Amazingly understated home from the outside, yet glowingly warm and delightfully playful in the inside. Just looking at the photos reminds me something like an Escher drawing where it keeps my eyes moving around looking eager to discover more.
Imagine a studio like this!
Or one of the many glorious geodesics.
Some inspiration for our kitchen!
I love the Japanese feeling of this space combined with the massive string art (the text caption is from the book...the way the whole thing is written...not sure what they're talking about most of the time)
These have me dreaming of an Adobe shack...
Circular windows!
In the late seventies after a failed attempt to live out of a VW microbus, my Dad had the bright, romantic idea to drop the nomad lifestyle, move to the country, and live off the land. So he did the only sensible thing a twenty-something in that time period could think of, he bought a lone chicken coop on a couple of acres and decided to make it his home. So began years of trials and tribulations that are a prominent part of my family's folklore: a lost cow, brush fires, a roof-climbing goat named Jemima and the transformation of that chicken coop into a modest passive solar home worthy of his back to the land dream.
Like many similar utopian visions of that time, the romance inevitably wore off, practicality set in and we became city dwellers once again, but my Dad still shakes his head and says "I'm so glad I did that." I can't help but feel the same nostalgic romantic feeling from time to time myself. Should we drop everything and head for simple country life?? Could we cut it out in rural life? Scratch that. We'd probably go crazy, but it's fun to think about the possibilities.
While I try to dig up the few photos that were taken of my Dad's own chicken coop transformation, I thought I would share three amazing books that inspired him to take that plunge (and has got me thinking rustic myself). All Their Own, The Craftsman Builder, and Woodstock Handmade Houses
Below are some pic excerpts of some of the exteriors. Interiors (my fav) in part deux.
More scans on Flickr.
I'm just blown away by the creativity, thoughtfulness and resourcefulness that went into these homes. They were built over time and evolved organically with limited resources, but ultimate freedom...it's authentic rustic charm...not the kind you read about in real estate listings...it's genuine character. Geodesic dome on top of a cedar-shaked double-wide character!
(abv) Love the gesture of this structure's roof line...it was actually architect designed and built as his personal hippie home.
The above is built partially into the ground for heating/cooling. The slanted roof runs to the ground to head off the north winds another passive solar feature and one my Dad used on the chicken coop to ward off the Michigan winter winds.
If I believed in heaven, I'd imagine it would something like this place...
The house is designed by, and of course, a Japanese architect, Jun Igarashi. 
Check out this post via Design Boom about this cleverly designed office space by A Dutch design firm, most architecture.
They designed the spacing using a bunch of handsome-looking pallets piled up in compelling ways while turning them into functional working spaces, seating, and even a staircase!
We've been collecting pallets & wooden crates to fill up our Brite Social Studio space for the fact that they're so readily available and free ...but of course the pallets aren't nearly as nice as the ones you see here.
This is a barn on Whidbey Island that's been converted to an amazing house by a Seattle based architecture firm, SHED.
Love the wood siding used for the interior. So nice....
We're lovin' this island. We really want a dining height eating surface and this is the most elegant integration of one yet.
This is the first of a series that I'd like to call "I'd Like To Tap That..."
what a nice open kitchen & dining room.....
The seemingly simple concept is well-executed with thoughtful details through out the house inside and out. Pretty amazing how how bright it seems even though the only light source is coming from both ends of the house!
Dylan spotted this on Dezeen. This house is Designed by Hiroyuki Tanaka Architects in Yokohama, Japan. Using geometric lines and shapes mixed with simple materials, the result is airy and dynamic in an unexpected way.
It's a small apartment that's little bit more than 300sq ft. But they really maximized the space by building this amazing bookshelf that is actually makes the walls of a room. I dream of a place with shelves all over, and that's a fantastic solution!
I also love the curved alcove. And look! the seats comes out!
You can see more photos and read more about it, here.
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