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Project Details:

Location: Mapleton, Queensland, Australia

Architect: Atelier Chen Hung / @atelierchenhung

Footprint: 2,282 square feet

Builder: AMBuild

Structural Engineer: Westera Partners

Civil Engineer: Stantec

Landscape Design: BrushBox Design + Ecology

Lighting Design: Volker Haug

Photographer: David Chatfield

From the Architect: “The design brief called for a compact home for two on a suburban-rural site in Mapleton, perched atop the ridgelines of the Blackall Range. The client sought to take advantage of elevated views toward distant Mount Ninderry and and Mount Coolum while ensuring the home remained functionally versatile and energy-efficient—all within a modest footprint.

“The main house is strategically sited below street level, allowing passersby to continue enjoying the magnificent views from both the street and the public staircase. Native landscaping around the house enriches the public interface, softening the fenceless boundaries between private and communal spaces.

“The stepping platforms of the house accentuate the experience of the sloping site, taking cues from the public staircase. Exterior walls are intentionally angled to align with sight lines towards the mountains, creating a dynamic and playful interior. Living spaces expand towards the view, enhancing a sense of openness, while sleeping and bathing areas contract to evoke intimacy. An outdoor space is embedded within the plan as the primary circulation path, encouraging occupants to engage with the ever-changing outdoor conditions. Large sliding glazed doors allow the occupants to adjust their patterns of use and respond to changing climate conditions. Service cores discreetly conceal daily domestic functions and practical amenities, creating an intricate layering of pathways and spaces.

“The exterior is entirely clad in natural zinc, achieving a monolithic and enduring form. Locally sourced materials including silver ash, hoop pine ply, and yellow sandstone work in unison to create a cohesive and cavernous interior.

“Oriented to capture natural breezes from the east, the house can open up to maximize ventilation. Perforated screens provide sun shading and privacy but can be adjusted to invite winter sunlight into the interior. The client’s electricity bills indicate a carbon-negative operational energy usage, with excess energy from the small 3.5 kW solar system exported back to the grid. A 40,000-liter double water tank supplies 100 percent of the household’s drinking and washing water, while a biological septic tank ensures safe, non-toxic sewage treatment and additional site irrigation.”

Set on the northeastern coast of Spain, Cadaqués was once an isolated fishing village before it rose to prominence in the 19th century as a summer hotspot for Barcelona bourgeois. Over the years, it’s been home to Salvador Dalí and drawn all manner of artists—from Matisse, Picasso, and Duchamp to Mick Jagger and Shakira.

In the 1950s, a group of modern architects were equally beguiled, among them, Federico Correa and Alfonso Milá of the notable Barcelona firm Correa Milá Arquitectes. Correa and Milá would later be known for projects like the rehabilitation of Plaça Reial in Barcelona in 1985 and the Montjuïc Olympic Ring in 1984, but before that, they designed houses, many of which are in Cadaqués. 

Two of these homes have important place in history: Casa Villavecchia, an adaptation of a vernacular fisherman’s house in town, and Casa Rumeu, a dwelling set farther out in the surrounding hills. 

For Casa Rumeu, completed in 1963, Correa Milá Arquitectes departed from the traditional whitewashed buildings found in town, and looked instead to the agricultural walls in the surrounding countryside. “The town is completely surrounded by these drystone walls built over decades and decades for the olive trees,” says architect Juan Gurrea Rumeu of Gr-os Architects. “This house is surrounded by these massive gardens of stones, so they used the local stone to build it.”

While the material was traditional, and easy for local builders at the time to work with, the home’s plan was more avant-garde: it consists of three conjoined hexagons, with nary a wall at a 90-degree angle. “What’s very special about this house is that there’s this tension between building very low-tech, with local and traditional materials, but then you see this more experimental intention in the plan,” says Rumeu. 

Before: Living and Dining Room 

Location: 7111 Applewood Drive, Middleton, Wisconsin

Price: $1,425,000

Year Built: 1974

Architect: John Bruni

Kitchen and Bath Renovation Date: 2023

Renovation Designer: Denise Quade Design

Footprint: 4,493 square feet (4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths)

Lot Size: 0.9 Acres

From the Agent: “This beautifully styled midcentury offers a wooded .90-acre retreat just minutes from Verona and Middleton. Thoughtfully crafted by renowned architect John Bruni, it showcases a gorgeous over-two-story living room with breathtaking floor-to-ceiling windows and a dramatic natural stone fireplace. Its open-concept, minimalist interior harmoniously blends the indoors and outdoors. The relaxing sunroom, expansive deck, and two inviting, stylish conversation pits enhance everyday living and entertaining. An intimate lower level features a cozy family room with a second fireplace, reading nook, music room, office, and additional bedrooms and baths.”