Remote living, especially on an island, requires a fair degree of self-sufficiency. Dangar Island has a limited water supply, so all the roofs on the Flood house were designed to collect rainwater and channel it into a 6,600-gallon tank.

Stilts elevate the new spaces, keeping them clear of flood waters while also making it possible to swim underneath the buildings.

A side view shows off the thermal-mass wall (to the left) and the stilt construction. "The ridge floor is so fragile; we didn't want to touch it and disturb the landscape," Foster says. As a bonus, the air circulating underneath helps naturally cool the house.

Gerard Kitchener and his partner Denise spend most weekends on top of an exposed hill in a two-level steel-and-glass tower on stilts.

At just 350 square feet, this remote cabin with a view for the Sol Duc River sits on stilts to protect it from flooding and the dampness of the northwestern rainforest. Its shutters can be operated manually by custom steel rods.

“Many of Los Angeles’s iconic modern houses float above the city like tethered spaceships on stilts,” says Clive. “I had always yearned for the opportunity to design my own floating home.” Custom black zinc panels and sandblasted concrete form the exterior.

At Vietnam’s forested resort Ta Nung Homestay, Ho Chi Minh City–based Mỹ An Architects designed geometric pine-clad cabins as a collaborative live-work space for resort employees. Two cabins, totaling 5,400 square feet, are connected by an expansive shared timber deck that is elevated on stilts, hovering above the forest floor.

The structure is raised on stilts to allow air flow beneath the home and minimize damage to the landscape.

Adjacent to the cabin is a spacious deck that is raised above the ground on wooden stilts.

Built on stilts, the dwelling appears to float gently on top of the landscape.

As its name suggests, the house rests upon wooden stilts, which passively cools the interiors.

The 3,000-square-foot house sits partially on stilts to tread as lightly as possible on its natural island site.

Perched atop stilts, the elevated Hi House gives off enchanting tree house vibes.

One of the driving principles behind the design of Saltwater Farm was to have minimal impact on the site, so the cabins sit above the uneven landscape on stilts.

The stilts, or pilotis, helped reduce the construction impact on the land. From within, the elevated house looks out to the middle of the surrounding trees.

While Herbst doesn't typically construct step-in bathtubs, this project led the team to work on as small a scale as possible as to balance the supporting stilts.

Behind the former stilt hut structure, an additional toilet sits on a section of the deck that looks out into the hillside.

Stilts elevate the home three to 10 feet above the ground. The firm suspended the building in order to preserve the root systems of the surrounding trees.

The most important aspect of designing this home was capturing the views from every angle. By placing the home on stilts, Herbst was able to make the best use of the surroundings.

The cabin hovers over the site on stilts, giving it a floating effect.

Part of what’s known colloquially as the Stilt Homes in Sherman Oaks, California, the home currently for sale at 3631 Oakfield Drive is enveloped by trees for added privacy.

A look at the charming glass-encased studio. Dubbed the Hi House, the 604-square-foot space is perched on stilts, framing some of the most unique views in all of Marin County.

Designed by Jensen & Skovdin, the Juvet's first-generation cabins are built on stilts in order to impact the environment as little as possible. Despite the modernist aesthetic, the buildings were built by local craftsmen using traditional materials and techniques.

This 1,000 square-foot weekend cabin in Mazama, Washington, is essentially a "steel box on stilts," according to the firm. The three-story structure, which includes a living room and kitchen, can be completely shuttered when the owner is away.

The structure appears to float above the ground. Wood stilts gently touch upon the earth, minimizing the building's footprint on the landscape. The brick chimney can be seen as it passes from the interior living spaces to the ground.

Stilt floor plan

The Workstation Cabin was designed using CAD, and the elements are precision cut using a CNC machine. The pod is delivered fully assembled and lifted onto the site using a crane, so installation takes only a few days. Sitting on small stilts—that are attached to ground screws—the cabin almost appears to have touched down from outer space.

Mad tech mogul Nathan Bateman’s home has gorgeous, expansive views of a lake and mountains, but an underabundance of trees, considering the film’s Alaskan setting. Tall trees were imported and placed on twenty meter-high stilts to create an Alaskan vibe. The hotel, perched on a steep levee within a nature reserve, is a minimalist marvel that blends into the wilderness—in building the hotel, no alterations to the terrain or rock blasting were permitted. The result is a series of birdhouse-shaped log houses that jut perilously over slopes and a collection of guest rooms that are stand-alone cubes supported by huge steel rods drilled into the rock, each with one or two glass walls that offer eye popping views of glacial mountains.

Rolling Huts (Winthrop, United States) A series of six modernist huts created by Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig Architects, the Rolling Huts look like rustic case study homes, a herd of designer cabins that just may exemplify the term 'glamping.' Elevated on stilts, the 200-square-foot structures offer another level of outdoor accommodation. Photos by Chad Kirkpatrick

The wings of this cruciform residence jut out over the landscape on stilts to capture panoramic views.

The stilts give the structure the appearance of floating above the site.

A worker uses stilts to reach high areas while applying joint compound, also commonly referred to as mud. The mud workers are quite adept at walking around quickly while on stilts.

Stilt Floor Plan

Villain Arjen Rudd’s modern, canyon-top lair was an integral part of the Lethal Weapon 2 screenplay from the very beginning. Its role only grew larger as the more downbeat first draft of Shane Black’s script (Gibson’s Riggs was originally fated to die at the end) was revised by Black’s successor, Jeffrey Boam. The challenge was finding an existing Los Angeles–area structure that matched the one imagined on the page. John Lautner, the American mid-century modern master who apprenticed under Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930s, designed Garcia House in 1962 for jazz arranger Russell Garcia. It still sits high atop the Hollywood Hills at 7436 Mulholland Drive. With its unique almond eye shape topped by a curved, parabolic roof and supported by steel stilts sixty feet above the canyon below, the house is also known as the Rainbow House, after the colorful stained-glass panels that dot its facade.

A gray wood exterior allows this sauna on stilts to fade into its forested backdrop.

Individual rooms perched on stilts overlooking the valley