Sundown is a new contemporary home in Widemouth Bay, Cornwall. Our brief was to design a modern house to replace the existing dilapidated bungalow. It was important to ensure the new building conformed to neighbouring roof heights to satisfy planning criteria and was contained within the original footprint. Accommodating two storeys was achieved through the use of a curved roof profile. This innovative approach allowed for first floor open plan living that maximises magnificent sea views. Sundown’s appearance adopts a form and materials that relate strongly to its coastal location. Externally, the building boasts a mixture of white render and timber cladding, with aluminium windows, glazed juliet balconies and a hardwood front door. Photography: The Beach House Company

This custom designed pantry can store a variety of supplies and food items. These include glassware, tablecloths and napkins which are all easily accessible.

Photo: Shaun Cammack The goal of the project was to create a modern log cabin on Coeur D’Alene Lake in North Idaho. Uptic Studios considered the combined occupancy of two families, providing separate spaces for privacy and common rooms that bring everyone together comfortably under one roof. The resulting 3,000-square-foot space nestles into the site overlooking the lake. A delicate balance of natural materials and custom amenities fill the interior spaces with stunning views of the lake from almost every angle. The whole project was featured in Jan/Feb issue of Design Bureau Magazine. See the story here: http://www.wearedesignbureau.com/projects/cliff-family-robinson/

A young Mexican couple approached us to create a streamline modern and fresh home for their growing family. They expressed a desire for natural textures and finishes such as natural stone and a variety of woods to juxtapose against a clean linear white backdrop. For the kid’s rooms we are staying within the modern and fresh feel of the house while bringing in pops of bright color such as lime green. We are looking to incorporate interactive features such as a chalkboard wall and fun unique kid size furniture. The bathrooms are very linear and play with the concept of planes in the use of materials.They will be a study in contrasting and complementary textures established with tiles from resin inlaid with pebbles to a long porcelain tile that resembles wood grain. This beautiful house is a 5 bedroom home located in Presidential Estates in Aventura, FL.

Old World European, Country Cottage. Three separate cottages make up this secluded village over looking a private lake in an old German, English, and French stone villa style. Hand scraped arched trusses, wide width random walnut plank flooring, distressed dark stained raised panel cabinetry, and hand carved moldings make these traditional buildings look like they have been here for 100s of years. Newly built of old materials, and old traditional building methods, including arched planked doors, leathered stone counter tops, stone entry, wrought iron straps, and metal beam straps. The Lake House is the first, a Tudor style cottage with a slate roof, 2 bedrooms, view filled living room open to the dining area, all overlooking the lake. European fantasy cottage with hand hewn beams, exposed curved trusses and scraped walnut floors, carved moldings, steel straps, wrought iron lighting and real stone arched fireplace. Dining area next to kitchen in the English Country Cottage. Handscraped walnut random width floors, curved exposed trusses. Wrought iron hardware. The Carriage Home fills in when the kids come home to visit, and holds the garage for the whole idyllic village. This cottage features 2 bedrooms with on suite baths, a large open kitchen, and an warm, comfortable and inviting great room. All overlooking the lake. The third structure is the Wheel House, running a real wonderful old water wheel, and features a private suite upstairs, and a work space downstairs. All homes are slightly different in materials and color, including a few with old terra cotta roofing. Project Location: Ojai, California. Project designed by Maraya Interior Design. From their beautiful resort town of Ojai, they serve clients in Montecito, Hope Ranch, Malibu and Calabasas, across the tri-county area of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles, south to Hidden Hills. Christopher Painter, contractor

Simon Whitbread Photography

Dino Tonn

Builder: J. Peterson Homes Interior Designer: Francesca Owens Photographers: Ashley Avila Photography, Bill Hebert, & FulView Capped by a picturesque double chimney and distinguished by its distinctive roof lines and patterned brick, stone and siding, Rookwood draws inspiration from Tudor and Shingle styles, two of the world’s most enduring architectural forms. Popular from about 1890 through 1940, Tudor is characterized by steeply pitched roofs, massive chimneys, tall narrow casement windows and decorative half-timbering. Shingle’s hallmarks include shingled walls, an asymmetrical façade, intersecting cross gables and extensive porches. A masterpiece of wood and stone, there is nothing ordinary about Rookwood, which combines the best of both worlds. Once inside the foyer, the 3,500-square foot main level opens with a 27-foot central living room with natural fireplace. Nearby is a large kitchen featuring an extended island, hearth room and butler’s pantry with an adjacent formal dining space near the front of the house. Also featured is a sun room and spacious study, both perfect for relaxing, as well as two nearby garages that add up to almost 1,500 square foot of space. A large master suite with bath and walk-in closet which dominates the 2,700-square foot second level which also includes three additional family bedrooms, a convenient laundry and a flexible 580-square-foot bonus space. Downstairs, the lower level boasts approximately 1,000 more square feet of finished space, including a recreation room, guest suite and additional storage.

Nestled between multiple stands of Live Oak trees, the Westlake Residence is a contemporary Texas Hill Country home. The house is designed to accommodate the entire family, yet flexible in its design to be able to scale down into living only in 2,200 square feet when the children leave in several years. The home includes many state-of-the-art green features and multiple flex spaces capable of hosting large gatherings or small, intimate groups. The flow and design of the home provides for privacy from surrounding properties and streets, as well as to focus all of the entertaining to the center of the home. Finished in late 2006, the home features Icynene insulation, cork floors and thermal chimneys to exit warm air in the expansive family room. Photography by Allison Cartwright

Homeowner wanted a backyard retreat fit for relaxing and entertaining. Design includes a 42 foot creek, floating meditation deck, low maintenance plantings, privacy wall, zen landscape lighting, and a combo fire pit and water feature. Design also features a floating deck for dining with a water-wall, vertical

Catenary House 212 - The word ‘Catenary’ translates to the curve made by a flexible cord, suspended freely between two fixed points. Hence, the name sets the tone of this house which is surrounded by soft curves from ceiling to walls and artefacts at every corner of the house. The space crafts a visual delight and manifest’s-with a curvilinear design. The house symbolizes a pure style of opulence right at the entrance. While minimalism binds the space, orchestrating an unusual and artistic character in the space. A nuanced creation of elements all works together with seamless cohesion. There is an air of subdued elegance in the house. It celebrates a relationship between whites and shades of grey keeping the material palette neutral and minimal. Sunlight sweeps every corner filtering an ambient glow and highlighting textural nuances. The choice of light-colored upholstery and furniture in the house alters the perception of the space. Driven by creativity in design, every zone features a characteristic hue, affording an instant visual identity. Sleek silhouettes of pendant lights with metallic finishes grace the design, concocting a hint of contemporary luxury. A smattering of curious and personal artefacts around the house adds a dash of aesthetics. Peppered with playful interiors and precisions, the house provides an overall unbound artistic experience.

Originally a nearly three-story tall 1920’s European-styled home was turned into a modern villa for work and home. A series of low concrete retaining wall planters and steps gradually takes you up to the second level entry, grounding or anchoring the house into the site, as does a new wrap around veranda and trellis. Large eave overhangs on the upper roof were designed to give the home presence and were accented with a Mid-century orange color. The new master bedroom addition white box creates a better sense of entry and opens to the wrap around veranda at the opposite side. Inside the owners live on the lower floor and work on the upper floor with the garage basement for storage, archives and a ceramics studio. New windows and open spaces were created for the graphic designer owners; displaying their mid-century modern furnishings collection. A lot of effort went into attempting to lower the house visually by bringing the ground plane higher with the concrete retaining wall planters, steps, wrap around veranda and trellis, and the prominent roof with exaggerated overhangs. That the eaves were painted orange is a cool reflection of the owner’s Dutch heritage. Budget was a driver for the project and it was determined that the footprint of the home should have minimal extensions and that the new windows remain in the same relative locations as the old ones. Wall removal was utilized versus moving and building new walls where possible. Photo Credit: John Sutton Photography.

These are projects we have completed into the Chicago Area

Photo of front side of Tea House. Building is all hand constructed using pegs. The building is designed using metaphysical principles and was constructed using exotic and local wood species. . Photo credits: Dan Drobnick

This new 6400 s.f. two-story split-level home lifts upward and orients toward unobstructed views of Windy Hill. The deep overhanging flat roof design with a stepped fascia preserves the classic modern lines of the building while incorporating a Zero-Net Energy photovoltaic panel system. From start to finish, the construction is uniformly energy efficient and follows California Build It Green guidelines. Many sustainable finish materials are used on both the interior and exterior, including recycled old growth cedar and pre-fabricated concrete panel siding. Photo by: www.bernardandre.com