Tom Story | This family beach house and guest cottage sits perched above the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor. A portion of the main house originally housed 1930’s era changing rooms for a Beach Club which included distinguished visitors such as Will Rogers. An apt connection for the new owners also have Oklahoma ties. The structures were limited to one story due to historic easements, therefore both buildings have fully developed basements featuring large windows and French doors to access European style exterior terraces and stairs up to grade. The main house features 5 bedrooms and 5 baths. Custom cabinetry throughout in built-in furniture style. A large design team helped to bring this exciting project to fruition. The house includes Passive Solar heated design, Solar Electric and Solar Hot Water systems. 4,500sf/420m House + 1300 sf Cottage - 6bdrm

One of many avian visitors!
Inspiration for a contemporary backyard landscaping in DC Metro for summer.

Example of a mid-sized trendy brown tile porcelain tile powder room design in Los Angeles with flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, a vessel sink, marble countertops and brown walls

An understated single car carriage garage door and long front porch greet visitors to this two-story home. Stone plynths highlight the porch columns. A smaller second floor and wide porch overhang give the home a horizontal emphasis to reduce the sense of visual height of the facade.

Photo by Jay Sifford.
Inspiration for a contemporary landscaping in Charlotte.

This once traditional bedroom received a modern update by the team at Perceptions. Transforming this space into a corporate hub was no small feat! Sliding glass doors create a work out nook to house the family's bulky treadmill. A multi-function media wall helps the homeowners keep up with world events, while a sleek walnut table serves as a conference center for meetings. When hosting visitors cozy seating and a comfy sleeper sofa instantly transform the space into a visitors retreat.

A new porch highlights the front door, once difficult to find, on this variation of a traditional Cape Cod home. Ample windows on axis with the living room entry focus a visitor’s attention on a sun filled garden terrace and water feature. From above, light streams through a ridge clerestory, inspired by the client’s love of the Stanford University Barn’s similar roof detail. The newly raised ceiling creates a lofty, inviting space. Below the living room, a new basement home theater is finished with fine wood paneling and accented with art from their collection.

Saturday June 20, 10:00 to 11:30am | Manhattan Midtown Sky Garden by Hank White, FASLA, and Aaron Booher of HMWhite This excursion to a spectacular workplace landscape will take visitors up high above the busy streets of Manhattan. The award-winning, 6,500 square-foot terrace of the Midtown Manhattan Sky Garden takes advantage of panoramic skyline views while providing an intimate garden backdrop to the mid-century-modern building’s newly-renovated interior workspace. Richly textured and seasonally diverse plantings include a dense blanket of drought-tolerant prairie grasses, wildflower perennials, and spring flowering bulbs, punctuated by flowering Crab Apple trees. At twilight, the garden evolves into a subtle stage set of textured plantings, rustling softly against the glow of a frosted glass parapet rail—a soothing space where workers can escape the conference room or the electrifying noise of the dense urban environment. The roof garden’s biophilic design has elevated employees’ well-being, productivity, and morale. Photo copyright C. Taylor Crothers Photography

This circular arrival area centered on a large fountain greets visitors.
Photo of a mid-sized victorian front yard water fountain landscape in Philadelphia.

Found along the Emerald Coast of Northwest Florida, Seagrove Beach is a mile-and-a-half beach that encircles a small cove and lures visitors with its beauty and serenity. Watercolor was named for the thick grove of windswept trees that surround it.

Atherton has many large substantial homes - our clients purchased an existing home on a one acre flag-shaped lot and asked us to design a new dream home for them. The result is a new 7,000 square foot four-building complex consisting of the main house, six-car garage with two car lifts, pool house with a full one bedroom residence inside, and a separate home office /work out gym studio building. A fifty-foot swimming pool was also created with fully landscaped yards. Given the rectangular shape of the lot, it was decided to angle the house to incoming visitors slightly so as to more dramatically present itself. The house became a classic u-shaped home but Feng Shui design principals were employed directing the placement of the pool house to better contain the energy flow on the site. The main house entry door is then aligned with a special Japanese red maple at the end of a long visual axis at the rear of the site. These angles and alignments set up everything else about the house design and layout, and views from various rooms allow you to see into virtually every space tracking movements of others in the home. The residence is simply divided into two wings of public use, kitchen and family room, and the other wing of bedrooms, connected by the living and dining great room. Function drove the exterior form of windows and solid walls with a line of clerestory windows which bring light into the middle of the large home. Extensive sun shadow studies with 3D tree modeling led to the unorthodox placement of the pool to the north of the home, but tree shadow tracking showed this to be the sunniest area during the entire year. Sustainable measures included a full 7.1kW solar photovoltaic array technically making the house off the grid, and arranged so that no panels are visible from the property. A large 16,000 gallon rainwater catchment system consisting of tanks buried below grade was installed. The home is California GreenPoint rated and also features sealed roof soffits and a sealed crawlspace without the usual venting. A whole house computer automation system with server room was installed as well. Heating and cooling utilize hot water radiant heated concrete and wood floors supplemented by heat pump generated heating and cooling. A compound of buildings created to form balanced relationships between each other, this home is about circulation, light and a balance of form and function. Photo by Philip Liang Photography.

© Lori Hamilton Photography © Lori Hamilton Photography
Enclosed kitchen - mid-sized modern travertine floor and beige floor enclosed kitchen idea in Miami with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, quartz countertops, paneled appliances, an island, brown cabinets and window backsplash

A powder room on the first floor is a joy. We made the most of this small space by making every choice count. The mirror features capiz shells, the vanity is clean and neat, and the flooring a really great marble tile. Choose the right paint color and a window treatment that offers privacy yet filters light, and you've got a functional yet beautiful space that can hold up to the rigors of kids and visitors. Photo by Eric Roth

MillerRoodell Architects // Laura Fedro Interiors // Gordon Gregory Photography
Mudroom - rustic gray floor mudroom idea with green walls

This contemporary wine cellar is made of chrome metal wine racks, and a high gloss white finish over wood. The floor is marble and the cellar holds over 900+ bottles and has a cooling system. An all glass exterior grade wine cellar door allows all visitors to peer into the backlit LED lighting and custom displays.

The basic functional target set while designing the Papagiannakos Estate winery was to ensure the successful combination of a comprehensive visitor’s tour within the winery space, along with a smooth production flow without one undermining the other.

The Governor - This stately Georgian welcomes visitors with a double curved stair to the front porch.
Inspiration for a large timeless red three-story brick house exterior remodel in Chicago with a hip roof and a shingle roof

Lindsey Denny
Inspiration for a large contemporary backyard deck remodel in Kansas City with a fire pit and no cover

Inspiration for a large contemporary beige tile and mosaic tile mosaic tile floor powder room remodel in Los Angeles with a vessel sink, flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, solid surface countertops, brown walls and white countertops