Interactive floor plan: Chilmark Guest House, USA

Peering out from a forest, the Chilmark Guest House in Massachusetts is a beautifully compact guest cabin and the latest work of US firm, Charles Rose Architects.

Perched on a steep slope that looks onto a clearing and the nearby Vineyard Sound, the building is designed to maximise the views, with large windows and balconies that create a sense of a light, semi-open space.

The 800 sq ft structure comfortably incorporates two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms at opposite ends of the house, and a common kitchen and dining area. A cellar, porch and roof terrace provide extra living space, which together with the natural material palette - with pigmented concrete, stone, copper, cedar and fir used for the exterior, and teak, mahogany and cork for the interior - help enhance the outdoors experience and the light and delicate nature of this building.

Interactive floor plan: Chilmark Guest House, USA

(Image credit: TBC)

Call it the effect of 'cabin porn' or urban fatigue, but the fascination with the rustic retreat has never been higher. While our attachment to technology might once have precluded us from dipping into the off-the-grid lifestyle, the pendulum has swung toward a predilection for timber-clad bedrooms, elegant woodstoves and enchanting loft ladders. Oh, the vicarious pleasure! 
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Sol Duc Cabin
Sited in West Washington, this compact cabin is the latest triumph in a series of small structures by Olson Kundig Architects

Sol Duc Cabin


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Sol Duc Cabin 

The cabin's position and open façade provide the occupants with unimpeded views of the surrounding wilderness

Sol Duc Cabin


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Sol Duc Cabin

The Sol Duc Cabin is made of steel panels that give it a hermetic, bunker-like look when shut

Sol Duc Cabin


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Sol Duc Cabin 

These aren’t, however, mere aesthetic elements – they shield the structure from the region's occasional severe weather conditions, making it compact and low maintenance, while opening up to offer more light when required

The house is elevated on four steel pillars


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Sol Duc Cabin
To add to its ‘near-indestructability’, and to avoid occasional floods, the house is elevated on four steel pillars

Cabin’s interiors are warmly clad with leftover wood


(Image credit: TBC)

Sol Duc Cabin

In contrast to its robust exterior, the cabin’s interiors are warmly clad with leftover wood

Living room and kitchen are located on the lofty lower level


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Sol Duc Cabin 

They were designed in a simple layout, where the living room and kitchen are located on the lofty lower level, and the bedroom on the mezzanine

The covered balcony offers a sheltered area to enjoy the views


(Image credit: TBC)

Sol Duc Cabin 

The covered balcony offers a sheltered area to enjoy the views

Concrete architecture: our pick of the finest


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Pobble House 

Designed by Guy Holloway Architects, Pobble House is sited within the sparse Dungeness headland

Concrete architecture: our pick of the finest


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Pobble House

Three simple forms – clad in larch, Corten steel and cement, respectively – define the house's volumes and add character

Concrete architecture: our pick of the finest


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Pobble House

A glazed sliding door cornering the open-plan kitchen and living room, allows direct connection with the outdoors. When drawn back, the sliding door is completely concealed by wall pockets

Pobble House


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Pobble House

Inside, the living space fully absorbs the sparse natural surroundings

Pobble House


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Pobble House

 A linear corridor arranges further interior spaces, leading you from living spaces to private bedrooms 

Pobble House


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Pobble House 

Discreet furnishings and neutral tones continue throughout the home's three bedrooms, with picturesque window views allowing maximum daylight to infiltrate

Pobble House


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Pobble House

Equipped with facilities and space for up to ten guests, the house fits both purpose and surroundings ideally (it's also available to rent)

Pobble House


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Pobble House 

Minimal furniture achieves considerate interior spaces, which do not detract attention from the expansive views surrounding them. A glazed insert within the dining area frames the Dungeness nuclear power station perfectly

Pobble House


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Pobble House

Respectful of both the existing local community and surrounding nature, the structure's external materiality anticipates a visible, gradual ageing process. Over time, an eventual consolidation with the colours of the Dungeness landscape will be achieved

Pobble House


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Pobble House 

A combination of timber-frame construction, synthetic waterproofing and durable exterior cladding makes for a very robust structure indeed

Fonte Boa House


(Image credit: José Campos)

Pobble House 

Inside, the living space fully absorbs the sparse natural surroundings

Fonte Boa House

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Fonte Boa House
The white rendered façade is evocative of the Portuguese region's vernacular tradition of simple pitched forms and whitewashed walls, with a playful pattern of picture frame windows, carefully positioned to optimise the internal experience

Fonte Boa House


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Fonte Boa House 

The subtle support system of concrete pad foundations enables the house to preside over the estate with marginal intervention to the landscape

Fonte Boa House


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Fonte Boa House

A simple palette of white walls and timber floors is used throughout the interior, with sleek integrated furniture concealing clutter

Fonte Boa House


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Fonte Boa House 

The integrated bedroom storage unit is in perfect alignment with door architraves. It includes playful moving elements that reveal the abstract window openings and control the daylight

Fonte Boa House


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Fonte Boa House  

Under stair storage with flush doors and minimal joints reduces the need for loose furniture in the living space

Fonte Boa House


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Fonte Boa House
The frameless glass façade in the living room is the pièce de résistance, providing dramatic views out over the Fonte Boa estate

Fonte Boa House

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Fonte Boa House
A frameless glass lobby appended to the entrance slots into the dining space and aids the transition from outside to inside

House Fonte Boa

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Fonte Boa House
The stark concrete retaining walls of the semi-sunken carpark are set in perfect alignment to the house, its elongated form providing an attenuated buffer from the main road

House Fonte Boa

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Fonte Boa House
A generous hallway at the first floor level divides the two bedrooms, with the pitched ceiling creating an interior reminiscent of an art gallery

House Fonte Boa

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Fonte Boa House
An external storage area is neatly incorporated into the carpark walls. The adjacent concrete stair draws the eye towards the entrance

Cabin fever: the Wallpaper* edit of the sweetest escapes

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Fonte Boa House
The meticulous attention paid to the design of fixed furniture is prevalent throughout the house, including the kitchen storage units positioned flush with the under stair storage

Houl

(Image credit: Andrew Lee)

The Houl
Emerging from the contours of an elevated and exposed Dumfriesshire hillside, The Houl is not only a fine contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional Scottish 'longhouse' but also a net zero carbon dwelling that doesn't wear its progressive eco credentials too visibly on its sleeve

Houl House

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The Houl 
Designed as a single storey family home by (and for) Simon Winstanley of Castle Douglas based-Simon Winstanley Architects, The Houl sits within a concave cranny on a west-facing slope overlooking the spectacular River Ken valley and the ridges of the Rhinns of Kells hills

House Houl 

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The Houl 
The low slung and streamlined design uses a lightweight steel and timber frame construction, with cedar weatherboard cladding – untreated to allow weathering to a natural silver grey colour – and long monopitched roofs, finished in pre-weathered grey zinc

The Houl 

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The Houl 
The slant of the main roof above the living accommodation follows the slope of the hillside

The Houl

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The Houl
The rear roof meets the main pitch at a shallower angle, to allow morning sunlight to flood into the heart of the house

Houl House

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The Houl
In addition to its sustainable approach to construction (where all excavated material was re-used on the site), energy efficient systems are also central to the design raison d'être

The Houl

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The Houl
The airtight house achieves net zero carbon emissions by means of PassivHaus standards of insulation in the walls and roof, augmented by a reflective thermal membrane on the inner and outer faces of the timber kit

Houl House


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The Houl
The principal open plan living areas are arranged along the contour of the site to take full advantage of the views across the valley, whereas the ancillary spaces are recessed to the rear

Dumfries shire house


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The Houl 
The main living area of the Dumfriesshire house

Kitchen with counter


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The Houl
The house's kitchen

Chilmark Guest House

(Image credit: Bruce Martin)

Chilmark Guest House
Peering out from a forest, the Chilmark Guest House in Massachusetts is a beautifully compact guest cabin

Chilmark Guest House

(Image credit: TBC)

Chilmark Guest House
The cabin is the latest work of US firm, Charles Rose Architects

Chilmark Guest House

(Image credit: TBC)

Chilmark Guest House
The house is perched on a steep slope that looks onto a clearing and the nearby Vineyard Sound

Chilmark Guest House

(Image credit: TBC)

Chilmark Guest House
The building is designed to maximise views, with large windows and balconies that ensure the space feels light and open

Chilmark Guest House


(Image credit: TBC)

Chilmark Guest House
The 800 sq ft structure comfortably incorporates two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms

Chilmark Guest House

(Image credit: TBC)

Chilmark Guest House
A cellar, porch and roof terrace provide extra living space

Chilmark Guest House

(Image credit: TBC)

Chilmark Guest House
The architects have used a natural material palette for the exterior, including pigmented concrete, stone, copper, cedar and fir

Chilmark Guest House


(Image credit: TBC)

Chilmark Guest House
The choice of materials helps enhance the outdoors experience, as well as the light and delicate nature of the building

Chilmark Guest House


(Image credit: TBC)

Chilmark Guest House
Side façade of the house

Chilmark Guest House


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Chilmark Guest House
Separating the two bedrooms is a kitchen, dining and living area

Normandy House

(Image credit: Stephan Lucas)

Normandy House
Located in an isolated residential patch of the Perche countryside in France's Normandy region, this house is Paris-based Beckmann N'Thépé's latest residential project

Cabin fever: the Wallpaper* edit of the sweetest escapes


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Normandy House
Small but perfectly formed and constructed on a tight budget, the building was created as a family holiday home

Normandy House


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Normandy House
The design is minimal, with two sole windows cut out on two sides of the structure and a large set of glass doors, balancing out the otherwise blind dark volume

Normandy House


(Image credit: TBC)

Normandy House
A protruding white frame further highlights the openings, contrasting the cube's overall black