Stunning, high-tech patio and pool area features dramatic evening lighting, entertainment areas and smart home automation from Control4 to enhance the ambiance and add the ultimate in convenience. Broadcast the music or program of your choice to an outdoor space using a whole-home audio/video solution, powered by Control4. The recessed smart lighting and access lighting is designed to create the perfect personalized ambiance. Other automation options may include fireplace switches, pool and hot tub control, energy management, home security system integration and full A/V control. And everything can be controlled from virtually anywhere - using your Control4 app with a smart phone or tablet device or a convenient touch screen.

Designed as gallery, studio, and residence for an artist, this house takes inspiration from the owner’s love of cubist art. The program includes an upper level studio with ample north light, access to outdoor decks to the north and south, which offer panoramic views of East Austin. A gallery is housed on the main floor. A cool, monochromatic palette and spare aesthetic defines interior and exterior, schewing, at the owner’s request, any warming elements to provide a neutral backdrop for her art collection. Thus, finishes were selected to recede as well as for their longevity and low life scycle costs. Stair rails are steel, floors are sealed concrete and the base trim clear aluminum. Where walls are not exposed CMU, they are painted white. By design, the fireplace provides a singular source of warmth, the gas flame emanating from a bed of crushed glass, surrounded on three sides by a polished concrete hearth.

Spacious, comfortable family room. Interior decoration by Barbara Feinstein, B Fein Interiors. Custom-bordered sisal rug. Swaim cocktail tables. Custom sofas, B Fein Interiors Private Label.

Winner of "most Livable Floorplan" in the 2011 Clark County Parade of Homes. Photos by Bob Greenspan
Kitchen - traditional kitchen idea in Portland with stainless steel appliances and wood countertops

Trendy bathroom photo in Chicago

Living room - modern bamboo floor living room idea in San Francisco with a ribbon fireplace and a stone fireplace

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

this dog wash is a great place to clean up your pets and give them the spa treatment they deserve. There is even an area to relax for your pet under the counter in the padded cabinet.

The remodel of this mid-century ranch house in an established Aspen neighborhood takes the opportunity to reuse sixty percent of the original roof and walls. Raising the roofline and adding clerestory windows and skylights flood the living spaces and master suite with natural light. Removing walls in the kitchen, living room and dining room create a generous and flowing open floor plan. Adding an entire wall of exterior glass doors to the centralized living room.

This project was designed by Mikal Otten. Interior design by Beth Armijo (www.armijodesigngroup.com). Photography by Emily Minton Redfield.
Example of a transitional formal living room design in Denver with a standard fireplace

Huge trendy master white tile and marble tile marble floor bathroom photo in Chicago with an undermount sink, raised-panel cabinets, gray cabinets, marble countertops, an undermount tub and gray walls

Originally built in 1929, this simple two story center hall white wood clapboard colonial satisfied all of the early 20th century requirements; formal front elevation with full porch, central foyer/stair hall bounded by formal rooms, private bedroom space on the second floor, and, no relationship to the backyard. American’s love their early century houses, but they do not love the way they function, forsaking usable modern first floor spaces such as kitchen, mudroom, family room, powder room, and a strong connection to the back yard. In this case, the solid house ignored the backyard with its original 1920’s kitchen dumping out onto the left side of the house; there was a total lack of connection. The project program asked for a new kitchen and the other missing pieces, but most importantly, a clear, strong connection to the vast rear lawn with an assemblage of spaces starting with the kitchen flowing into the family room, then flowing into the screened porch that spilled onto the rear porch, and then culminates to the hardscape and softscape of the vast lush lawn. The new architecture is simple like the house; a new gabled volume of open space for the family room that feels connected and then disengaged from the house by a gasket addition holding the kitchen and utility entrance; a strong center access through the spaces carrying the focus from indoors to outdoors; traditional forms creating a crisp modern aesthetic of material, light, form and detail. The addition is respectful to the original house, but not without imposing its own place in time, commanding the rear elevation in a diminutive manner. All photos by Hoachlander Davis Photography.

Photo of a southwestern partial sun front yard stone formal garden in Phoenix.

A couple wanted a weekend retreat without spending a majority of their getaway in an automobile. Therefore, a lot was purchased along the Rocky River with the vision of creating a nearby escape less than five miles away from their home. This 1,300 sf 24’ x 24’ dwelling is divided into a four square quadrant with the goal to create a variety of interior and exterior experiences while maintaining a rather small footprint. Typically, when going on a weekend retreat one has the drive time to decompress. However, without this, the goal was to create a procession from the car to the house to signify such change of context. This concept was achieved through the use of a wood slatted screen wall which must be passed through. After winding around a collection of poured concrete steps and walls one comes to a wood plank bridge and crosses over a Japanese garden leaving all the stresses of the daily world behind. The house is structured around a nine column steel frame grid, which reinforces the impression one gets of the four quadrants. The two rear quadrants intentionally house enclosed program space but once passed through, the floor plan completely opens to long views down to the mouth of the river into Lake Erie. On the second floor the four square grid is stacked with one quadrant removed for the two story living area on the first floor to capture heightened views down the river. In a move to create complete separation there is a one quadrant roof top office with surrounding roof top garden space. The rooftop office is accessed through a unique approach by exiting onto a steel grated staircase which wraps up the exterior facade of the house. This experience provides an additional retreat within their weekend getaway, and serves as the apex of the house where one can completely enjoy the views of Lake Erie disappearing over the horizon. Visually the house extends into the riverside site, but the four quadrant axis also physically extends creating a series of experiences out on the property. The Northeast kitchen quadrant extends out to become an exterior kitchen & dining space. The two-story Northwest living room quadrant extends out to a series of wrap around steps and lounge seating. A fire pit sits in this quadrant as well farther out in the lawn. A fruit and vegetable garden sits out in the Southwest quadrant in near proximity to the shed, and the entry sequence is contained within the Southeast quadrant extension. Internally and externally the whole house is organized in a simple and concise way and achieves the ultimate goal of creating many different experiences within a rationally sized footprint. Photo: Sergiu Stoian

Front yard renovation with new waterfall and bridge and fireplace seating area. Barbara Ries Photography
Patio - traditional stone patio idea in San Francisco with a fire pit

This three-story vacation home for a family of ski enthusiasts features 5 bedrooms and a six-bed bunk room, 5 1/2 bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, great room, 2 wet bars, great room, exercise room, basement game room, office, mud room, ski work room, decks, stone patio with sunken hot tub, garage, and elevator. The home sits into an extremely steep, half-acre lot that shares a property line with a ski resort and allows for ski-in, ski-out access to the mountain’s 61 trails. This unique location and challenging terrain informed the home’s siting, footprint, program, design, interior design, finishes, and custom made furniture. Credit: Samyn-D'Elia Architects

Landscape Design: COS Design. Home Design/Construct DDB Design. Photos: Tim Turner Photography. Copyright COS Design
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary front yard driveway in Melbourne.

Caralyn Ing Photography-
Family room - contemporary family room idea in Toronto with a tile fireplace

Cottage staircase
Inspiration for a small farmhouse wooden curved staircase remodel in Cornwall with painted risers