Australian expats Carla and Paul Tucker tasked designer Dan Gayfer with expanding their Melbourne bungalow without adding any square footage. In the kitchen, a soft palette of wood, laminate, and tile created cohesion, impressive considering the clients didn’t see a single finish, color, or material in person prior to their homecoming. The kitchen cabinets were clad in Russian birch plywood, and the countertops were concrete.

Modern bathroom vanities in white bathe the room in light, creating a relaxing atmosphere. Mirroring the kitchen of this home, the bathroom features custom wooden cabinetry and Brodware faucets.

The modern addition sits on a concrete platform that extends past the house’s envelope, creating welcoming patios on each side. “From any space within the home you are no more than a few steps from one of the outdoor spaces,” Busick says. On the west-facing back porch, Green Kite Chairs by Karim Rashid and a poppy-red hammock offer ideal spots from which to take in the sunset.

The exterior mixes pale gray wood on the vertical volume, and fiber cement and black brick on the horiztonal volume. The three trees in the front yard were maintained during the renovation process.

In Los Angeles, homeowner Bill Thompson warmed up his otherwise dark living room with a series of Douglas fir slats applied above the fireplace, as well as other wood accents throughout the room; the slats provide both texture and pattern to the fireplace, acting as a focal point and emphasizing the space's vertical height.

Stephen Waddell and Isabel Kunigk worked with architect D’Arcy Jones to breathe new life into their “dank old” structure. The couple chose to sacrifice square footage inside in order to make the most of outdoor space.

With the house often open to the outside, dust easily drifts in. Fortunately, the concrete floor, speckled with white aggregate mix, is easy to clean.

The bungalow had beautiful bones but some major problems, including a poorly designed addition to the back that had to be removed. In its place, Tribe Studio designed a gray brick box that connects directly to the garden. “The owners love the fact that the extension is compatible with the old part of the house, and is completely different from many renovations of this type, which simply open up the back in a single move,” Tribe says.

Remodeled by resident and interior decorator Jill McCoy and her husband David Hassall with the help of architect Paul Molina, the open-plan living space opens to a small outdoor area. French doors and a wall of windows bring in light. An Eames lounge chair and a Noguchi table add a modern sensibility.

The streetside facade, dominated by site-poured concrete, contains the garage, from which Jacobson and Dukes escape for a quick surf.

In the master bathroom, the couple traded an outdated tile tub for the BOV 02 from Wetstyle and added fixtures, towel bars, and hooks from Vola. The hallway, which retains its original black granite floor, leads past paneled walls to a deck.

“It’s a great house for a young family—playful, practical and different,” Tribe says. “You can sit on the windowsill in the sun and feed the baby, kids can climb in and out, often through the windows, and you can see everything that is going on.”

The clients had an impressive collection of Scandinavian midcentury teak furniture that now pops beautifully against the concrete floors, white-painted brick, and pine v-joint walls.

For the the living room, the architects designed a cluster of picture windows that frame unique views—a jacaranda tree or a patch of sky—and block out neighbors from a nearby apartment building.

The custom kitchen cabinets sit on legs for easy sweeping underneath. They’re topped with white Corian counters and paired with sleek Brodware fixtures.

An entire floor was added to the house, and the garage was updated.

Exterior

Staircase

Exterior

Golden Lift

Contreras can take his breakfast at a polished marble bar overhung by Tom Dixon pendant lights. A walnut cabinet system reaches from floor to ceiling, dividing the kitchen from the master bedroom.

Busick refreshed the house’s east-facing façade by painting the trim a bold black that echoes the steel addition at the rear.

Entrance

Living room

Each corner of every space is carefully arranged. "Most of the things I own are on display at all times, so I'm very particular about what I buy and how each vignette in a room is composed," says Young.

A skylight illuminates the neutral master bathroom, letting bathers contemplate the clouds. The faucets and tub are by Brizo, and the sinks are SlabHaus.

In the living room, Busick left the original brick walls and tongue-and-groove wood ceiling exposed, while he refinished the white oak flooring with a walnut stain. “We edited the newer renovations to the historic home down to the fundamental elements,” he explains. A gray Delos Sofa by Control Brand sits cozily in front of a window.

Kid's Bedroom

A horizontally-clad pine fence surrounds the home, giving its residents a measure of privacy at night despite the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The 1,300-square-foot 1940s bungalow had little character before the renovation.

The two buildings on either end of the house form an intimate, private courtyard between them — a common feature of farmhouses in the region. Within, a Mediterranean-style gravel garden designed by architect Joachim Kräftner offers an ideal spot for play and relaxation. Klauser calls it “a walk-in sculpture.”

An additional aspect of the renovation was the conversion of a dilapidated carriage house into a sleek, two-story studio that flanks the rear porch. A structural steel frame inside reinforces the structure while recalling the main house’s steel cladding.

Off the living room, two small bedrooms and a bathroom can be reached through sliding doors that, when closed, continue the cheerful pattern of the Moroccan cement tiles covering the wall.

Contreras opted for quality over quantity, sparsely decorating the room leading out to the backyard with a 1950s Thaden Jordan birch credenza and a pair of Barcelona chairs.

A custom, steel-framed window and door system reinforces the horizontal lines of the existing bungalow. Just outside the kitchen, Contreras can entertain guests on the patio—warmed on chillier days by a low, rectangular fireplace.

The whimsical façade is clad with irregular, unplaned white fir slats that thoroughly insulate the structure. These echo its energy-efficient timber construction, which includes triple-glazed super-windows and a comfort ventilation system. The poppy-red front door introduces a burst of color.