Displaying posts labeled "Outdoors"

Melissa of CCS Architecture emailed the other day with some photos of an INCREDIBLE retreat in Aptos, California designed for a couple with 6 children. Located on 20 acres, the property (with ocean and mountain views) includes 2 primary buildings. The first is a 2800-square-foot main house that is composed of a ‘live building’ and a ‘sleep building’ that overlap at their roofs to create a linkage and sheltered outdoor space. The second is the Barn, a 1600-square-foot, rusted steel warehouse outfitted for use as the property’s “clubhouse.”  The first floor is set up for ping pong and large-screen TV watching, and houses surfboards and other recreational beach equipment. The loft level is set up with a billiard table and sofa beds all around for additional slumber party needs. Folks, this sounds an awful lot like my dream home. And after devouring the photos below, this looks like my dream home. Brace yourselves…..

Angela sent us an email with a dilemma that I’m hoping you all can help her with: “I have recently purchased a small red brick home that was built in 1930 – I love it and cannot wait to get my hands on it. Currently the house is red brick with a heinous John Deere Green trim that I am dying to paint but I have yet to stumble across some really great inspiration or references. It has natural shingles so there are technically three fields of area that need color, red brick being the majority. I love the idea of something slightly eccentric but still classy – like the grey house with the lime green door. I would appreciate if you could point me in the right direction.” Having never had the opportunity to be able to paint the exterior of a house, I am sort of at a loss as to suggestions for Angela, which is why I thought I’d open it up to all of you. Her house is absolutely ADORABLE as you’ll see below, so getting rid of the awful green will make a huge difference and make her home even more fantastic with great curb appeal. Leave your ideas in the comments!

I was following the links to our co-contributors on the Inside Out piece and found beautiful gardens designed by Spirit Level Designs, a Sydney based landscape firm of architects, designers, artists, horticulturists and stone masons. What wonderful lush spaces. I love the use of stone and the layering of textures and shapes. These are gardens you want to wander into, to become part of the landscape, to belong. I wish the images on their website were just a little larger so their lush green beauty would jump out of the screen a bit more. Still I have no trouble imagining myself brushing against the leaves by the path or hearing the soft tinkle of water features. Lovely.

And it’s all about the outside. A simple, minimalist interior in a house that throws open its walls and plays second fiddle to the great outdoors. What a pool. Those palm trees… swoon. Gently sloping green green grass and the star of the show, rainforest hemming in on all sides. All this anchored by stone walls and gravel courtyards. I’d quibble that the house needs a few more personal touches, some spectacular art but then how can you argue with that view. And all of this is in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Byron Bay, Australia. Sometimes real estate stalking takes my breath away. Here while the link lasts.

As usual, it’s freezing here in Ottawa and I have just about HAD IT with winter. I thankfully decided to take a little 10 day trip to Puerto Vallarta at the end of the month to meet up with my folks who are there for 6 weeks. While I’m on that topic, if anyone happens to know of any interesting shops that sell decor items or architecture I should photograph (I’m bringing all my camera gear) in PV PLEASE email or leave a comment. Unlike my other visits there, this time around I’d like to do something besides laying around the pools (although I still plan to do ALOT of that).
Back to the real reason for this post. I found these adorable little cabins in Stuart McIntyre’s portfolio when I was working on yesterday’s post of his work. Grass, flowers…..I almost forget what summer feels like.