Once upon a time, a father and son happened upon the perfect house for the fairies and elves in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The only problem was no front door. How were the fairies supposed to get any privacy? "The doorway seemed to want a door,"... more »

Imagine living and working on a floating community 12 miles off the coast of Northern California. Blueseed, a Palo Alto start-up founded in 2011 by Max Marty and partially backed by Mike Maples... more »

Even before Google allowed anybody with an Internet connection to see a satellite view of anyplace on the globe, I loved looking at books with aerial photography. A few favorites that focus on natural and human-made landscapes of the United States are... more »

The Houses at Sagaponac, a community of 32 modern homes, was planned for 70 acres in the Hamptons, New York. It railed against the bloated pseudohistorical architecture of much of the Hamptons, with the idea of offering compact houses on small sites for... more »

A group of Seattle designers, neighbors and city officials have upped the community gardening ante with the city's first large-scale community garden on top of a 50-year-old parking garage. Somewhere out there, Joni Mitchell is smiling. Eating... more »

Most of us decorate our front porches and yards only for Halloween, the fall harvest season and Christmas. But these homes in Detroit are decked out 365 days a year, thanks to the efforts of Tyree Guyton, artist and founder of The... more »

Guerilla gardener Steve Wheen wants to put a smile on your face, and he's starting in the most unlikely places — potholes varying from a 5-inch sliver on the pavement to cracks that can be seen from an office... more »

“Did you ever think your house would burn down?" Eden, my then seven-year-old daughter asked me every couple days, for months, after an arsonist randomly set our house on fire. "No," I would answer each and every time. "I just never... more »

"Ecovillages" — communities dedicated to green living — are springing up in rural, urban and suburban areas around the world. While these communities are extremely varied, they all aim to make sustainable... more »

Lisa Lee Benjamin wants you and everyone you know to get excited about the bugs that live in your city. Through the creation of urban habitats, she hopes to make room for the flora and fauna we need for a healthy environment — and encourage people... more »

A few months ago I wrote about 10 elements of the just-right house. Number nine talked about a house that is a good neighbor and engages the world... more »

As you read this, a 250-KW wind turbine is being constructed to provide 85 percent of the power use of this affordable housing project. Designed by Union Studio Architecture & Community Design in Tiverton, Rhode Island, the 170-acre community was... more »

If you were a world-class kayaker, and one of the best stretches of river in the country was about to be cut off from the public by a private developer, what would you do? Outdoorsy brother and sister Jed Selby and Katie Selby Urban sprang to action,... more »

I just got back from a visit to New York, where one of my first and favorite stops was the new expansion to the High Line, a stretch of elevated train track transformed into a greenway along New York City's West Side. Walking the mile-long path, I noted... more »