Sunset

I was raised a modernist, but it was lost on me until I was an adult. In 1959, my grandparents had a house built for their growing family. It was a glass-and-steel structure designed in the International Style: open plan, low-slung roof with overhangs for shade, a glass curtain wall on the outside. On weekends as a kid I’d play with my cousins in this modernist box we jokingly referred to as the hotel. It could take a hit: built-in furniture, a brick indoor fountain we called the grotto, linoleum floors that no amount of pool water tracked in from outside could damage. In this handsome purpose-built home, we ran free. The minimalist structure framed our days there as a family, as we lived a life full of warmth, the oak…

Throughout human history, the healing benefits of hot springs, saunas, and cold plunges have been celebrated for boosting circulation, reducing inflammation, and generally making you feel like a brand-new human. And there’s no better place to put that all into practice than right here in the West, where the striking natural beauty continues to inspire innovation in wellness. Thanks to the recent popularity of teachings from modern practitioners like Wim Hof—the Dutch meditation teacher known as the IceMan who’s initiated everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Jim Carrey and Oprah Winfrey—these ancient practices are back in the zeitgeist. MAPLE GROVE HOT SPRINGS Slowing down is seamless at this Thatcher, Idaho, retreat, where guests can choose to sleep in yurts, cabins, canvas tents, or under the stars. All accommodations include access to the 45…

Stone is among the most grounding and calming elements in a home. It is also one of the most historical, with roots dating back to the earliest days of civilization. Over centuries its gravitas, texture, and earthiness have remained unparalleled, which is why stone continues to play a prominent role in interior design today. These characteristics are what inspired Camille Styles to turn to stone to elevate key areas of her new Malibu home—our next Sunset Idea House. Working with Eldorado Stone, the iconic brand revered for its wide range of stone and brick veneer and stone products, Styles will be creating statement walls on her modernized beach bungalow’s exterior. The home’s serene minimalism will be balanced by the timeless aesthetic that only stone can provide. The result will be a…

Angular and open, with soaring ceilings, cherrywood cabinetry, metal railings, and glass tile accents, North-west Contemporary houses built in the Aughts have a distinct, and polarizing, style. You love them, or you don’t love them. And if you’re in the second camp, you may not even give them a chance, no matter how appealing the total package is. Consider this Ashland, Oregon, house, and its lengthy list of pros. “The property is stunning,” says Julie Hawkins, the Napa Valley–based interior designer who was hired by the home’s new owners to create the “soft industrial” decor they craved. “They” are a couple of retired New York Times editors and long-time Brooklynites who had raised a family in a 19th-century carriage house, and were excited by the idea of more space and expansive…

Paint has an incredible ability to enliven a space, imbuing a sense of ease and character into each room. For Camille Styles, the aesthetic power of paint plays a major role in her design process, so she’s leaning on the integral quality of Benjamin Moore in the renovation of her 1950s Malibu beach house. “We spend so much time within the walls of our home, so it’s an area where quality reigns supreme,” says Styles, who loves how a simple fresh coat of paint can bring out the beauty of a room. “It’s something you can’t always put your finger on but makes a huge difference in the overall feeling.” When it comes to Benjamin Moore, the iconic paint company offers colors that are incredibly durable and stand up to years…

IT’S HARD TO FATHOM that just 36 houses established Los Angeles as a mecca for modern architecture. Beginning in 1945 and ending in 1965, L.A.-based Arts & Architecture magazine ran its Case Study house project, an experiment in affordable, innovative, easily replicated housing designed in anticipation of a postwar housing boom. The editors commissioned some of the most promising young architects to design and build houses to appeal to potential young homeowners. Before Eames, Neutra, Koenig, or Saarinen were household names for design buffs, they were visionaries who embraced the Case Study challenge and built ground-breaking homes that established the hallmarks of modernism. Nearly 80 years later, their influence still reverberates across the globe. The most notable architects of today, like New York–based Peter Gluck of GLUCK+, continue to tip…