“They wanted to keep the house to one level so that they could retire there without worrying about stairs and access,” Hutchison says. The home features two bedrooms, and the second one is available to guests and the homeowners’ college-age son.

Exposed beams continue into the kitchen ceiling, where minimal details and contrasting dark shades emphasize the natural materials. The window frames are positioned as “fins” to draw in just enough southern-facing light to keep the room comfortable.

Architect Bill Ryall installed vertical circulation elements, opened an unobstructed 47-foot-long view from front to back, and kept the ceiling beams exposed to create a loft-like environment.

The exposed ceiling beams and inserted steel framing system are visible in the lower level, where Lange and Dixon relax with their son Paul.

Skylights provide crucial natural light in the dining area and bedroom.

Husband-and-wife founders of Calico Wallpaper Rachel and Nick Cope show how easy it can be to put a personal, design-led touch on loft living—even when it’s a rental. When the Copes rented a Red Hook loft in an industrial 1860s warehouse, the couple turned their rental into a testing ground for their marbleized wallpaper business and installed wallpaper in each of their rooms. The custom pieces take inspiration from the loft’s immediate surroundings and characteristics—from the silver-and-gold marbled mural that complements the loft’s exposed structural beams to a color-gradient wallpaper in the primary bedroom that takes cues from the sunset seen from Red Hook.

A steel I-beam was exposed during the renovation, and McManus and Drew opted to leave it that way, as it complemented the radiators and pipes that remain in their raw state elsewhere in the apartment. The general contractor, Eze Bongo, constructed the bamboo plywood desk.

Structural lines are on full display in the bedroom, where ceiling beams and a plywood bed frame catch the eye.

Architect Christi Azevedo, along with homeowners Lorena Siminovich and Esteban Kerner, transformed this 1,485-square-foot, multilevel, mid-century maze into a modern and efficient family home in just three months. “It was the craziest frickin’ thing,” laughs Azevedo. “It was like a Tetris game, putting it all together, trying to squeak out space wherever we could.” Purchased as if straight out of 1955, the home is now the ideal small space for Siminovich and Kerner to raise their young daughter, Matilda.

“The roof structure is exposed in every room of the house, which leads the eye to connect all of the rooms together, making the house seem bigger than it really is,” Hutchison says. Dunn Lumber supplied the laminate shelves for the study.

The original beams, as seen from the loft, offer a warm and textural contrast to the sleek and modern finishes introduced during the renovation. “There's a lot of nice patina to the very old beams; we definitely wanted to show that,” says van Hulzen.

Subverting the traditional, conservatively cozy British barn conversion, Carl Turner created a getaway in rural Norfolk for himself and his friends to visit, repose, and consider the beauty of agrarian minimalism. Turner reclaimed most of the timber used for the flooring as he renovated buildings in London. He thought his stockpile was big enough for the Ochre Barn, but the scale of the place defeated him. The solution, surprisingly, was eBay, turning up an old mill’s worth of boards.

In the new 2,770-square-foot apartment, original I-beams brace the structure at dramatic angles and collide overhead, and the raw concrete is tempered by blackened steel, white-oak flooring, and bush-hammered Carrara marble—all selected by Willis.

Halfway through a pregnancy isn’t exactly the ideal time to buy a house. So after spending months scouting San Francisco’s Victorians and turnkey cookie-cutters—and almost defecting to the East Bay—Lorena Siminovich and Esteban Kerner decided to put the hunt on hold until after their baby was born. But then one afternoon Kerner, a design director with Old Navy, logged on to Craigslist on a whim. He saw a below-market listing for a single-family home in Noe Valley, their neighborhood of choice. With crumbly brick cladding, peeling rust-brown paint, and rotting garage doors, the house lacked curb appeal. But the Argentine couple was drawn to the interior. "It was amazing and strange at the same time," says Kerner of the 1,485-square-foot, multilevel, midcentury maze. "Mind-boggling," adds Siminovich. "It was just a knot of doors and a series of insane stairs to nowhere."

The exposed steel beams delineate access areas from the rooms. The staircase system and fireplaces were fabricated by Wesley Martel.

The table is situated in front of the house’s rear wall of skyscraper glass. Laminate kitchen cabinets by Ikea are framed in wraparound bluestone; the 48-inch commercial range is by FiveStar.

A massive pine beam defines the master bathroom.

In the existing house, the wood beams were hidden under sheetrock and wallpaper. "I exposed them all, but I didn't let that dictate where the new walls would go," Givone says. "I let the beams fall where they may."

Master bedroom with high vaulted ceilings with exposed wood beams and private balcony

One of the main goals of the renovation was to refurbish and preserve the home’s original 19th century characteristics. The new addition works to add a modern element that complements the past.

Uncovering the original concrete surfacing of the columns, which are unusually thick thanks to the building’s original industrial function, was a major undertaking. Covered in successive layers of white paint, a team worked for over a week to expose the concrete, revealing the space’s gritty character.

The travertine floor for the guest bedroom came from a De La Espada showroom in Soho. When moving stores, the owners were considering throwing out their travertine floor, but Dealtry offered to install it in his home. Along with exposed ceiling beams, the tiles provide a sense of texture and warmth to the space. Photo by Tara Donne.

In lieu of a fireplace, the pair opted for an exposed ethanol burner mounted on exposed concrete (the wood is just decor).

Casteñada explains, “Everything starts with an interview that I personally conduct with the owner in order to understand his lifestyle and expectations. The final result needs to satisfy the owner’s lifestyle, dreams and expectations, as well as my firm’s vision and design concepts.”

“At first we thought we might not need that much space, but then we started thinking long term. We look at this house as the home of our lifetime.” —Guido Chiavelli

All of the home's wide-plank floors were reclaimed from the original farmhouse during the demolition process.

Angled beams are a fixture of the structure, both inside and out. The beams “are an expression of the design, so they’re reinforcing view lines,” Winkelman says, “but they’re also weaving together the different axes of the site."

Exposed beams and a cantilevered loft soar over the high-traffic eating area, giving the family a sense of spaciousness.

Tribeca Manufacturing Building New York–based architect Andrew Franz undertook the renovation of a landmark circa-1884 former soap warehouse in Tribeca, originally designed by George W. DaCunha in the Romanesque Revival style. Franz reorganized and modernized the six-story building—which retains its original 16-foot beam ceilings, brick walls, timber columns, and elevator winches from the former freight shaft—by incorporating steel, glass, handmade tile, and lacquer to complement the masonry and heavy timber. An interior courtyard and rectangular mezzanine are situated below the original 16-foot gull-wing ceiling planes.

The architecture mixes Douglas fir beams and exposed steel framing, achieving its soaring spaces without pretentiousness.

It’s important to confirm that there are no rotten columns, beams, or other damaged supporting elements before you buy a home.

Painted beams serve to separate interior spaces.

The master bedroom includes an armoire by Kastella and a chandelier by Lambert & Fils. A portion of the ceiling was pared back to expose the underside of the original roof.

A brilliant shade of white paint keeps attention on the details. The exposed beams are carried into the extended living space, which includes a dining and living area.

Though we love the custom teak-and-steel sink, shelving, shower caddy, mirror, shower, and vanity by Pat Carson Studio, the real coup of this bathroom is that the window at left goes from transparent to opaque with the touch of a button. The Duo Poliert dispensers beneath the shelf are from Blomus. A toilet opposite the sink is from Toto.

Exposed pine dominates the downstairs reception area.