Whether for a weekend, longer vacations, or permanent living, off the grid homes offer a convenient solution to live in the middle of nature. Disconnected from urban settings and often built in hard to reach areas, these dwellings are also designed with sustainability and environmental responsibility in mind. They feature solar panels that generate electricity, water collection and recycling systems, as well as passive heating and cooling systems. Here you can read more about some of the most creative and ingeniously designed off-the grid retreats and homes completed by accomplished architects and designers from all over the world.

Many of these off the grid homes are prefab structures. Specially designed to make the building process as easy as possible, these houses feature modular parts that come together on-site. Often, without the need for specialized equipment and tools. This way, architecture firms can build retreats in secluded areas largely inaccessible by cars or other modes or transportation. Examples include a cabin nestled among boulders on a cliff or a house built in a woodland in a mountainous area. While some of them feature prefab elements, every one of these houses has a distinctive design.

Architects often look to nature and vernacular architecture for inspiration, and these off the grid homes are no exception. Think dwellings with archetypal, gabled silhouettes reminiscent of traditional farmhouses and barns; retreats with asymmetrical forms that follow the topography of the site while preserving natural features; and houses designed with either angular or sinuous forms that mirror the ridges of a mountainous setting or the curved lines and light neutral hues of a desert landscape.