Outdoor living spaces often become the heart of the home during the summer months. With these garden ideas, you can easily create the elegant, comfortable, and relaxing lounge area of your dreams. From outdoor furniture and mobile kitchens, fire pits and barbecues to wooden decks to pools, here you can discover a huge range of both clever and convenient ideas to transform a garden. These images show different architecture, landscape architecture, and product design projects completed by award-winning studios and brands, meaning that you’ll find some of the best garden ideas here.
A house designed with three volumes and empty spaces that put the focus on living in the present moment. Named House with a Guest Room, this project explores the concepts of mindfulness and slow living in a creative way. Architect Andrew Power has designed the retreat in Taree, Australia, with three volumes arranged ...
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House with a Guest RoomA family home inspired by California's coastal lifestyle. Built in Santa Cruz, California, Surf House is a family home that celebrates coastal living, surfing culture, and sustainable design. San Francisco–based firm Feldman Architecture designed the...
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Surf HouseA concrete weekend home built under an avocado field. [dropcap]M[/dropcap]any houses nestled in natural landscapes aim to minimize their visual impact on pristine sites, but Mexico City-based architect Francisco Pardo took a more radical approach for th...
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Casa AguacatesA T-shaped home with three garden spaces. Built in the middle of a pine forest near a beach in Ljunghusen, Sweden, Villa MSV is a home designed for a couple who also want to entertain family and friends. Architect Johan Sundberg designed the T-sha...
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Villa MSVMinimalist and contemporary, this house features three volumes that encompass a lush garden. Built in a popular neighborhood in Mexico City, this contemporary residence features three volumes with closed facades that shelter the living spaces from the surrounding houses. The plot of land has a challenging topography...
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A Minimalist Ceramic-clad House in Mexico CityA modern house that re-imagines the traditional barn design. Built in Onesse-Laharie, within an “airial”, a plot of land specific to Landes, in southwestern France, AER House reinterprets the typology of a traditional barn. Architecture firm
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AER HouseA lighthouse for rent in Sicily designed with elegant and contemporary interiors. [dropcap]A[/dropcap]s far as exclusive accommodations go, a renovated lighthouse for rent with comfortable rooms that overlook the sea scores high on any traveler’s list. However, the Brucoli lighthouse also has a rich history and provides truly specta...
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Lighthouse for Rent in SicilyA creative and playful brick extension that complements an Edwardian home. Some architectural projects capture both the creative flair of the architects and the clients’ love of playful designs. Ruckers Hill House is a perfect example. Designed by Melbourne-based Studio Bright for a family of five, this contemporary, ...
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Ruckers Hill HouseThe ultimate lakeside weekend home. Located in Montauk, NY, this charming lakeside retreat celebrates nature and the gorgeous setting. When the owners found not one, but two adjacent lots in this popular area, they hired Robert Young Architects to design their dream weekend home. Defined by it...
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East Lake House[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith the arrival of warmer weather, outdoor spaces start to take the place of the kitchen/dining room as the heart of the home. And decking provides the perfect solution to enjoy the sunshine. Extremely versatile, wooden decks can easily double as laid-back lounge areas and buzzing hubs centered around a barbecue or
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The Best Wood for Decks to Bring Your Ideal Outdoor Space to LifeA family retreat embedded into nature, both literally and conceptually. Built on the western shore of Hood Canal, Washington, Hood Cliff Retreat is a series of cabins that provide relaxing living spaces with strong links to the natural landscape. Seattle-based Wittman Estes designed the ret...
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Hood Cliff RetreatAn elegant extension and interior redesign focused on welcoming nature inside living spaces. [dropcap]L[/dropcap]ocated in a green area in ‘s Gravenwezel, Belgium, this house lacked a close link to the lush surroundings. The clients hired Antwerp-based studio LOW architecten to redesign the interiors and to add an extension to their family home...
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House for L&DA concrete house designed with courtyards that open to the sky and the surrounding bushland in Australia. Modern concrete houses look especially striking in natural settings. Pearl Beach House is a perfect example. Designed by New South Wales-based Australian...
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Pearl Beach HouseAn off-grid house designed with interconnected terraces and concentric squares. Built in a pristine natural site in Santiago, Nuevo León, Mexico, El Aguacate (The Avocado) is a weekend home that immerses its residents in the beauty of nature. Architecture studio
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El AguacateRedesigned and extended with care for its Victorian character, this London home features angular volumes finished in richly textured materials. London-based architecture and interior design studio ConForm has completely transformed a lower ground apartm...
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Terzetto by ConFormA minimalist holiday home and separate guest house built on a Greek island. Built on an elevated point of Vasiliki, on the island of Lefkas, Greece, Villa Apollon opens to spectacular views of the coastal landscape and the Ionian Sea. Athens-based architecture studio Block722 designed the holiday home and a separate str...
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Villa ApollonA contemporary beach house inspired by Mallorca’s vernacular architecture. [dropcap]B[/dropcap]uilt on a gently sloping street on the island of Mallorca, Spain, Casa Fly nestles naturally in the quiet neighborhood with a design that celebrates local architecture. Bratislava-based studio beef architekti took inspiration f...
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Casa FlyA four-story London house, renovated with minimalist and warm interiors. Located in Central London, close to the lively Brick Lane and Spitalfields areas, this terraced house has traditional brick walls and four stories. Local architecture firm Common Ground Workshop renovated the entire building and also continued the ...
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Spitalfield HouseA weekend and vacation house designed to blend into a gorgeous landscape in Scotland. Built on a hillside in the Cairngorms National Park in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Spyon Cop is a weekend and vacation home that nestles into the pristine landscape thanks to a thoughtful design. Architecture firm Brown & Brown camouflaged the three-bedroom house into the setting with a mono pitched...
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Spyon CopA dark wood extension designed with an oriel window that overlooks a garden. Designed by architecture firm Rider Stirland Architects, Charred House is a modern extension that completely transforms the ground level of a family home in Ladywell, South London. The dark wo...
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Charred HouseFew things are more relaxing than sinking into a wood fired hot tub after a long day, while listening to the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, and the cracking of timber logs in the fire. Simple and rustic, a wood burning hot tub provides a practical and easy way to recreate the spa experience at home. A tub works well on its own or alongside a
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Wood Fired Hot Tub Designs to Relax in StyleA multi-functional glass and wood greenhouse built in a lush garden. With the Greenhouse Memory project in Altos de Punta Piedras, Uruguay, architect Carolina Pedroni has revisited one of her previous projects, further enhancing it with a new structure. Nestled in a lush garden between the Sendas del Diseño landscape ar...
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Greenhouse MemoryA rambler-style house designed with black brick screen walls that filter the light and extend the living spaces into a woodland. Built in a woodland in Indianola, on the Kitsap Peninsula, Washington, The Rambler has an inspired architectural design that rivals the beauty of the natural landscape. The house was completed by Seattle-based architecture and interior design firm
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The RamblerA one-of-a-kind wine tasting experience that immerses guests into nature. Located in Healdsburg, California, in the Russian River Valley, this 15.5 acre estate built as a winery in the 1970s had become deteriorated and in need of a redesign. A local landmark, the place held immense potential. When Flowers Vineyard & Winery started looking for a new venue that could express their l...
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The House of Flowers, Flowers Vineyard & WineryTwo homes designed as neighboring volumes connected by a central patio that opens towards a ravine. Named Casa Estudio, this property completed by Manuel Cervantes Estudio is actually made up of two structures that have a direct relationship with each other and with the surrounding landscape. Built in Mexico City, o...
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Casa EstudioThree volumes arranged around a courtyard in Palo Alto, California. When the owners of a 1920s house in Palo Alto, California, learned that two adjacent parcels came on the market, they tasked Buttrick Projects Architecture+Design with designing an extension that would expand their living spaces. Na...
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Art HouseA sustainable design inspired by slow living. Designed by furniture maker and designer Craig Pearce, founder of Vancouver-based startup Goodland, the Wood-Burning Hot Tub draws inspiration from the principles of slow living. The company’s first product, the hot tub encompasses Goodland’s dedication to minimalism, sustainable
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The Goodland Wood-Burning Hot TubA low profile house built from rammed earth to blend into a desert landscape in west Texas. Built at the edge of Marfa, a small ranching and art community in the grasslands of west Texas, this house nestles in the desert landscape perfectly with a low profile design and a rammed earth build. Lake Flato Architects took inspiration from the area’s earliest architecture for the design, r...
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Marfa RanchAn elegant home designed with angular spaces arranged around a circular patio. Located in the historic center of the Ansião village, Portugal, this subtly sloping plot of land is surrounded by houses with a blend of architectural styles. Two old houses left in ruins but without any architectural value occupied the spa...
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Casa ÂmagoA charming house inspired by a wandering path in a garden. When the clients tasked Australian firm Architecture Architecture with designing their dream home, the brief focused the feeling of belonging to a place where the natural rhythms of pa...
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ArcadiaA thoughtful redesign and modernization of a 19th century house. The renovation of an aged residence in Kutná Hora, the Czech Republic, represents a thorough transformation of a building with a storied past. Initially a medieval structure, it was later replaced in the late 19th century, followed by extensive mod...
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House in Kutná HoraFive Brooklyn buildings renovated and redesigned with great respect for the neighborhood’s heritage. [dropcap]L[/dropcap]ocated close to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a six-story building from 1920 as well as four adjacent historic buildings have received a thoughtful makeover from architecture and design studio Worrell Yeung. T...
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77 Washington, Adaptive Reuse Architecture in Brooklyn, NYA modern farmhouse nestled in a picturesque setting on Vancouver Island. Located in North Saanich, a rural community on Vancouver Island’s southern peninsula, this modern farmhouse stands on the footprint of a dilapidated barn and house. Scott and Scott Architects...
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Saanich FarmhouseA concrete house built between the sea and agave fields in Oaxaca, Mexico. Located in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, Casa Zicatela is a weekend home designed as a retreat where the client can relax away from his urban life in Mexico City. Architects Ludwig Godefroy and Emmanuel Picault designed the house as a
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Casa ZicatelaA pre-1911 cottage transformed with contemporary volumes that shelter a large garden. Completed by architecture and interior design practice Myers Ellyett, this project involved the refurbishment of a pre-1911 cottage in Paddington, Australia and the design of new, ...
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Evelyn HouseA sophisticated and minimalist home that celebrates a desert landscape. Located on a rocky plateau in the Palm Desert, California, this desert home immerses its inhabitants into a gorgeous arid landscape with views of the Coachella Valley and the San Jacinto Mountain Range in the distance. San Francisco-based...
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High Desert RetreatA concrete and steel house nestled among pine and fir trees on a ski hill in California. [dropcap]L[/dropcap]ocated on a sloped site in Truckee, California, the contemporary and refined Lookout House makes a gorgeous landscape its natural home. The Faulkner Architects-designed dwelling rises from among fir and pine tr...
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Lookout HouseA modern and creative design influenced by the landscape. When the clients approached architect Fernanda Canales to design their weekend home near Mexico City, the complexity of the project soon became apparent. Without removing any trees, Fernanda Canales needed to find a solution to build t...
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Casa BrumaElegant, versatile, and crafted to last, the Lilium collection offers a complete solution to create a dreamy outdoor space. [dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith a well-appointed outdoor space, any ray of sunshine is a good excuse to spend more time outdoors. If you have the right furniture and ...
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The Skagerak Lilium Teak Outdoor Furniture CollectionA one-of-a-kind wine tasting experience that immerses guests into nature. Located in Healdsburg, California, in the Russian River Valley, this 15.5 acre estate built as a winery in the 1970s had become deteriorated and in need of a redesign. A local landmark, the place held immense potential. When Flowers Vineyard & Winery started looking for a new venue that could express their l...
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The House of Flowers, Flowers Vineyard & WineryAn extension and interior redesign for a Brooklyn townhouse. Located in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, this townhouse is the home of a family of four, who had been living there for more than ten years before the parents decided to expand the living spaces. They tasked B...
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Carroll Gardens TownhouseA brick extension designed with a compact footprint and cozy, light-filled living spaces. When the owners of this weatherboard house in Brunswick, in Melbourne, Australia, decided to expand their living spaces for their growing family, they turned to local architecture firm
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Brunswick HouseA contemporary weekend home that reinterprets traditional Mexican architecture. Located in the charming town of Tepoztlán, only an hour away from the center of Mexico City, La Hacienda Jardín is a weekend home that provides a tranquil escape from city living. Monterrey-based architecture firm Práctica Arquitectura designed the dwelling for a family with children. While it is now used ...
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La Hacienda JardínAn ancient architectural element from the Veneto area, translated into a contemporary but timeless design. With the fast growth of wine tourism in Italy, vineyard owners and those who are fortunate enough to run historic wineries, have started to expand their estates' w...
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The Gorgo Winery: Il BroloA townhouse that blends warm red brick walls with industrial steel accents. Award-winning architecture, interior design and urban design firm Jackson Clements Burrows (JCB) puts sustainability at the heart of every project, which the studio completes with a holistic approach as well as a masterful use of tactile materials. Their Compose project follows the same formula. Located in Haw...
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Compose HouseA 1970s house transformed into a warm and contemporary living space where redwood surfaces meet splashes of color and artworks. Located in the picturesque Noe Valley in San Francisco, this house dates back to 1974, when architect Albert Lanier designed it with angular forms, redwood-clad interiors and
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The Redwood HouseA Spectacular Design that Unites Intimacy and Grandeur, Celebrating Nature's Serenity and Beauty Michael Lumby Architecture and Nielsen Jenkins, have collaborated to design an architectural wonder in the Merricks Farmhouse. Situated on an impressive 50-acre property, the residence is a celebration of its environment, pro...
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The Merricks FarmhouseA white concrete house designed with frustum roofs and interior reverse step pyramids. Located on a quiet street lined with mature poplar trees in Flinders, Australia, Bellows House is a beach retreat like no other. The clients tasked Melbourne-based architecture firm Architects EAT with the design of their second ho...
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Bellows HouseA steel and wood house nestled in a forest near Lake Tahoe. Located in Truckee, in the Martis Valley close to the north shore of Lake Tahoe, California, Forest House immerses its residents in a gorgeous natural setting. Faulkner Architects nestled the dwelling in a woodland. Jeffrey and sugar pines along with white an...
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Forest HouseA minimalist greenhouse designed as a space for quiet reflection and nature contemplation. Located in the town of San Gabriel in Jalisco, Mexico, this glass and metal structure serves a dual purpose. While it’s a greenhouse for growing and harvesting plants, it's also a serene retreat immersed in nature. Architecture fi...
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GreenhouseA modern retreat and home that nestles perfectly into a coastal landscape. [dropcap]D[/dropcap]esigned by Seattle-based architecture firm Heliotrope Architects, Suncrest is a contemporary retreat that provides an idyllic living space in a gorgeous landscape on Orcas Island, Washington. The studio nestled the
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The Suncrest Retreat on Orcas IslandA thoughtfully designed extension that links a Victorian terraced house to a garden. Located in the Pen y Lan conservation area of Cardiff, Wales, this Victorian terraced house is almost 150 years old. Architecture firm Benjamin Hale Architects designed a rear extension for the dwelling. Instead of an open-plan layout, a common cho...
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Pen y Lan RoadA 1970s house transformed into a warm and contemporary living space where redwood surfaces meet splashes of color and artworks. Located in the picturesque Noe Valley in San Francisco, this house dates back to 1974, when architect Albert Lanier designed it with angular forms, redwood-clad interiors and
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The Redwood HouseA collection specially designed to create a safe haven for nature in urban spaces. As biodiversity sharply declines in urban spaces, slowing the pace towards extinction of many species is essential. Sustainable furniture manufacturer Vestre aims to do exactly that. Designed in a collaboration with René Hougaard, desig...
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Habitats, Outdoor Furniture Designed to Live with NatureA 1962 glazed cabin, brought back to its original glory via a thoughtful architectural approach. Designed by architect Y. Loze in 1962 for a group of musicians, the Kelleveld house was created as a transparent cabin with three linked volumes that opened to the beauty of the surrounding nature. Over the years, different owners added ele...
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The Kelleveld HouseA concrete weekend home built under an avocado field. [dropcap]M[/dropcap]any houses nestled in natural landscapes aim to minimize their visual impact on pristine sites, but Mexico City-based architect Francisco Pardo took a more radical approach for th...
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Casa AguacatesA low profile house built from rammed earth to blend into a desert landscape in west Texas. Built at the edge of Marfa, a small ranching and art community in the grasslands of west Texas, this house nestles in the desert landscape perfectly with a low profile design and a rammed earth build. Lake Flato Architects took inspiration from the area’s earliest architecture for the design, r...
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Marfa RanchA three-bedroom London house designed with cork-lined walls. Aptly named Cork House, this residence in Wanstead, London, features an unconventional blend of materials that also includes eco-friendly, renewable cork. Architect Charles Wu, founder of Polysmiths, created the design and completed the development project for...
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Cork HouseA sprawling property in Northern Italy, redesigned and expanded with a contemporary extension. Located in Northern Italy, Villa K is a refuge immersed in a stunning landscape. Hills, vineyards, quaint villages and ancient castles surround the site, while mature trees and lush vegetation encircle the borders of the 910-sq...
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Villa KAn imaginatively designed summer house in Menorca, Spain. Aptly named Curved House, this summer home in Menorca, Spain, was designed by Barcelona and Stockholm-based firm Nomo Studio with curved walls along with circular and arched elements. The elevated site offers fantastic views of the surrounding greenery, the Port d'A...
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Curved HouseA sophisticated and minimalist home that celebrates a desert landscape. Located on a rocky plateau in the Palm Desert, California, this desert home immerses its inhabitants into a gorgeous arid landscape with views of the Coachella Valley and the San Jacinto Mountain Range in the distance. San Francisco-based...
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High Desert RetreatA dreamy holiday home in Puglia, Italy. Built in a gorgeous landscape in Carovigno, Puglia, Villa Cardo is a thoughtfully designed holiday home that nestles into its setting naturally. Studio Andrew Trotter created the design with minimalist volumes and clean lines but a strong vernacular character. Inspired by local archi...
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Villa CardoA white concrete house designed with frustum roofs and interior reverse step pyramids. Located on a quiet street lined with mature poplar trees in Flinders, Australia, Bellows House is a beach retreat like no other. The clients tasked Melbourne-based architecture firm Architects EAT with the design of their second ho...
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Bellows HouseReimagining a 19th-Century Brooklyn Townhouse as a Humanist Canvas for Modern Living Imagine stepping into a home that feels like an intimate dialogue between past and present, where each room tells a nuanced story of transformation. This is precisely the experience that the Ft Greene Townhouse in Brooklyn, New York offers, transcending the expected and offering a fresh take on townho...
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Ft Greene TownhouseA resort-like house designed with arched openings that welcome a tropical garden into the living spaces. Built in Tulum, Mexico, Villa Petricor takes inspiration from nature and the concept of stillness for its sculptural design. Local architecture firm CO-LAB Design Studio designed the three-bedroom house with a sense ...
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Villa PetricorA natural stone dwelling embedded into a mountainside. Many house designs aim to complement the landscape they inhabit, but few blend so well into their environment as House on Mount Maigmó in Alicante, Spain. Designed by architect Alfredo Paya, this dwelling is almost invisible from afar. The ...
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House On Mount MaigmóA tree house designed without a tree. London-based architecture firm De Matos Ryan designed Penfold for a family with two young children who lamented the loss of the neighbor’s tree. With no mature trees in the clients’ garden, the studio needed to find an imaginative solution to create a fun
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The Penfold Tree HouseTwo concrete and steel retreats nestled in a lush forest clearing. Located in Retiro, Colombia, Ballen Houses is a retreat that welcomes travelers in a verdant setting. Oslo-based architecture firm LCLA Office completed two houses from a proposed series of four, all available to rent. Built on a sloping terrain, the volumes have different relationships with the topography of the site....
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