This quaint home office inside a Maine beach house features a sloped roof, neutral colors, and many windows to allow plenty of natural light into the interior.

The best of past and present architectural styles combine in this welcoming, farmhouse-inspired design. Clad in low-maintenance siding, the distinctive exterior has plenty of street appeal, with its columned porch, multiple gables, shutters and interesting roof lines. Other exterior highlights included trusses over the garage doors, horizontal lap siding and brick and stone accents. The interior is equally impressive, with an open floor plan that accommodates today’s family and modern lifestyles. An eight-foot covered porch leads into a large foyer and a powder room. Beyond, the spacious first floor includes more than 2,000 square feet, with one side dominated by public spaces that include a large open living room, centrally located kitchen with a large island that seats six and a u-shaped counter plan, formal dining area that seats eight for holidays and special occasions and a convenient laundry and mud room. The left side of the floor plan contains the serene master suite, with an oversized master bath, large walk-in closet and 16 by 18-foot master bedroom that includes a large picture window that lets in maximum light and is perfect for capturing nearby views. Relax with a cup of morning coffee or an evening cocktail on the nearby covered patio, which can be accessed from both the living room and the master bedroom. Upstairs, an additional 900 square feet includes two 11 by 14-foot upper bedrooms with bath and closet and a an approximately 700 square foot guest suite over the garage that includes a relaxing sitting area, galley kitchen and bath, perfect for guests or in-laws.

Photography by Karl Neumann, Bozeman MT
Example of a mid-sized trendy brown two-story wood exterior home design in Seattle with a shed roof

A minimal insertion into a densely wooded landscape, the Collector’s Pavilion provides the owners with an 8,000 sf private fitness space and vintage automobile gallery. On a gently sloping site in amongst a grove of trees, the pavilion slides into the topography - mimicking and contrasting the surrounding landscape with a folded roof plane that hovers over a board formed concrete base. The clients’ requirement for a nearby room to display a growing car collection as well as provide a remote area for personal fitness carries with it a series of challenges related to privacy and security. The pavilion nestles into the wooded site - finding a home in a small clearing - and merges with the sloping landscape. The building has dual personalities, serving as a private and secure bunker from the exterior, while transforming into a warm and inviting space on the interior. The use of indirect light and the need to obscure direct views from the public right away provides the client with adequate day light for day-to-day use while ensuring that strict privacy is maintained. This shifting personality is also dramatically affected by the seasons - contrasting and merging with the surrounding environment depending on the time of year. The Collector’s Pavilion employs meticulous detailing of its concrete to steel to wood connections, exploring the grounded nature of poured concrete in conjunction with a delicate wood roof system that floats above a grid of steel. Above all, the Pavilion harmonizes with it’s natural surroundings through it’s materiality, formal language, and siting. Overview Chenequa, WI Size 8,000 sf Completion Date May 2013 Services Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design

Robert Swinburne
Example of a trendy metal exterior home design in Boston

Open concept kitchen - small transitional single-wall light wood floor open concept kitchen idea in New York with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and no island

Example of a minimalist one-story mixed siding exterior home design in Omaha with a shingle roof

Joseph G Popper III
Beach style three-story wood exterior home photo in Philadelphia with a gambrel roof

The 5,000 square foot private residence is located in the community of Horseshoe Bay, above the shores of Lake LBJ, and responds to the Texas Hill Country vernacular prescribed by the community: shallow metal roofs, regional materials, sensitive scale massing and water-wise landscaping. The house opens to the scenic north and north-west views and fractures and shifts in order to keep significant oak, mesquite, elm, cedar and persimmon trees, in the process creating lush private patios and limestone terraces. The Owners desired an accessible residence built for flexibility as they age. This led to a single level home, and the challenge to nestle the step-less house into the sloping landscape. Full height glazing opens the house to the very beautiful arid landscape, while porches and overhangs protect interior spaces from the harsh Texas sun. Expansive walls of industrial insulated glazing panels allow soft modulated light to penetrate the interior while providing visual privacy. An integral lap pool with adjacent low fenestration reflects dappled light deep into the house. Chaste stained concrete floors and blackened steel focal elements contrast with islands of mesquite flooring, cherry casework and fir ceilings. Selective areas of exposed limestone walls, some incorporating salvaged timber lintels, and cor-ten steel components further the contrast within the uncomplicated framework. The Owner’s object and art collection is incorporated into the residence’s sequence of connecting galleries creating a choreography of passage that alternates between the lucid expression of simple ranch house architecture and the rich accumulation of their heritage. The general contractor for the project is local custom homebuilder Dauphine Homes. Structural Engineering is provided by Structures Inc. of Austin, Texas, and Landscape Architecture is provided by Prado Design LLC in conjunction with Jill Nokes, also of Austin. Cecil Baker + Partners Photography

When planning to construct their elegant new home in Rye, NH, our clients envisioned a large, open room with a vaulted ceiling adjacent to the kitchen. The goal? To introduce as much natural light as is possible into the area which includes the kitchen, a dining area, and the adjacent great room. As always, Sunspace is able to work with any specialists you’ve hired for your project. In this case, Sunspace Design worked with the clients and their designer on the conservatory roof system so that it would achieve an ideal appearance that paired beautifully with the home’s architecture. The glass roof meshes with the existing sloped roof on the exterior and sloped ceiling on the interior. By utilizing a concealed steel ridge attached to a structural beam at the rear, we were able to bring the conservatory ridge back into the sloped ceiling. The resulting design achieves the flood of natural light our clients were dreaming of. Ample sunlight penetrates deep into the great room and the kitchen, while the glass roof provides a striking visual as you enter the home through the foyer. By working closely with our clients and their designer, we were able to provide our clients with precisely the look, feel, function, and quality they were hoping to achieve. This is something we pride ourselves on at Sunspace Design. Consider our services for your residential project and we’ll ensure that you also receive exactly what you envisioned.

Great room - mid-sized 1950s light wood floor great room idea in Los Angeles with white walls

This new modern house is located in a meadow in Lenox MA. The house is designed as a series of linked pavilions to connect the house to the nature and to provide the maximum daylight in each room. The center focus of the home is the largest pavilion containing the living/dining/kitchen, with the guest pavilion to the south and the master bedroom and screen porch pavilions to the west. While the roof line appears flat from the exterior, the roofs of each pavilion have a pronounced slope inward and to the north, a sort of funnel shape. This design allows rain water to channel via a scupper to cisterns located on the north side of the house. Steel beams, Douglas fir rafters and purlins are exposed in the living/dining/kitchen pavilion. Photo by: Nat Rea Photography

Built in Ipe benches and planters shape the space of this roof deck, giving our client flexibility and privacy. -Brad Dickson Photography
Mid-sized trendy rooftop rooftop deck photo in New York with no cover

Minimalist gray three-story wood house exterior photo in Other with a gray roof

Modern gray three-story wood house exterior idea in Other with a gray roof

Example of a minimalist green three-story house exterior design in Other with a gray roof

This second story screen porch in Winston Salem NC features stark white trim and coordinating fascia detail, as well as siding to match the original home. Outside the screen porch, is a composite deck, perfectly sized for grilling. The turned stair provides easy access between the yard and the outdoor living space. The porch also boasts a single-slope roof design, often called a shed roof. Additional screened transom openings will provide ample air and light into the porch.

Modern gray three-story house exterior idea in Other with a gray roof

This second story screen porch in Winston Salem NC features stark white trim and coordinating fascia detail, as well as siding to match the original home. Outside the screen porch, is a composite deck, perfectly sized for grilling. The turned stair provides easy access between the yard and the outdoor living space. The porch also boasts a single-slope roof design, often called a shed roof. Additional screened transom openings will provide ample air and light into the porch.