Near Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Richard Orne designed a single-family residence for himself and his designer wife, Susan Hancock, in one of only two “dark sky” communities—areas designated to minimize light pollution and preserve the natural darkness of night skies—in the U.S.
The owners, a retired couple in their 70s, commissioned Mork-Ulnes Architects to design a vacation house for them, their children, and grandchildren: three ski-loving generations whose older members have been skiing in the area since the 1940s.
Building on a vast landscape with views of the Rocky Mountains and Long’s Peak, the architects designed a house that takes advantage of the unique site–which includes a wetland with a stream and a lake surrounded by an alfalfa field–while reinterpreting traditional materials and agrarian forms.
The clients wanted their second home in the foothills of the Serra da Estrela mountain range to be spacious, peaceful, quiet, and open to the outdoors, with views of the dramatic landscape as well as the nearby vineyards, pines, and olive trees.
DLP Architecture’s Lucio Picciano set out to build an internationally certified Passive House—the first in Vancouver and the sixth in all of Canada—that would balance energy efficiency with the needs of his growing family.
Architects Luc Bouliane embraced the challenges and opportunities of the site—the narrow lot sits due north, in the shadow of a low-rise apartment building—to balance spatial complexity and economic simplicity.
Martin Fenlon renovated a small 1920s bungalow in Los Angeles for his young family by overhauling the interiors and nestling a small addition within the front of the house.