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10 Spectacular Dream Homes
October 18, 2013
Arresting vistas, alluring interiors, striking architecture, and handsome furniture: all elements of the following 10 spectacular dream homes that will fill you with serious house envy.
São Paulo architect Isay Weinfeld's Casa Deck offers cinematic vistas, a lush garden, and a retreat from Brazil's largest city. “The cinema is without a doubt one of the strongest influences in my life,” says architect Isay Weinfeld, who designed Alan and Ticiana Strozenberg’s home and gardens. And these filmic tendencies are evident even before you reach the Strozenbergs’ front door. Instead of a straight shot down a front walk, Weinfeld leads you on a more complex narrative of unforeseen turns and sudden surprises, as thick tropical foliage postpones, and at times hints at, the big reveal. — Robert Landon
Photo by: Matthew Williams
Photo by
Originally appeared in Blockbuster Movies Can't Compete with These Monumental Views
With an angled roof designed to resemble the surrounding cliffs, a house in Maui, Hawaii, is built to meld with the landscape. The clients cite Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mrs. Clinton Walker House in Carmel, California, as a very loose inspiration for the design of their house. From the deck off the kitchen and living area, the residents take in an uninterrupted view of the Pacific Ocean. —Erika Heet
Photo by: Cristobal Palma
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Originally appeared in Clifftop House with Angled Roof in Maui
The living room of Todd Goddard and Andrew Mandolene looks like it was plucked from an episode of Mad Men. It features vintage furnishings by Harry Bertoia, Paul McCobb, and others, and overlooks the heavily wooded site, which adjoins a protected watershed. The duo replaced the original tile floor with a glossy coat of resin and restored the original ceiling.
Photo by: Jason Schmidt
Originally appeared in Blues Clues
Hidden on a hill overlooking Australia’s Pittwater Bay, Rob Brown’s design for the James-Robertson house happily opens itself (and its occupants) to all that Mother Nature can dish out. —Davina Jackson
Photo by: Richard Powers
Courtesy of
Richard Powers
Originally appeared in Cliff Hangers
The efficiency and aesthetics of prefab proved appealing to the owner of this weekend home built on a rugged island off Canada’s western coast.
Originally appeared in Into the Woods
This Marmol Radziner–designed prefab house was built on a scenic Northern California site. In the foreground are Float beanbag chairs and poufs from Paola Lenti. Mamagreen sofas nestle near the house on the sun-dappled deck. A 9.5-foot-tall shade cloth curtain seals off the entire length of the house when the couple is away, keeping the heat out of the interior and preventing accidental bird suicides against the floor-to-ceiling glass walls. —Jaime Gillin
Photo by: Dwight Eschliman
Photo by
Originally appeared in When Prefab Is Painless
Designer Linda Bergroth's prefabricated shed sited on a Finnish island provides a perfect summer getaway. “The first night I spent there beat any five-star hotel or chateau,” she says. “Nothing has ever felt as luxurious.” —Jordan Kushins
Photo by: Arsi Ikäheimonen
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Originally appeared in Shedded Bliss
What happens when the guest house becomes home? Retired couple Suzanne and Brooks Kelley found out when a pair of brainy New Haven architects breathed new architectural life into the property they’ve inhabited for over thirty years. —William Lamb
Photo by: Mark Mahaney
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Originally appeared in Striking Angular Cottage in Connecticut
Behind an unassuming 19th-century facade in Singapore's Joo Chiat neighborhood, Ching Ian and Yang Yeo's renovation of a typical shophouse venerates tradition while looking squarely to the future. —Daisann McLane
Photo by: Richard Powers
Originally appeared in Porches We Love Around The World
Surrounded on all sides by a sweeping Canadian hayfield, the 23.2 House is an angular ode to rural life. Out of “respect for the beams and their history,” Designer Omer Arbel insisted that not a single reclaimed plank—still marked by nailheads and chipped paint—be cut nor altered during construction, which gave the home its striking geometric motif. It’s what he refers to as the “alchemy between material and process,” which also inspired the textured concrete walls and crisply milled walnut furniture. —Jordan Kushins
Photo by: Jason Schmidt
Photo by
Originally appeared in Modern Angular Rural Family Home in Canada
São Paulo architect Isay Weinfeld's Casa Deck offers cinematic vistas, a lush garden, and a retreat from Brazil's largest city. “The cinema is without a doubt one of the strongest influences in my life,” says architect Isay Weinfeld, who designed Alan and Ticiana Strozenberg’s home and gardens. And these filmic tendencies are evident even before you reach the Strozenbergs’ front door. Instead of a straight shot down a front walk, Weinfeld leads you on a more complex narrative of unforeseen turns and sudden surprises, as thick tropical foliage postpones, and at times hints at, the big reveal. — Robert Landon
Photo by: Matthew Williams
Photo by Matthew Williams.
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