When a world class sailing champion approached us to design a Newport home for his family, with lodging for his sailing crew, we set out to create a clean, light-filled modern home that would integrate with the natural surroundings of the waterfront property, and respect the character of the historic district. Our approach was to make the marine landscape an integral feature throughout the home. One hundred eighty degree views of the ocean from the top floors are the result of the pinwheel massing. The home is designed as an extension of the curvilinear approach to the property through the woods and reflects the gentle undulating waterline of the adjacent saltwater marsh. Floodplain regulations dictated that the primary occupied spaces be located significantly above grade; accordingly, we designed the first and second floors on a stone “plinth” above a walk-out basement with ample storage for sailing equipment. The curved stone base slopes to grade and houses the shallow entry stair, while the same stone clads the interior’s vertical core to the roof, along which the wood, glass and stainless steel stair ascends to the upper level. One critical programmatic requirement was enough sleeping space for the sailing crew, and informal party spaces for the end of race-day gatherings. The private master suite is situated on one side of the public central volume, giving the homeowners views of approaching visitors. A “bedroom bar,” designed to accommodate a full house of guests, emerges from the other side of the central volume, and serves as a backdrop for the infinity pool and the cove beyond. Also essential to the design process was ecological sensitivity and stewardship. The wetlands of the adjacent saltwater marsh were designed to be restored; an extensive geo-thermal heating and cooling system was implemented; low carbon footprint materials and permeable surfaces were used where possible. Native and non-invasive plant species were utilized in the landscape. The abundance of windows and glass railings maximize views of the landscape, and, in deference to the adjacent bird sanctuary, bird-friendly glazing was used throughout. Photo: Michael Moran/OTTO Photography

Jean Allsopp
Bathroom - coastal mosaic tile floor and white floor bathroom idea in Other with recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, white walls, an undermount sink and gray countertops

Given the efficient size of the home, the first floor is wide open. The traditional living room was eliminated leaving a dining room at the front, kitchen literally in the center of the space, and family room at the rear. Natural daylight floods in from the large front and back windows, along with light from the skylight atop of the centrally located stairwell. The kitchen cabinets, made from reclaimed wood, have naturalistic grooves align with adjacent cabinet fronts. http://www.kipnisarch.com Cable Photo/Wayne Cable http://selfmadephoto.com

Renaissance solid bronze casement and picture window replicating old world craftsmanship, with narrow sightlines, factory glazing, and cremone bolt locking system. http://solidbronzewindows.com/

This 4,000-square foot home is located in the Silversand section of Hermosa Beach, known for its fabulous restaurants, walkability and beach access. Stylistically, it’s coastal-meets-traditional, complete with 4 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, a 3-stop elevator and a roof deck with amazing ocean views. The client, an art collector, wanted bold color and unique aesthetic choices. In the living room, the built-in shelving is lined in luminescent mother of pearl. The dining area’s custom hand-blown chandelier was made locally and perfectly diffuses light. The client’s former granite-topped dining table didn’t fit the size and shape of the space, so we cut the granite and built a new base and frame around it. The bedrooms are full of organic materials and personal touches, such as the light raffia wall-covering in the master bedroom and the fish-painted end table in a college-aged son’s room—a nod to his love of surfing. Detail is always important, but especially to this client, so we searched for the perfect artisans to create one-of-a kind pieces. Several light fixtures were commissioned by an International glass artist. These include the white, layered glass pendants above the kitchen island, and the stained glass piece in the hallway, which glistens blues and greens through the window overlooking the front entrance of the home. The overall feel of the house is peaceful but not complacent, full of tiny surprises and energizing pops of color.

When walking in this special home the first thing you see are these walls of windows showing foliage and the beautiful water view. The two story textured sheers create quite a dramatic effect. Photography by Robert Brantley.

This beautiful two-story brick residence on the edge of Kenwood had a kitchen that had been poorly re-done mid-20th century, and needed to be brought up to the quality of the rest of the original home. All new finishes, cabinetry and additional windows transform the space entirely. Granite countertops and a farmhouse sink center on new windows that look out to a yard and traditional garage at the back of the house.

Inspiration for a timeless dark wood floor dining room remodel in Minneapolis with beige walls

We used a very linear, classical plan with open piers in lieu of walls and exposed wood beams to create a bright sophisticated interior. The interior incorporates stained, wide-plank flooring, wood storefront (glass stile + rail) doors, barn doors, simple modern and weathered tile, stained, traditionally-finished cabinetry, wood beams, custom lighting, and incorporates the client’s art, collected during their world travels.

The guesthouse of our Green Mountain Getaway follows the same recipe as the main house. With its soaring roof lines and large windows, it feels equally as integrated into the surrounding landscape. Photo by: Nat Rea Photography

Additional square windows paired with an accent wall create an element of surprise in your master bedroom that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. Seen in Victoria Hills, an Orlando community.

Positioned near the base of iconic Camelback Mountain, “Outside In” is a modernist home celebrating the love of outdoor living Arizonans crave. The design inspiration was honoring early territorial architecture while applying modernist design principles. Dressed with undulating negra cantera stone, the massing elements of “Outside In” bring an artistic stature to the project’s design hierarchy. This home boasts a first (never seen before feature) — a re-entrant pocketing door which unveils virtually the entire home’s living space to the exterior pool and view terrace. A timeless chocolate and white palette makes this home both elegant and refined. Oriented south, the spectacular interior natural light illuminates what promises to become another timeless piece of architecture for the Paradise Valley landscape. Project Details | Outside In Architect: CP Drewett, AIA, NCARB, Drewett Works Builder: Bedbrock Developers Interior Designer: Ownby Design Photographer: Werner Segarra Publications: Luxe Interiors & Design, Jan/Feb 2018, "Outside In: Optimized for Entertaining, a Paradise Valley Home Connects with its Desert Surrounds" Awards: Gold Nugget Awards - 2018 Award of Merit – Best Indoor/Outdoor Lifestyle for a Home – Custom The Nationals - 2017 Silver Award -- Best Architectural Design of a One of a Kind Home - Custom or Spec http://www.drewettworks.com/outside-in/

Boy's Bedroom with rustic charm, located the in walk through from main house to bonus room above garage.
Kids' bedroom - rustic boy medium tone wood floor kids' bedroom idea in Burlington with beige walls

Photography by Michael J. Lee
Large trendy dark wood floor dining room photo in Boston with white walls and a ribbon fireplace

Tom Holdsworth Photography Our clients wanted to create a room that would bring them closer to the outdoors; a room filled with natural lighting; and a venue to spotlight a modern fireplace. Early in the design process, our clients wanted to replace their existing, outdated, and rundown screen porch, but instead decided to build an all-season sun room. The space was intended as a quiet place to read, relax, and enjoy the view. The sunroom addition extends from the existing house and is nestled into its heavily wooded surroundings. The roof of the new structure reaches toward the sky, enabling additional light and views. The floor-to-ceiling magnum double-hung windows with transoms, occupy the rear and side-walls. The original brick, on the fourth wall remains exposed; and provides a perfect complement to the French doors that open to the dining room and create an optimum configuration for cross-ventilation. To continue the design philosophy for this addition place seamlessly merged natural finishes from the interior to the exterior. The Brazilian black slate, on the sunroom floor, extends to the outdoor terrace; and the stained tongue and groove, installed on the ceiling, continues through to the exterior soffit. The room's main attraction is the suspended metal fireplace; an authentic wood-burning heat source. Its shape is a modern orb with a commanding presence. Positioned at the center of the room, toward the rear, the orb adds to the majestic interior-exterior experience. This is the client's third project with place architecture: design. Each endeavor has been a wonderful collaboration to successfully bring this 1960s ranch-house into twenty-first century living.

The sunroom features large windows with transoms, allowing more natural light into the space and offering visual and physical access to the homeowners' gardens. The lightly white-washed tongue and groove ceiling adds texture and interest. Photo Credit - David Bader Interior Design Partner - Jeff Wasserman

Stuart Wade, Envision Virtual Tours The second-largest and most developed of Georgia's barrier islands, St. Simons is approximately twelve miles long and nearly three miles wide at its widest stretch (roughly the size of Manhattan Island in New York). The island is located in Glynn County on Georgia's coast and lies east of Brunswick (the seat of Glynn County), south of Little St. Simons Island and the Hampton River, and north of Jekyll Island. The resort community of Sea Island is separated from St. Simons on the east by the Black Banks River. Known for its oak tree canopies and historic landmarks, St. Simons is both a tourist destination and, according to the 2010 U.S. census, home to 12,743 residents. Early History The earliest St. Simons Island Village record of human habitation on the island dates to the Late Archaic Period, about 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. Remnants of shell rings left behind by Native Americans from this era survive on many of the barrier islands, including St. Simons. Centuries later, during the period known by historians as the chiefdom era, the Guale Indians established a chiefdom centered on St. Catherines Island and used St. Simons as their hunting and fishing grounds. By 1500 the Guale had established a permanent village of about 200 people on St. Simons, which they called Guadalquini. Beginning in 1568, the Spanish attempted to create missions along the Georgia coast. Catholic missions were the primary means by which Georgia's indigenous Native American chiefdoms were assimilated into the Spanish colonial system along the northern frontier of greater Spanish Florida. In the 1600s St. Simons became home to two Spanish missions: San Buenaventura de Guadalquini, on the southern tip of the island, and Santo Domingo de Asao (or Asajo), on the northern tip. Located on the inland side of the island were the pagan refugee villages of San Simón, the island's namesake, and Ocotonico. In 1684 pirate raids left the missions and villages largely abandoned. Colonial History As Fort Frederica early as 1670, with Great Britain's establishment of the colony of Carolina and its expansion into Georgia territory, Spanish rule was threatened by the English. The Georgia coast was considered "debatable land" by England and Spain, even though Spain had fully retreated from St. Simons by 1702. Thirty-one years later General James Edward Oglethorpe founded the English settlement of Savannah. In 1736 he established Fort Frederica, named after the heir to the British throne, Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, on the west side of St. Simons Island to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the Spanish threat. Between 1736 and 1749 Fort Frederica was the hub of British military operations along the Georgia frontier. A town of the same name grew up around the fort and was of great importance to the new colony. By 1740 Frederica's population was 1,000. In 1736 the congregation of what would become Christ Church was organized within Fort Frederica as a mission of the Church of England. Charles Wesley led the first services. In 1742 Britain's decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of Bloody Marsh, during the War of Jenkins' Ear, ended the Spanish threat to the Georgia coast. When the British regimen disbanded in 1749, most of the townspeople relocated to the mainland. Fort Frederica went into decline and, except for a short time of prosperity during the 1760s and 1770s under the leadership of merchant James Spalding, never fully recovered. Today the historic citadel's tabby ruins are maintained by the National Park Service. Plantation Era By the start of the American Revolution (1775-83), Fort Frederica was obsolete, and St. Simons was left largely uninhabited as most of its residents joined the patriot army. Besides hosting a small Georgia naval victory on the Fort Frederica River, providing guns from its famous fort for use at Fort Morris in Sunbury, and serving as an arena for pillaging by privateers and British soldiers, the island played almost no role in the war. Following the war, many of the townspeople, their businesses destroyed, turned to agriculture. The island was transformed into fourteen cotton plantations after acres of live oak trees were cleared for farm land and used for building American warships, including the famous USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides." Although rice was the predominant crop along the neighboring Altamaha River, St. Simons was known for its production of long-staple cotton, which soon came to be known as Sea Island cotton. Between Ebos Landing the 1780s and the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-65), St. Simons's plantation culture flourished. The saline atmosphere and the availability of cheap slave labor proved an ideal combination for the cultivation of Sea Island cotton. In 1803 a group of Ebo slaves who survived the Middle Passage and arrived on the west side of St. Simons staged a rebellion and drowned themselves. The sacred site is known today as Ebos Landing. One of the largest owners of land and slaves on St. Simons was Pierce Butler, master of Hampton Point Plantation, located on the northern end of the island. By 1793 Butler owned more than 500 slaves, who cultivated 800 acres of cotton on St. Simons and 300 acres of rice on Butler's Island in the Altamaha River delta. Butler's grandson, Pierce Mease Butler, who at the age of sixteen inherited a share of his grandfather's estate in 1826, was responsible for the largest sale of human beings in the history of the United States: in 1859, to restore his squandered fortune, he sold 429 slaves in Savannah for more than $300,000. The British actress and writer Fanny Kemble, whose tumultuous marriage to Pierce ended in divorce in 1849, published an eyewitness account of the evils of slavery on St. Simons in her book Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839 (1863). Another Retreat Plantation large owner of land and slaves on St. Simons was Major William Page, a friend and employee of Pierce Butler Sr. Before purchasing Retreat Plantation on the southwestern tip of the island in 1804, Page managed the Hampton plantation and Butler's Island. Upon Page's death in 1827, Thomas Butler King inherited the land together with his wife, Page's daughter, Anna Matilda Page King. King expanded his father-in-law's planting empire on St. Simons as well as on the mainland, and by 1835 Retreat Plantation alone was home to as many as 355 slaves. The center of life during the island's plantation era was Christ Church, Frederica. Organized in 1807 by a group of island planters, the Episcopal church is the second oldest in the Diocese of Georgia. Embargoes imposed by the War of 1812 (1812-15) prevented the parishioners from building a church structure, so they worshiped in the home of John Beck, which stood on the site of Oglethorpe's only St. Simons residence, Orange Hall. The first Christ Church building, finished on the present site in 1820, was ruined by occupying Union troops during the Civil War. In 1884 the Reverend Anson Dodge Jr. rebuilt the church as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. The cruciform building with a trussed gothic roof and stained-glass windows remains active today as Christ Church. Civil War and Beyond The St. Simons Island Lighthouse outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 put a sudden end to St. Simons's lucrative plantation era. In January of that year, Confederate troops were stationed at the south end of the island to guard the entrance to Brunswick Harbor. Slaves from Retreat Plantation, owned by Thomas Butler King, built earthworks and batteries. Plantation residents were scattered—the men joined the Confederate army and their families moved to the mainland. Cannon fire was heard on the island in December 1861, and Confederate troops retreated in February 1862, after dynamiting the lighthouse to keep its beacon from aiding Union troops. Soon thereafter, Union troops occupied the island, which was used as a camp for freed slaves. By August 1862 more than 500 former slaves lived on St. Simons, including Susie King Taylor, who organized a school for freed slave children. But in November the ex-slaves were taken to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Fernandina, Florida, leaving the island abandoned. After the Civil War the island never returned to its status as an agricultural community. The plantations lay dormant because there were no slaves to work the fields. After Union general William T. Sherman's January 1865 Special Field Order No. 15 —a demand that former plantations be divided and distributed to former slaves—was overturned by U.S. president Andrew Johnson less than a year later, freedmen and women were forced to work as sharecroppers on the small farms that dotted the land previously occupied by the sprawling plantations. By St. Simons Lumber Mills 1870 real economic recovery began with the reestablishment of the timber industry. Norman Dodge and Titus G. Meigs of New York set up lumber mill operations at Gascoigne Bluff, formerly Hamilton Plantation. The lumber mills provided welcome employment for both blacks and whites and also provided mail and passenger boats to the mainland. Such water traffic, together with the construction of a new lighthouse in 1872, designed by architect Charles B. Cluskey, marked the beginning of St. Simons's tourism industry. The keeper of the lighthouse created a small amusement park, which drew many visitors, as did the seemingly miraculous light that traveled from the top of the lighthouse tower to the bottom. The island became a summer retreat for families from the mainland, particularly from Baxley, Brunswick, and Waycross. The island's resort industry was thriving by the 1880s. Beachfront structures, such as a new pier and grand hotel, were built on the southeastern end of the island and could be accessed by ferry. Around this time wealthy northerners began vacationing on the island. Twentieth Century The St. Simons Island Pier and Village opening in 1924 of the Brunswick–St. Simons Highway, today known as the Torras Causeway, was a milestone in the development of resorts in the area. St. Simons's beaches were now easily accessible to locals and tourists alike. More than 5,000 automobiles took the short drive from Brunswick to St. Simons via the causeway on its opening day, paving the way for convenient residential and resort development. In 1926 automotive pioneer Howard Coffin of Detroit, Michigan, bought large tracts of land on St. Simons, including the former Retreat Plantation, and constructed a golf course, yacht club, paved roads, and a residential subdivision. Although the causeway had brought large numbers of summer people to the island, St. Simons remained a small community with only a few hundred permanent residents until the 1940s. The St. Simons Island outbreak of World War II (1941-45) brought more visitors and residents to St. Simons. Troops stationed at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah; and nearby Camp Stewart took weekend vacations on the island, and a new naval air base and radar school became home to even more officers and soldiers. The increased wartime population brought the island its first public school. With a major shipyard for the production of Liberty ships in nearby Brunswick, the waters of St. Simons became active with German U-boats. In April 1942, just off the coast, the Texas Company oil tanker S. S. Oklahoma and the S. S. Esso Baton Rouge were torpedoed by the Germans, bringing the war very close to home for island residents. Due in large part to the military's improvement of the island's infrastructure during the war, development on the island boomed in the 1950s and 1960s. More permanent homes and subdivisions were built, and the island was no longer just a summer resort but also a thriving community. In 1950 the Methodist conference and retreat center Epworth by the Sea opened on Gascoigne Bluff. In 1961 novelist Eugenia Price visited St. Simons and began work on her first works of fiction, known as the St. Simons Trilogy. Inspired by real events on the island, Price's trilogy renewed interest in the history of Georgia's coast, and the novelist herself relocated to the island in 1965 and lived there for thirty-one years. St. Simons is also home to contemporary Georgia writer Tina McElroy Ansa. Since Epworth by the Sea 1980 St. Simons's population has doubled. The island's continued status as a vacation destination and its ongoing development boom have put historic landmarks and natural areas at risk. While such landmarks as the Fort Frederica ruins and the Battle of Bloody Marsh site are preserved and maintained by the National Park Service, and while the historic lighthouse is maintained by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, historic Ebos Landing has been taken over by a sewage treatment plant. Several coastal organizations have formed in recent years to save natural areas on the island. The St. Simons Land Trust, for example, has received donations of large tracts of land and plans to protect property in the island's three traditional African American neighborhoods. Despite its rapid growth and development, St. Simons remains one of the most beautiful and important islands on the Georgia coast.

Trendy living room photo in Cedar Rapids

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Eric Roth Photo