Category Archive: Small Modern and Minimalist Houses

A modern “hermit’s cabin” | Parra + Edwards

Parra + Edwards Arquitectos designed this modern studio cabin in the forest outside Santiago, Chile. La Nave Anacoreta (“Hermit’s Ship”) was conceived as a small boat floating in a sea of foliage. It… Continue reading

The Pond House | Hammerschmid Pachl Seebacher

The Pond House sits at the edge of a man-made pond surrounded by mature landscaping. It was designed by Hammerschmid Pachl Seebacher Architekten for clients who requested a small house integrated with the… Continue reading

The Black Shed | Rural Design Architects

The Black Shed sits low and hunkered against the wind on Scotland’s Isle of Skye. The small cottage replaced a dilapidated storage shed on a working croft (small farm). Rural Design Architects designed… Continue reading

An eco-friendly kit house designed for the owner-builder | Noble Home

Noble Home sells efficient and modern kit homes with a floor plan custom designed for each buyer. The Noble Home building system is available in widths of either 16′ or 20′, and any… Continue reading

Actor Vincent Kartheiser’s Hollywood Pad | Funn Roberts

A few months ago we posted a couple photos of Mad Men actor Vincent Kartheiser’s Hollywood home on our facebook page, generating quite a lot of interest. Now the small house is for… Continue reading

Urban Treehouse | baumraum

A pair of treehouses make for a leafy vacation retreat in Berlin. The Urban Treehouse, as they are collectively named, was developed by a grandfather/grandson team who wanted to allow visitors to connect… Continue reading

House 12.20, a modern bachelor pad in Brazil | Alex Nogueira

House 12.20 by Brazilian architect Alex Nogueira is surprisingly small given that it is built on a fairly large lot. It presents a closed-off appearance to the street, with windows hidden behind metal… Continue reading

The Nest | a21studio

“The Nest” is an oasis of nature in a dense urban area. The client, an architecture journalist, wanted a “green” house that could be built on his modest budget. Architects a21studio designed a… Continue reading

The Pod | Takt Studio for Architecture

An Australian family built this modern “pod” to accommodate overseas grandparents who spend the long summers visiting. Designed by Takt | Studio for Architecture, it provides the grandparents with a private and independent… Continue reading

Cabana Urbana, a vibrant weekend retreat in São Paulo | Fábio Galeazzo

Designer Fábio Galeazzo transformed a run-down 1930s house into an extraordinary vacation home. The clients, both of whom are also designers, wanted a weekend retreat within the busy metropolis of São Paulo, Brazil.

Llano Exit Strategy, a shared cabin compound | Matt Garcia Design

Four couples who are good friends purchased a beautiful piece of land on the Llano River in Texas. After considering building one large house, they instead decided to have separate small cabins for… Continue reading

The Blue House | Rusafova Markulis Architects

A young family asked Rusafova Markulis Architects to design an energy-efficient home within their modest budget. Site constraints in the form of setbacks, an easement and two mature trees severely limited the buildable… Continue reading

La Maison au Bord de l’Eau, a low-cost vacation home | Charlotte Perriand

Influential architect and designer Charlotte Perriand conceived La Maison au Bord de l’Eau in 1934 for an architectural competition to design a low-cost vacation home for the masses. Though she took second prize,… Continue reading

Chalet EXP, a tiny modern cabin for Quebec’s wilderness parks

Quebec’s provincial park system has been introducing a new model of cabin accommodation with a modern design. Chalet EXP (“experience”) is a wood structure with a studio floor plan designed for two.

ContainerLove, a small modern house | LHVH Architekten

“ContainerLove” is a new modern home in a rural area of western Germany, standing out among more traditional gabled farm houses and barns. It was designed by Cologne-based studio LHVH Architekten.

A minimalist vacation house in Chile | Panorama and WMR

Chilean architects Panorama and WMR collaborated on the design of this small vacation house. Located in the coastal village of Matanzas, it has spectacular ocean views.

A modern studio retreat in the woods | workshop/apd

This small studio was born of the client’s wish for a quiet retreat surrounded by nature in which to cherish the memories of his wife and the life they shared. The structure was… Continue reading

A 17th-century townhouse in the Netherlands | Unknown Architects

A 17th century townhouse in the historic center of Leiden, the Netherlands, was renovated to provide a “pied-à-terre” for a couple who spend much of their time traveling. Dutch studio Unknown Architects began… Continue reading

A yacht-like “micro villa” on the Danube | SHARE Architects

This tiny vacation house is surprisingly close to the center of Vienna. It sits on the Alte Donau (Old Danube), a linear lake created when a portion of the Danube River channel was… Continue reading

Casa Box, a tiny house with many contrasts | Alan Chu and Cristiano Kato

Casa Box makes a striking first impression. The bright white cubic form stands in sharp relief against the dark rock face behind and the enormous rounded boulder next to it. A closer look… Continue reading

A sculptural house for a tight urban site | Sou Fujimoto Architects

This small house, designed for a family of four, has a sculptural shape that from some angles resembles an iceberg. And like an iceberg, part of the house lies below the surface. The… Continue reading

False Bay Writer’s Cabin | Olson Kundig Architects

A writer wanted a private retreat that would provide a secluded place to work, connected to nature but free of human interruptions and distractions. Olson Kundig Architects designed this modern cabin for the… Continue reading

An owner-built studio dwelling

Lily Copenagle and Jamie Kennel designed and built their own studio dwelling. The small modern house gives them 704 ft2 (65.4 m2) of living space, all on a single level. It features a green roof,… Continue reading

Tre Livelli, a studio dwelling with a stepped floor plan | Studioata

“Tre Livelli” is a tiny studio retreat above the seaside town of Alassio, Liguria in northern Italy. It sits on a hillside site terraced with traditional Ligurian dry-stacked stone walls.

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