The Port Ludlow Residence is a compact, 2400 SF modern house located on a wooded waterfront property at the north end of the Hood Canal, a long, fjord-like arm of western Puget Sound. The house creates a simple glazed living space that opens up to become a front porch to the beautiful Hood Canal. The east-facing house is sited along a high bank, with a wonderful view of the water. The main living volume is completely glazed, with 12-ft. high glass walls facing the view and large, 8-ft.x8-ft. sliding glass doors that open to a slightly raised wood deck, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor space. During the warm summer months, the living area feels like a large, open porch. Anchoring the north end of the living space is a two-story building volume containing several bedrooms and separate his/her office spaces. The interior finishes are simple and elegant, with IPE wood flooring, zebrawood cabinet doors with mahogany end panels, quartz and limestone countertops, and Douglas Fir trim and doors. Exterior materials are completely maintenance-free: metal siding and aluminum windows and doors. The metal siding has an alternating pattern using two different siding profiles. The house has a number of sustainable or “green” building features, including 2x8 construction (40% greater insulation value); generous glass areas to provide natural lighting and ventilation; large overhangs for sun and rain protection; metal siding (recycled steel) for maximum durability, and a heat pump mechanical system for maximum energy efficiency. Sustainable interior finish materials include wood cabinets, linoleum floors, low-VOC paints, and natural wool carpet.

This great room is stunning! Tall wood windows and doors, exposed trusses and the private view make the room a perfect blank canvas. The room was lacking contrast, lighting, window treatments and functional furniture to make the space usable by the entire family. By creating custom furniture we maximized seating while keeping the furniture scale within proportion for the room. New carpet, beautiful herringbone fabric wallpaper and a very long console to house the children's toys rounds out this spectacular room. Photo Credit: Holland Photography - Cory Holland - hollandphotography.biz

Barry Grossman Photography

The sunroom was one long room, and very difficult to have conversations in. We divided the room into two zones, one for converstaion and one for privacy, reading and just enjoying the atmosphere. We also added two tub chairs that swivel so to allow the family to engage in a conversation in either zone.

Nestled into sloping topography, the design of this home allows privacy from the street while providing unique vistas throughout the house and to the surrounding hill country and downtown skyline. Layering rooms with each other as well as circulation galleries, insures seclusion while allowing stunning downtown views. The owners' goals of creating a home with a contemporary flow and finish while providing a warm setting for daily life was accomplished through mixing warm natural finishes such as stained wood with gray tones in concrete and local limestone. The home's program also hinged around using both passive and active green features. Sustainable elements include geothermal heating/cooling, rainwater harvesting, spray foam insulation, high efficiency glazing, recessing lower spaces into the hillside on the west side, and roof/overhang design to provide passive solar coverage of walls and windows. The resulting design is a sustainably balanced, visually pleasing home which reflects the lifestyle and needs of the clients. Photography by Andrew Pogue

The large living room was divided into several areas: game table, reading area, center table and main sitting/TV area. All white/neutral upholstery is tempered with the use of textures and wood. A custom game table has cup holder pull-outs to keep the card playing surface free of clutter. The bookshelves boast a collection of found items, family photos and books. The center table was sized to sit below the lantern and to be large enough to fill the space but small enough to not interfere with navigating the room.

Photo by Peter Molick

Graham Gaunt

From ceiling to floor, this living room has impressive interior design details. The hand painted ceiling alone required the talent of a rare painter and more than a week to complete. Read more about this space here: https://issuu.com/taac/docs/elements_summerfall_2016_digital?e=3252448/40095581

Jonathan Reece

Modern living room enjoys city views from a space anchored by concrete fireplace surround. Low extra deep sectional faces grouping of leather swivels and large sculptural brass coffee table. Ceramic spheres in firebox are a wonderful alternative to glass pebbles. More images on our website: http://www.romero-obeji-interiordesign.com

Photographer: Dror Baldinger and Chris Cooper http://www.houzz.com/pro/drorbaldinger/dror-baldinger-aia-architectural-photography http://www.chriscooperphotographer.com/ Architect: Craig McMahon http://www.houzz.com/pro/cmarchtx/craig-mcmahon-architects-inc April/May 2015 Rio Estancia http://urbanhomemagazine.com/feature/1350

The owners, inspired by mid-century modern architecture, hired Klopf Architecture to design an Eichler-inspired 21st-Century, energy efficient new home that would replace a dilapidated 1940s home. The home follows the gentle slope of the hillside while the overarching post-and-beam roof above provides an unchanging datum line. The changing moods of nature animate the house because of views through large glass walls at nearly every vantage point. Every square foot of the house remains close to the ground creating and adding to the sense of connection with nature. Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, Geoff Campen, Angela Todorova, and Jeff Prose Structural Engineer: Alex Rood, SE, Fulcrum Engineering (now Pivot Engineering) Landscape Designer (atrium): Yoshi Chiba, Chiba's Gardening Landscape Designer (rear lawn): Aldo Sepulveda, Sepulveda Landscaping Contractor: Augie Peccei, Coast to Coast Construction Photography ©2015 Mariko Reed Location: Belmont, CA Year completed: 2015

The Mazama house is located in the Methow Valley of Washington State, a secluded mountain valley on the eastern edge of the North Cascades, about 200 miles northeast of Seattle. The house has been carefully placed in a copse of trees at the easterly end of a large meadow. Two major building volumes indicate the house organization. A grounded 2-story bedroom wing anchors a raised living pavilion that is lifted off the ground by a series of exposed steel columns. Seen from the access road, the large meadow in front of the house continues right under the main living space, making the living pavilion into a kind of bridge structure spanning over the meadow grass, with the house touching the ground lightly on six steel columns. The raised floor level provides enhanced views as well as keeping the main living level well above the 3-4 feet of winter snow accumulation that is typical for the upper Methow Valley. To further emphasize the idea of lightness, the exposed wood structure of the living pavilion roof changes pitch along its length, so the roof warps upward at each end. The interior exposed wood beams appear like an unfolding fan as the roof pitch changes. The main interior bearing columns are steel with a tapered “V”-shape, recalling the lightness of a dancer. The house reflects the continuing FINNE investigation into the idea of crafted modernism, with cast bronze inserts at the front door, variegated laser-cut steel railing panels, a curvilinear cast-glass kitchen counter, waterjet-cut aluminum light fixtures, and many custom furniture pieces. The house interior has been designed to be completely integral with the exterior. The living pavilion contains more than twelve pieces of custom furniture and lighting, creating a totality of the designed environment that recalls the idea of Gesamtkunstverk, as seen in the work of Josef Hoffman and the Viennese Secessionist movement in the early 20th century. The house has been designed from the start as a sustainable structure, with 40% higher insulation values than required by code, radiant concrete slab heating, efficient natural ventilation, large amounts of natural lighting, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, and locally sourced materials. Windows have high-performance LowE insulated glazing and are equipped with concealed shades. A radiant hydronic heat system with exposed concrete floors allows lower operating temperatures and higher occupant comfort levels. The concrete slabs conserve heat and provide great warmth and comfort for the feet. Deep roof overhangs, built-in shades and high operating clerestory windows are used to reduce heat gain in summer months. During the winter, the lower sun angle is able to penetrate into living spaces and passively warm the exposed concrete floor. Low VOC paints and stains have been used throughout the house. The high level of craft evident in the house reflects another key principle of sustainable design: build it well and make it last for many years! Photo by Benjamin Benschneider

The Tice Residences replace a run-down and aging duplex with two separate, modern, Santa Barbara homes. Although the unique creek-side site (which the client’s original home looked toward across a small ravine) proposed significant challenges, the clients were certain they wanted to live on the lush “Riviera” hillside. The challenges presented were ultimately overcome through a thorough and careful study of site conditions. With an extremely efficient use of space and strategic placement of windows and decks, privacy is maintained while affording expansive views from each home to the creek, downtown Santa Barbara and Pacific Ocean beyond. Both homes appear to have far more openness than their compact lots afford. The solution strikes a balance between enclosure and openness. Walls and landscape elements divide and protect two private domains, and are in turn, carefully penetrated to reveal views. Both homes are variations on one consistent theme: elegant composition of contemporary, “warm” materials; strong roof planes punctuated by vertical masses; and floating decks. The project forms an intimate connection with its setting by using site-excavated stone, terracing landscape planters with native plantings, and utilizing the shade provided by its ancient Riviera Oak trees. 2012 AIA Santa Barbara Chapter Merit Award Jim Bartsch Photography