Collection by Zach Edelson

Show-Stealing Skylights in Modern Homes

Skylights needn't be simple overhead daylighting; sometimes they can truly define a room.

Keisha Martin and her cousin, Mickeda, chat underneath the house’s crowning glory, the oculus, which allows light to spill onto each floor of the house.
Keisha Martin and her cousin, Mickeda, chat underneath the house’s crowning glory, the oculus, which allows light to spill onto each floor of the house.
Circular “sun disks” cut into the slanted roof create light shafts that move throughout the day, casting angular shadows as they pass over the steel staircases and catwalk.
Circular “sun disks” cut into the slanted roof create light shafts that move throughout the day, casting angular shadows as they pass over the steel staircases and catwalk.
In the living room, a double-height window and a skylight work together to frame a view of the Victorian Gothic church just across the street.
In the living room, a double-height window and a skylight work together to frame a view of the Victorian Gothic church just across the street.
An ingenious floor treatment—slats laid over the ceiling beams—enables the skylight to do double duty, pouring sunlight into the living room below. The translucent bathroom wall turns that into triple duty.
An ingenious floor treatment—slats laid over the ceiling beams—enables the skylight to do double duty, pouring sunlight into the living room below. The translucent bathroom wall turns that into triple duty.
The industrial aesthetic of the Segals’ lounge area is softened by a white shag rug and the generous sunlight that streams through its ceiling of thick glass. The seating is by Paul Kjaeholm.
The industrial aesthetic of the Segals’ lounge area is softened by a white shag rug and the generous sunlight that streams through its ceiling of thick glass. The seating is by Paul Kjaeholm.
Thin skylights running atop the full length of the staircase illuminate the trip up the side of the house.
Thin skylights running atop the full length of the staircase illuminate the trip up the side of the house.
An angular brushed-stainless-steel sink and a painted plywood vanity in the third floor’s master bathroom are custom. The general contractor built the vanity and comissioned the sink from New York’s Master Restaurant Equipment. Back-painted glass panels by Bendheim clad the walls, and the fixtures are from California Faucets. Recessed lighting surrounds the perimeter of the Circle Redmont skylight, and the wall sconce over the Robern mirror is from Glashütte Limburg.
An angular brushed-stainless-steel sink and a painted plywood vanity in the third floor’s master bathroom are custom. The general contractor built the vanity and comissioned the sink from New York’s Master Restaurant Equipment. Back-painted glass panels by Bendheim clad the walls, and the fixtures are from California Faucets. Recessed lighting surrounds the perimeter of the Circle Redmont skylight, and the wall sconce over the Robern mirror is from Glashütte Limburg.