Walk down any suburban street, and you can probably guess the general layout of most of the houses. We are familiar with conventional houses and subconsciously absorb the clues their facades reveal — a tall, vertical window possibly reveals the stairs;... more »

While helping their friends move to Ellensburg, Washington, Scott and Emily Faulkner fell in love with a midcentury home there. Designed by architect James Cowan in 1957, the house nodded to Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian style, with its L-shaped plan,... more »

Turquoise stained flooring, a bright yellow wall and crisp, modern cabinetry — you might not guess this was once Grandma's kitchen. Architect Mark Lawrence inherited this house from his grandparents,... more »

The creators of the science fiction movie Oblivion have imagined a future where humans have left Earth for lunar colonies, and a few left behind hover above it in Skytower, a residence, command center and heliport 3,000 feet up. "Skytower... more »

“Tiny" doesn't have to mean "timid." Project Manager Javis Ma of Urban Design & Build kept this mantra in mind when turning a small Hong Kong residence into a stylish... more »

Carmel-by-the-Sea (often called just Carmel), a small town on California's Monterey Peninsula, is known as much for its golf as for its natural beauty. Chicago's Dirk Denison Architects tapped into this beauty in a house the firm designed on a narrow... more »

Philip Johnson's Glass House and Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House are very similar, but their small differences are dramatic. Each is a glass box with... more »

When Austin, Texas, native Robert Dull visited Nicaragua for the first time in 1997, he fell in love with the country and vowed to come back and buy land as soon as possible. Two years later he fulfilled his dream by buying 10 acres on a hillside 320... more »

Drawn to the wraparound terrace and stunning view of Paris' Left Bank, this home's owner decided the panorama was worth the 485-square-foot apartment's odd layout and funky decor. Husband and wife design duo Alon... more »

Charles and Ray Eames were two of the most influential designers of the 20th century, having produced a number of iconic pieces of furniture that most modern homes cannot be without. The husband and wife team did not limit themselves to furniture, though.... more »

Aspen is a small city in western Colorado known for skiing, celebrities — and wealth. Four ski areas serve its 6,658 residents and the visitors to what the Wall Street Journal called "an anointed stop on the international jet-set circuit" in... more »

A millennium-old conundrum for families — and extended families — is that while of course everyone loves one another and wants to spend time together, sometimes people just need their space. That was the case when a Spokane, Washington, couple and... more »

Along with Frank Lloyd Wright, Finnish architect Alvar Aalto stands out for being a modern architect with a highly personal style that blends the historical and the contemporary. But unlike Wright, who was born less than a decade after the end of the... more »

Howard Cohen and Ron Soskolne are drawn to uncluttered modernism, and their Toronto residences have always reflected this ethos, along with their love of collecting crafts and art. Both are architects who also work in the property development field, and... more »