Placed on a large site with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy at the rear boundary, this one story residence presents a modest, composed public façade to the street while opening to the rear yard with two wings surrounding a large loggia or “outdoor living room.” With its thick walls, overhangs, and ample cross ventilation, the project demonstrates the simple idea that a building should respond carefully to its environment. Laura Hull Photography

The cozy, yet elegant living room provides seating for great conservation over a glass of wine. Photo Credit: Michael Giragosian Photography
Example of a mid-sized transitional open concept medium tone wood floor living room design in Orlando with blue walls

copyright 2015 Virginia Rockwell
Inspiration for a small coastal partial sun side yard stone garden path in Richmond for summer.

A young CEO wanted new corporate offices that reflected the company brand and their conservative, traditional values. It was explicitly stated that beyond the cubicle bullpen and entry to mid-level offices, an “office furniture” look and feel was completely undesirable. Instead, topping the desirability list were: comfortable furnishings; a relaxed upscale feel; a casual collaborative meeting space for staff; a world class boardroom for hosting meetings, and a way to showcase items from the CEO’s entrepreneurial family history. Walls were moved to create a cockpit CEO office that includes a second conference table and lounge area, a new employee kitchen, a new employee lounge and an enlarged boardroom. Glass walls were used in both the reception area and the employee lounge to enhance lighting and provide a sense of spaciousness. Company brand colors are woven throughout and their logo was used as a creative flourish in the custom area rug in reception and glass signage in the boardroom. Photography by David Van Scott

The 10,000 sq. ft. Bellagio Residence was a 1939 Georgian Revival overlooking the manicured links of the Bel Air Country Club that was in need of a modern touch. Stripped down to the studs, Wearstler worked to create an additional 3,000 sq. ft. of living space, pushed up the ceiling heights, broadened windows and doors to allow more light and completely carved out a new master suite upstairs. Mixing the personalities of the clients, one slightly more conservative and focused on comfort, the other a little feistier that wanted something unique, Wearstler took a daredevil approach and created a high-chroma style that has become her new signature approach. Italian antiques, custom rugs inspired by silk scarves, hand-painted wallcoverings, bright hits of color like a tiger print Fuchsia velvet sofa against a plum colored pyramid studded wall and endless amounts of onyx and marble slab walls and floors make for an unapologetically lavish and seductive home. Photo Credit: Grey Crawford

A young family with a wooded, triangular lot in Ipswich, Massachusetts wanted to take on a highly creative, organic, and unrushed process in designing their new home. The parents of three boys had contemporary ideas for living, including phasing the construction of different structures over time as the kids grew so they could maximize the options for use on their land. They hoped to build a net zero energy home that would be cozy on the very coldest days of winter, using cost-efficient methods of home building. The house needed to be sited to minimize impact on the land and trees, and it was critical to respect a conservation easement on the south border of the lot. Finally, the design would be contemporary in form and feel, but it would also need to fit into a classic New England context, both in terms of materials used and durability. We were asked to honor the notions of “surprise and delight,” and that inspired everything we designed for the family. The highly unique home consists of a three-story form, composed mostly of bedrooms and baths on the top two floors and a cross axis of shared living spaces on the first level. This axis extends out to an oversized covered porch, open to the south and west. The porch connects to a two-story garage with flex space above, used as a guest house, play room, and yoga studio depending on the day. A floor-to-ceiling ribbon of glass wraps the south and west walls of the lower level, bringing in an abundance of natural light and linking the entire open plan to the yard beyond. The master suite takes up the entire top floor, and includes an outdoor deck with a shower. The middle floor has extra height to accommodate a variety of multi-level play scenarios in the kids’ rooms. Many of the materials used in this house are made from recycled or environmentally friendly content, or they come from local sources. The high performance home has triple glazed windows and all materials, adhesives, and sealants are low toxicity and safe for growing kids.

Custom Walnut Barn Door with recessed Steel trim details and handle. Mounted using "The Conservative Horizontal" Barn Door Hardware by Jasmine Habitat

Situated in old Palo Alto, CA, this historic 1905 Craftsman style home now has a stunning landscape to match its custom hand-crafted interior. Our firm had a blank slate with the landscape, and carved out a number of spaces that this young and vibrant family could use for gathering, entertaining, dining, gardening and general relaxation. Mature screen planting, colorful perennials, citrus trees, ornamental grasses, and lots of depth and texture are found throughout the many planting beds. In effort to conserve water, the main open spaces were covered with a foot friendly, decorative gravel. Giving the family a great space for large gatherings, all while saving water.

The owners were downsizing from a large ornate property down the street and were seeking a number of goals. Single story living, modern and open floor plan, comfortable working kitchen, spaces to house their collection of artwork, low maintenance and a strong connection between the interior and the landscape. Working with a long narrow lot adjacent to conservation land, the main living space (16 foot ceiling height at its peak) opens with folding glass doors to a large screen porch that looks out on a courtyard and the adjacent wooded landscape. This gives the home the perception that it is on a much larger lot and provides a great deal of privacy. The transition from the entry to the core of the home provides a natural gallery in which to display artwork and sculpture. Artificial light almost never needs to be turned on during daytime hours and the substantial peaked roof over the main living space is oriented to allow for solar panels not visible from the street or yard.

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Understated clean lines come together with rustic accents inspired by historic rural homes. Using simple Middleton flat panel doors throughout allows the three finishes to take center stage. Shiplap is a key element of Farmhouse styling—add texture and detail to your design with a shiplap panel, now available in strips as well as prearranged panels for hoods, bookcases, end panels and more. Enhance a center island with a geometric x-end. Paired with shiplap, it adds to a classic Farmhouse look. Middleton full overlay door in Classic Safari and Eucalyptus Classic paint.

Example of a mountain style pool design in Toronto

Daniel Wicke
This is an example of a large transitional concrete paver screened-in back porch design in Atlanta with a roof extension.

This gem of a house was built in the 1950s, when its neighborhood undoubtedly felt remote. The university footprint has expanded in the 70 years since, however, and today this home sits on prime real estate—easy biking and reasonable walking distance to campus. When it went up for sale in 2017, it was largely unaltered. Our clients purchased it to renovate and resell, and while we all knew we'd need to add square footage to make it profitable, we also wanted to respect the neighborhood and the house’s own history. Swedes have a word that means “just the right amount”: lagom. It is a guiding philosophy for us at SYH, and especially applied in this renovation. Part of the soul of this house was about living in just the right amount of space. Super sizing wasn’t a thing in 1950s America. So, the solution emerged: keep the original rectangle, but add an L off the back. With no owner to design with and for, SYH created a layout to appeal to the masses. All public spaces are the back of the home--the new addition that extends into the property’s expansive backyard. A den and four smallish bedrooms are atypically located in the front of the house, in the original 1500 square feet. Lagom is behind that choice: conserve space in the rooms where you spend most of your time with your eyes shut. Put money and square footage toward the spaces in which you mostly have your eyes open. In the studio, we started calling this project the Mullet Ranch—business up front, party in the back. The front has a sleek but quiet effect, mimicking its original low-profile architecture street-side. It’s very Hoosier of us to keep appearances modest, we think. But get around to the back, and surprise! lofted ceilings and walls of windows. Gorgeous.

Bainbridge Island Garden | Lore Patterson
Design ideas for a mid-sized traditional full sun backyard mulch formal garden in Seattle for summer.

Early autumn cafe table and seating with rustic willow fencing. Photograph: Lore Patterson
Inspiration for a small rustic partial sun backyard gravel formal garden in Seattle for fall.

Set on ten acres abutting protected conservation land, the zoning for this site allowed for a creative multi-unit residential project. The design concept created a sustainable modern farm community of three distinct structures. A sense of individuality is established between the buildings, while a comprehensive site design references historic farms with a home-like, residential scale. An existing structure was renovated to house three condo units, featuring sliding barn doors and floor-to-ceiling storefront glass in the great room, with 25’ ceilings. Across a circular cobblestone drive, a new house and barn structure houses two condo units. Connecting both units, a garage references a carriage house and barn with small square windows above and large bays at ground level to mimic barn bays. There is no parking lot for the site – instead garages and a few individual parking spaces preserve the scale of a natural farm property. Patios and yards in the rear of each unit offer private access to the lush natural surroundings and space for entertaining.

Carex sprengelii / Long-Beaked Sedge Photo: Matt Lavin, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
Inspiration for a landscaping in Other.

an 8-panel photovoltaic system provides power to the original historic home, and serves as an educational display about renewable energy and conservation. jimmy cheng photography