25 Most Bookmarked Tours of 2012

What exactly do a Northwest garage, a Pennsylvania “hobbit house” along with a rustic French cabin have in common? Not much, at first glance. However, these amazing homes compose a few of the best Tours that readers considered worthy of bookmarking last year. While each one of these homes are beautiful in their own right, each presents one-of-a-kind answers to design problems that ers desired to refer to again and again.

Have a look at the top 25 bookmarked Tours of 2012 — maybe you’ll get the answer to your most recent design dilemma.

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

1. A Family of 4 Unwinds in 540 Square Feet

It’s simple to see why readers loved this gorgeous house in Oregon. The small-space options, eco-friendly undertones and hot cabin design could translate to some new house or remodel.

Shannon Malone

2. A Hilltop Family Home in Santa Cruz

The cozy and comfortable livability of this beach-town house in California had lots of ers desiring to move straight in. Lots of natural light, international influences, a family-oriented layout and classic structure made it particularly memorable for readers.

Architecture Workshop PC

3. A Manhattan Studio Opens to Flexibility

It has small-space options galore, along with the innovative layout of this miniature nyc apartment uses every inch of distance — a foldout bed and modern built-in storage supported ers to deliver the same smart ideas to their homes.

Archer & Buchanan Architecture, Ltd..

4. ‘Hobbit House’ from the Pennsylvania Countryside

Inspired by the quirky hobbit dwellings in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, this incredible house in Pennsylvania embraces the fantasy of these stories but brings it into a sensible realm for the family who owns it.

FINNE Architects

5. Transparency Guides a Woodland Home

Set in the middle of a deeply wooded 4-acre plot of land, this remodeled Washington house was opened up to take complete benefit of limited all-natural light and its stunning forested surroundings. Maintaining sustainability in mind, the designers admired its setting while remaining true to the original structure.

Rikki Snyder

6. An Antique Cape Cod House Explodes With Color

This crazy colorful Cape Cod, Massachusetts, home was so chock-full of DIY ideas, ers could not help but bookmark it. One of the favorites? The wonderful wall covering in this picture that homeowner Kristin Nicholas produced by hand cutting, painting and layering shapes made of FedEx boxes.

Vinci | Hamp Architects

7. A Three-Story Barn Becomes a Modern-Home Beauty

one time a dairy barn, later a dairy distribution centre and even a host into art studios and galleries, this Chicago construction has had its own fair share of residents. However, its varied history just served as inspiration for this eclectic remodel. Now a stunning house, the modern architecture still pays tribute to its roots.

Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture

8. Elegant, Efficient Manhattan Studio

whilst distance in this apartment was restricted, its main problem was that the complete absence of spatial organization. ers bookmarked this house because of its smart built-in options, combined living and office space, and clean layout. The recently efficient house manages to feel sensible but luxurious — something many homes strive for.

Murphy & Co.. Design

9. Fairy Tale Gatehouse in Minnesota

At first glance this house looks more like a set from Hansel and Gretel than a guesthouse in Minnesota. ers loved the inspiration that the designer chose from cottages in France and England, integrating old-world materials and fashions into a classic and fresh-feeling house.

Adrienne DeRosa

10. A Frank Lloyd Wright Home, Lovingly Restored

More than 15 Decades of careful recovery have become this Wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright house in Ohio. With each one of the major Usonian influences maintained, this house echoes lots of the principles that Wright introduced into his homes. Warm woods, nature’s consistent presence along with a triangle-based floor program made this narrative worth bookmarking.

jamesthomas Interiors

11. A Chicago Loft Rises into the Rafters

This project combined two huge Chicago attic apartments into a stunning space. Although the new layout has a modern sense, the first exposed rafters and ductwork keep its old-school attic style. ers could not get enough of the gorgeous wood finishes or the wonderful view.

Tara Bussema – Neat Organization and Design

12. An Orange County Ranch Gets Into the Swing of Things

Even with no new footprint, this Southern California home managed to get an entirely new appearance. The owners gave this formerly bland ranch house a midcentury modern facelift, producing fresh, open spaces and a new low-maintenance courtyard and terrace.

Wright-Built

13. Beneath a metallic Canopy in Texas

A 60- by 80-foot metal canopy over doubles this Texas house’s outdoor living space. ers loved the easy transition from the indoors to the outdoors this duplex offers, in addition to the genius evaporating garage door, quirky shower tile along with other colorful recovered features.

Lori Smyth Design

14. A Luxurious Home Embraces the Landscape

A setting as stunning as the beautiful Santa Barbara hills almost forces its presence into a home. The owners of this hillside home desired to provide the outdoors simple entry, which meant with floor-to-ceiling windows and removing all obstacles to their panoramic view.

Actual Size Projects

15. A Barn House Welcomes Weekenders

ers loved the entertainment-friendly design of this upstate New York duplex house. A covered screened porch, a pool and plenty of backyard area beg to be employed by family members and friends. Smart spatial choices — such as allotting square footage to group gathering spaces — created this gorgeous space much more notable.

Heydt Designs

16. A Family Home Grows and receives a Brand New Face

The soft palette and refined interior of this Northern California homemade it seem livable but elegant to readers. The clients, a growing family, bought this house with the intention of upgrading its design and adding to its square footage. The architectural upgrades and light-filled spaces created every one of the rooms a deal to see.

Alexandre Parent

17. Outstanding Ecofriendliness With a Contemporary Bent

Formerly an abandoned construction, this ecofriendly house became the initial single-family house planning for platinum LEED certification in Montreal. From top to bottom, the heat and energy-efficient home makes use of every form of green technology imaginable — including geothermal heating, local materials, VOC-free finishes and recycled timber.

Stephmodo

18. Bright, Rustic Cottage in France

Like something out of a fairy tale, this French cabin — called La Maisonnette — talked to the romantic side of readers. They could not get enough of this dream house’s stone walls, castle views and cozy interiors.

Michelle Fries, BeDe Design, LLC

19. Charming, Rustic Lakefront Cabin in Minnesota

though it’s essentially a brand new construct, this house has bones that give it a classic sense. A special mix of stained timber, natural pine and other rustic materials give the interior thickness, while the log-sided exterior contrasts conventional cabins in the area.

Ira Lippke

20. Industrial Minihouse in Seattle

Once a very small garage with nothing more than the basics, this very small structure was built to be a comfy full-time residence. The footprint of the first 250-square-foot structure remains the same — with the exclusion of a bathroom — but the appearance could not be more different. Clean finishes, industrial undertones plus a modern palette gave this small area new life.

Highline Partners, Ltd

21. Rustic Cabin With Dive-In Pond

Made to look like an old, rustic cabin, this new build in Montana is really a platinum LEED-certified house. Set on the shores of a pristine lake, the gorgeous area has a man-made 20-foot diving pond directly out front — carefully designed to stay independent from the natural landmark.

Mary Prince Photography

22. A Basic Builder Home Gets the Glam Treatment

The blank picture of a builder house felt inspiring — not daunting — for this house’s owner, a designer. The resulting colorful mix of textures and materials motivated users, who spared this stylish house for its affordable suggestions and unique room flow.

Tate Studio Architects

23. A Desert Stunner Highlights Nature

This dream retirement house for a few with a major family makes good use of its desert environment. Does the layout mimic the surroundings’s color palette, the website slope and the surrounding materials, but solar panels generate electricity to warm the pool.

Cynthia Lynn Photography

24. English Cottage Style Graces a House Bathed in Light

Although it’s set in a Chicago suburb, this brand new home captures the historical and quaint sense of an English cottage. Wrought iron, draping ivy and wicker furniture provide the indoor and outdoor spaces a lived-in feel. The architect chose stuff with patina to your kitchen, adding to the home’s timeless appearance.

The Anderson Studio of Architecture & Design

25. Tree House Living Inspires Southern Home

A surrounding live oak grove motivated this house’s tree house feel. With clear views from the marsh below, this house’s open windows and layout connect to the outdoors on multiple levels. Among other attributes, the wonderful hot tub shown here — that extends out across the edge of this house — actually got ers talking.

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