended by ultra thin wires to not disrupt the visual flow of the room.
The sculptural chimney breast and 60-inch void skylight accentuate the height of the room.
The basement-level guest bedroom features a painting by Marleigh Culver. An Alvar Aalto Stool 60 sits with a 1973 Onda Incisa stool by Vittorio Livi. The ’60s lamp to the left of the bed by Paul Mayén and one on the right, a Nesso by Giancarlo Mattioli, rest on matching Giano-Giano-Vano nightstands by Emma Gismondi Schweinberger.
Inside the waffle front door, a common feature of Deck Houses, are an Artek Tea Trolley 900 by Alvar Aalto with a ceramic vase by Femme Sole and Home Union.
A new compressed fibre cement sheet and metal enclosure wraps the home.
The staircase to the garden and library, accessed from a metal bridge just inside the enclosure, is one of Carmen's favorite aspects of the home.
The Weltys started construction by having the structure framed out but allowed themselves time to sort through unresolved areas and select finishes. After they spent a year and eight months manipulating materials and playing with textures, their vision finally came together.
The main living area is on the second floor in an open double-height space where the ceiling peaks at 15 feet under an angled roof. It contains an airy kitchen/dining area and a living room. A hallway leads to the primary bedroom, and a loft contains a bedroom for their kids. The ground floor has an apartment they rent to local teachers.
Behind Eva is one of her canvases. Vintage Moroccan rugs are strewn on the floor of the second story.
In the guest suite is a staircase that goes nowhere. Eva initially wanted to connect the space to her bedroom above but changed her mind. "I told the workers, ‘Leave the stairs,’ " she says. "Then I started to put some stones and pieces of leftover chaux. It’s full of objects that aren’t really anything."
Stairs lead from the street to the decked entry garden, where Roberta grows herbs she cooks with. The glass door leads into the kitchen. A Koko dining table and Gigi dining chairs are from Janus et Cie.
The custom slatted wood railings is fitted with discreet flip-down hooks to hang coats. Stairs lead down to a guest space and an additional unit for a future caretaker. An elevator, not visible, also connects the two levels. The Overlap pendant is by Michael Anastassiades for Flos.
Homeowner Julie Park ordered the home’s components from the prefab company Blue Sky Building Systems, and she hired architect Andrew Goodwin to assist with structural engineering and permits.
Julie also designed this spa deck, a few steps from the main house.
The east wall is covered in full-height cabinets by Crafted Wild that anchor the room and conceal daily items.
Textured porcelain tile by Terratinta Ceramiche changes throughout the day, thanks to a skylight in the bathroom.
The new back section reveals itself in layers, extending all the way through to the garden, where the kids and dog can play safely.
"As our clients live in the space, we want them to discover new things," says Trotta. "Things can look beautiful, but it’s your experience of them every day that makes them special."
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