Photographer: Jay Goodrich This 2800 sf single-family home was completed in 2009. The clients desired an intimate, yet dynamic family residence that reflected the beauty of the site and the lifestyle of the San Juan Islands. The house was built to be both a place to gather for large dinners with friends and family as well as a cozy home for the couple when they are there alone. The project is located on a stunning, but cripplingly-restricted site overlooking Griffin Bay on San Juan Island. The most practical area to build was exactly where three beautiful old growth trees had already chosen to live. A prior architect, in a prior design, had proposed chopping them down and building right in the middle of the site. From our perspective, the trees were an important essence of the site and respectfully had to be preserved. As a result we squeezed the programmatic requirements, kept the clients on a square foot restriction and pressed tight against property setbacks. The delineate concept is a stone wall that sweeps from the parking to the entry, through the house and out the other side, terminating in a hook that nestles the master shower. This is the symbolic and functional shield between the public road and the private living spaces of the home owners. All the primary living spaces and the master suite are on the water side, the remaining rooms are tucked into the hill on the road side of the wall. Off-setting the solid massing of the stone walls is a pavilion which grabs the views and the light to the south, east and west. Built in a position to be hammered by the winter storms the pavilion, while light and airy in appearance and feeling, is constructed of glass, steel, stout wood timbers and doors with a stone roof and a slate floor. The glass pavilion is anchored by two concrete panel chimneys; the windows are steel framed and the exterior skin is of powder coated steel sheathing.

Plants and shed one year later.
Photo of a small traditional detached garden shed in Louisville.

Contemporary renovation-addition Artist Eye Photography
Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary one-storey white exterior in Charlotte with a gable roof and wood siding.

The vegetated roof is planted with alpine seedums and helps with storm-water management. It not only absorbs rainfall to reduce runoff but it also respires, so heat gain in the summer is zero. Photo by Trent Bell

Inspiration for a contemporary rooftop full sun garden in Vancouver.

Design ideas for a contemporary rooftop full sun garden in Vancouver.

Taking its cues from both persona and place, this residence seeks to reconcile a difficult, walnut-wooded site with the late client’s desire to live in a log home in the woods. The residence was conceived as a 24 ft x 150 ft linear bar rising into the trees from northwest to southeast. Positioned according to subdivision covenants, the structure bridges 40 ft across an existing intermittent creek, thereby preserving the natural drainage patterns and habitat. The residence’s long and narrow massing allowed many of the trees to remain, enabling the client to live in a wooded environment. A requested pool “grotto” and porte cochere complete the site interventions. The structure’s section rises successively up a cascading stair to culminate in a glass-enclosed meditative space (known lovingly as the “bird feeder”), providing access to the grass roof via an exterior stair. The walnut trees, cleared from the site during construction, were locally milled and returned to the residence as hardwood flooring. Photo Credit: Eric Williams (Sophisticated Living magazine)

Nestled into the existing landscape.
Inspiration for a small country one-storey exterior in Seattle with wood siding and a green roof.

Photo: Jason Snyder © 2013 Houzz
This is an example of a contemporary rooftop and rooftop deck in Other with no cover.

Photo: Jim Bartsch Photography
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary two-storey white exterior in Santa Barbara with mixed siding, a shed roof and a green roof.

Art Gray
Inspiration for a country one-storey exterior in Austin with wood siding, a flat roof and a green roof.

Bob Canfield
Design ideas for a contemporary exterior in San Francisco with wood siding and a green roof.

Photo of a contemporary two-storey exterior in Christchurch with wood siding, a flat roof and a green roof.

Inspiration for a contemporary white exterior in Perth.

This image showcases a rooftop garden with hardwood decking and concrete pavers that define a seating area.
Design ideas for a contemporary patio in Seattle with no cover.

Daniel Koh
This is an example of a tropical two-storey grey house exterior in Singapore with a flat roof and a green roof.

Daniel Koh
Inspiration for a tropical two-storey grey house exterior in Other with a flat roof and a green roof.

This little house is where Jessica and her family have been living for the last several years. It sits on a five-acre property on Sauvie Island. Photo by Lincoln Barbour.

Chris Leschinsky
Inspiration for a contemporary deck in San Luis Obispo with a fire feature.