Architecture
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A Modern Retreat at the Far Edge of Ireland
As in all the best B&Bs, tea is offered within seconds of arrival. At Breac.House which opened recently on Horn Head near Dunfanaghy, it is served in little grey goblets of Inishowen clay commissioned from a local pottery. “We wanted a particular shade of grey,” owners Niall Campbell and Cathrine Burke explain, “with a slight purple hue. The colour of Muckish.” They nod through vast windows to the inky mountains of north Donegal. It’s just a detail in a house where attention to detail has been taken to magnificent extremes. A Pantone reference given conversational depth by two Dublin accountants who realized ten years ago that their careers were at…
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Downsize: Living Large in a Small House
With the current trend toward de-cluttering and downsizing, there are plenty of books about how to winnow down possessions to the few that are truly necessary and loved. This book shows how you can live well once that’s done. In “Downsize: Living Large in a Small House” (2019), author Sheri Koones focuses on practical ways to live well at home once you’ve streamlined your belongings and are living more compactly. “It scares people to think of moving into a smaller space, but every single person I interviewed who has made the transition says they are so happy they did. Time and again, people used the word ‘liberated’ to describe their…
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Striking Shou Sugi Ban Tunnel connects Old and New
Every home has a story, and for this renewed West Australian home, it began at the start of the 20th century. When the owners decided to build a new home on the traditional farmhouse site, they identified the need to take a considered, trusted and respectful approach to honor what had gone before, but still deliver a contemporary, progressive design. Humphrey Homes was appointed to take on the challenge, building a three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home over 555 sq meters that could be described as a master of contrast. Humphrey Homes Owner and Director Dean Humphrey said contrast was shown in the architecture, emotion, textures and history of the build. “This home…
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Inside a Modern Lake Home
A talented young designer helps create a modern, minimalist and sublime Lake Michigan home for his parents. Camp MINOH, the name for the Heathfield family retreat, is tucked into a sublime stretch of sandy Lake Michigan shoreline north of Charlevoix. The property is peppered with birch and pine and not far away a Wyeth-esque barn, its timbers scorched by a past fire, is a reminder of the area’s rural roots. Those features helped inform Camp MINOH’s design—but only after they’d filtered through the inspired imagination of the young designer (now a licensed architect) who was integral to the design team, Andrew Heathfield. Andrew, fresh out of University of Michigan’s architecture…
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Upcycled Holiday Retreat in Denmark
Located an hour outside of Copenhagen, this beautiful vacation home is tucked into a lush forest mere steps away from a beach. Designed by Nordhavn-based Lendager Group, the holiday retreat consists of five connected structures, all of which are constructed from upcycled waste materials found from demolition sites and local factories. According to the architects, the five connected volumes were built with circular principles in mind out of respect for the pristine nature that surrounds them. As they designed the holiday rental, the designers searched locally to find discarded building materials. They found a great source of waste wood at a local flooring company, and several demolition sites allowed them to salvage old bricks to…
