Perhaps you’ve seen an abandoned lot in your neighborhood or wondered who owns it or what your city or town is doing with the unused land it controls. Well, others who have felt the same way are doing something about it. Over the last decade, interes

Beads of sweat and warm night winds. Smoke from the grill, the rip-roar of ice in a blender, and the sweet, sweet taste of turning on your out-of-office for a week or two. Summer’s (almost) here, and we’re getting ready by watching some of our favori

To reach the entry of Minh Le Tien and Emylia Safian’s Singapore home, you must wend your way through their front garden. A narrow path almost concealed by shrubs and small trees, with butterflies flitting into view and small, white flowers dotting c

Writer “Rural Reset,” p. 88 Several years ago, Vanessa Bell moved from England to Argentina, where she now writes for a variety of international publications and curates custom tours of her adopted city. “I show the B-side of Buenos Aires,” says Bell

One of the earliest surviving accounts of tree houses comes from, of all people, first-century philosopher Pliny the Elder. In his Natural History, published around 77 to 79, Pliny recounts a story about the Roman emperor Caligula, who appreciated th

What began with a broken oven needing replacement evolved into something much more exciting: a kitchen transformation centered on a botanical breakfast nook. Homeowners Heather Thompson, a literary specialist in the Lake Oswego School District, and S

Bored? Stressed out? Overworked? If you don’t know what you want, we know what you need: a steamy resort romance that’ll put a spring in your step and some sun on your skin. Grab your pool towel and pack a straw hat. The resort-ready look is all abou

In 2023, Central Texas endured its second driest summer on record, for the second year in a row. Rivers and lakes dried up, once-green lawns turned crunchy and brown, and even native plants withered, unaccustomed to the new reality of record-breaking

Picture this: Foamy waves tumble across white-sand beaches as you catch your crush’s gaze for just a little too long. No Doubt is blaring out of your radio, and Britney is hand-in-hand with Justin on the covers of all your favorite magazines. It’s 20

Enamel plates, mosquito nets, and a dinner bell ringing off in the distance. Where are we going? We’re off to summer camp. School’s out, and we’re ready to kick it full-time with a healthy dose of absurdist 1970s and ’80s nostalgia. I’m talking s’mor

40 On the Dock of the Bay 42 Brass fixtures from Waterworks waterworks.com 44 Kitchen countertop from Corian corian.com 48 Cool Ranch Jared Frank Studio jaredfrank.studio Blue Pacific Contractors bluepacificcontractorsinc.com Mural by Jessalyn Brooks

A six-month project, designer Naeem Biviji thought when he first saw the pair of 1950s cottages in a roughly one-acre compound in Nairobi that he and his wife, Bethan Rayner, hoped to refurbish rapidly. Instead, it took them 15 years. In 2004, Naeem

Jessica and Art Martinez knew when they moved to Van Nuys that one day they would have a pool. Architect Kenneth Lind had designed their 1953 ranch home to embrace the backyard of the nearly quarter-acre lot, but unlike many of the neighbors, previou

I guess I accidentally stole this chrome ball. I’ve had it for about thirteen years and got it at my first job after architecture school, working with a design group called Ball-Nogues Studio. They were doing an installation near Joshua Tree with art

Smart Shopping For the Design Obsessed. Find what you love in our expertly curated selection of finely crafted home, office, travel, and lifestyle products. More at Dwell.com/Shop We build the structure; you create the home. Timberlyne designs and ma

The ground is parched and dusty in the old quarter of San Antonio de Areco as we pull into Julián Benedit Prebisch and Micaela Suide’s home for an asado, or Argentine barbecue. All is quiet except for buzzing bees and chirping cicadas. The couple’s l

Patrick Thomas O’Neill has always been a fan of Richard Neutra. In the early 2000s, the creative director commissioned a home in Woodstock, New York, based on the architect’s Kaufmann House in Palm Springs. The 1946 complex with flat roofs and floor-

It’s a silvery winter morning in Sausalito, California, and the docks of Waldo Point Harbor are still slick from last evening’s showers and the cool coastal mist. Lights flicker on as I walk past rows of handcrafted houseboats and spot Stewart Brand

It seemed obvious. We had to put a pool on the cover. Working on our annual outdoor design issue always gets me excited for summer, particularly because we send it to press when, where I live in New York, it’s still that chilly, rainy, no-longer-wint

What if you could build a big house and fill it with your friends, children, grandparents, babysitters, and anyone else who makes your life rich and full and you all owned it together? For many people, it sounds like a dream; for a developer or a ban

At first glance, Emilie Taylor and Seth Welty’s New Orleans residence appears to clash with the city’s storied aesthetic. After outgrowing their Seventh Ward home, the Weltys found an overlooked property near the Mississippi River levee in the city’s

From where I sit when I write, I can see the hamlet of Andes, New York, a small town (population 1,301) nestled between steep hills. This house I share with my husband, Ed Kratt, sits near the top of one of those hills, on roughly 50 acres that were

Photographer “Invitation to Enter,” p. 54 After college, Mason Trinca worked as a photo-journalist for various newspapers around the country. In the decade since, he’s added many commercial and editorial clients to his portfolio, yet has maintained a

After sharing 10 apartments in 10 years, Los Angeles couple RJ Guillermo and Francis Aquino were ready to settle into a home and start a family. They adopted their son, Jordan, in July 2021, and as they made plans to adopt Jordan’s infant sister, all

In 2016, Ninze Chen, a former art director, packed her bags and relocated from New York City to Livingston Manor, a small town in the Catskills, in search of a quieter, different life. This big change led to a new hobby: sourcing and reselling vintag

When you’re dreaming of ways to really level up your space, you often ask questions with an obvious answer: Do I need a wine fridge? Shouldn’t my shower have half a dozen sprayers? That answer of course is usually, for logistical reasons, no. But it’