EYE ON DESIGN BY DAN GREGORY

Modern Architecture 2.0

From minimalist lofts to warmly contemporary ranch houses and timeless vacation retreats, choices in modern home design for the 21st Century just increased dramatically, thanks to our new Exclusive Studio Collection of plans by an invited panel of award-winning architects and designers from across the country. Unique to Houseplans.com, these plans express modern living elegantly and efficiently while celebrating nature. Multiple exterior and interior elevations are included in each plan set, making these designs among the most detailed in our inventory. Here’s a sampling, and it’s just the beginning!

Steel Case House by architect Gregory La Vardera, draws inspiration from the Eames Case Study House of 1949.

The loft-like steel frame allows two story spaces for living room and family room at opposite ends of the long rectangular volume — where they open to the outdoors. Greg has also designed variations using SIPs (Structurally Insulated Panels) and timber frame construction. The Palo Alto, also by La Vardera, refers to the Northern California city where mid-century modern tract houses by the developer Joseph Eichler became famous.

This outdoor-oriented courtyard plan makes the most of a suburban lot. As I’ve mentioned in earlier postings, Cliff May was the most influential popularizer of the modern ranch house during the post World War II era. His work helped inspire several of our exclusive plans. In the Suburban Ranch House, designer Rick Faust extended the eave to shelter outdoor space at the front and back of this house.

Taking a leaf (an eave?) from Cliff’s playbook, Faust exposed the roof beams outside the living room to create a vine-covered trellis for dappled shade.

And he did the same off the master suite at the rear to create an attractive outdoor sitting area. In The Proximity designer Dan Tyree adapted another favorite Cliff May motif — the big glass gable. You can see it at the front: the glass opens a view through the house to the rear.

Then the gable opens to a house-wide porch facing the backyard.

There’s an outdoor kitchen at the left, so the rear of the house becomes a private outdoor living and dining room. Architect Jerry Veverka’s Modern Living Cube creates a light-filled and open plan within a very compact footprint that’s characteristic of many city neighborhoods.

The interior view shows how the fireplace shapes a cozy convesation area off the main two-story living space. Boardwalk 1.0 is architect Ross Anderson’s house for a long narrow lot. It celebrates easy indoor-outdoor living on two floors.

Every major space opens to boardwalk, deck, or screened porch.

Its brand of classic simplicity — evoking timeless images of summer cottages and camps — suits informal living wherever the climate draws you into the fresh air. Look for more about our Exclusive Studio Collection in future postings.