10. New Operations Workshop Crafts Harmony Between Structure and Nature

Perched at 10,600 feet in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, this home is a quietly powerful study in restraint, trust, and dialogue with the landscape. Designed by Gabriel Yuri of New Operations Workshop as an addition to his parents’ retreat, the project balances a charred Shou Sugi Ban exterior with a luminous, oak-lined interior. Rooted in Japanese and Scandinavian traditions yet unmistakably American, the house preserves the original structure while reframing it around light, views, and family life. Thoughtful material continuity, passive solar strategies, and seamless indoor–outdoor connections reveal a mountain home shaped as much by respect for place as by architectural intention.

9. Casa Mila by Isla Architects Transforms Narrow Mallorcan Plot

Tucked into a narrow Mallorcan alley, Casa Mila is a quiet yet radical study in light, thresholds, and spatial invention. What began as a modest renovation evolved – thanks to the addition of a slim adjacent plot – into an architectural experiment by Isla Architects that rethinks how a home breathes, opens, and gathers. A choreography of pivot windows, skylights, and sliding panels animates interiors throughout the day, while restrained materials and crafted imperfections add depth and warmth. From a kitchen that doubles as a social hinge to a guest house that opens like a chiringuito, Casa Mila reveals how ingenuity can transform tight constraints into luminous possibility.

8. Tuscan Colors Transform Ontario Home by Studio Brocca

Before the foundation was poured, a distinct green marble set the tone for this 3,500-square-foot Ontario residence by Studio Brocca. Rooted in Italian heritage yet distinctly contemporary, the home balances crisp architectural lines with soft curves and arches, a dialogue the studio calls “warm minimalism.” Deep greens, terracotta rusts, and sculptural details evoke the Tuscan landscape while responding to the site’s lush surroundings. From marble that anchors both public and private spaces to thoughtfully framed openings that recall cypress-lined hills, the house becomes a sensory bridge between Canada and Italy – proof that material choices, made early and with intention, can shape an entire architectural narrative.

7. Westminster Residence Transforms Attic Space Into Dramatic Volumes

In Toronto’s High Park, the Westminster Residence reimagines the familiar gabled house as an exercise in weight, tension, and quiet provocation. Designed by Batay-Csorba Architects, the home celebrates the roof as architecture – its steep terracotta form appearing to hover above a dark brick base. Asymmetrical dormers ground and cantilever in equal measure, unsettling expectations while remaining rooted in context. Inside, richly weighted materials like travertine and walnut are offset by white oak and lime-washed walls, creating a careful balance of heaviness and light. Even outdoors, a seemingly floating concrete patio reinforces the house’s poised dialogue between gravity, craft, and time.

6. Sophie Goineau Transforms Malibu House With Wave Inspiration

A single pivot of teak sets the tone at the Inland Lane Residence, where designer Sophie Goineau reimagines a 1965 mid-century home as an exercise in “harmonious disruption.” Working within tight zoning constraints, Goineau treated the house like a musical score – opening walls, redistributing light, and embracing its unusual T-shaped plan to create a villa-like flow between interior and poolside living. Overhead, sculptural waves of thermally modified ash temper Malibu’s intense sun while casting ever-shifting shadows that animate the space. The result is a home that breathes with its environment, honoring its modernist bones while composing an entirely new rhythm.

Photo: Courtesy of Le Labo

5. Le Labo Transforms Traditional Hanok Architecture Into Contemporary Sensory Space

Tucked within Seoul’s historic Bukchon Hanok Village, Le Labo Bukchon Hanok reimagines perfumery as a living dialogue between past and present. Rather than imposing itself on tradition, the lab inhabits a former noble residence with quiet reverence – pairing untouched stonework with newly patterned wood floors, hanji-wrapped walls, and hand-dyed hemp surfaces that soften sound and light. Every gesture heightens the sensory journey, from a raw stone basin that opens the space to a fragrance organ room where scent-making becomes a visible ritual. Part sanctuary, part workshop, the lab invites visitors to experience fragrance through craft, stillness, and deeply rooted Korean design philosophy.

4. Case Study-Inspired Revival in the Heart of Los Angeles

In Los Angeles’ Brentwood neighborhood, the restored Park Lane home offers a thoughtful conversation between mid-century modernism and contemporary living. Originally built in 1963, the house was reimagined by designer and developer Jordan Bakva, who turned to the city’s iconic Case Study Houses for guidance. Rather than erase the past, Bakva amplified it celebrating features like the brick exterior, terrazzo entry, kidney-shaped pool, and even a sunken tub – all refreshed with modern finishes. Expansive pocketing doors reconnect every room to the landscape, creating a home that feels relaxed, light-filled, and timeless, honoring its architectural lineage while adapting gracefully to life today.

3. Restored Brownstone Hides 32-Foot Great Room Behind Historic Facade

From the street, this West 84th Street Residence reads as a classic New York brownstone – carefully preserved and historically intact. Step inside, however, and the project unfolds as a radical rethinking of townhouse living. Designed by Placeholder, the interiors introduce unexpected generosity, anchored by a 32-foot-long great room that brings light, proportion, and flow rarely found in urban homes. Across two distinct residences, refined materials, sculptural stairways, and thoughtfully framed outdoor spaces blur the line between architecture and furniture. Kitchens and baths become crafted objects, while gardens and terraces extend life beyond the walls, revealing a brownstone transformed with restraint, intelligence, and quiet ambition.

2. Michael Hsu Reimagines 1800’s Austin Home for Contemporary Living

In Austin’s Travis Heights, one of Texas’ oldest brick homes has been thoughtfully reawakened through a renovation by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture that treats history as a living material. Built in 1851, the residence now pairs its storied masonry and frontier craftsmanship with a luminous glass addition that frames city views and invites light deep inside. Fossil-filled limestone floors, repurposed fire-scarred wood, and layered landscapes weave together geology, memory, and modern life. Set on a rare 1.25-acre urban site, the project reveals how past and present can coexist – each era clearly expressed, yet deeply connected through place, craft, and time.

And the most popular Skim Milk post of 2025 is…

Photo: Courtesy of Aman

1. Yabu Pushelberg Sets New Standard for Aman Residences Tokyo

High above Tokyo’s skyline, Aman’s first branded residences redefine urban luxury as an experience of calm rather than excess. Perched atop Japan’s tallest residential tower, the project – designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners with interiors by Yabu Pushelberg – transforms monumental scale into a sequence of intimate, contemplative moments. From a meditative arrival marked by water and floating sculpture to interiors shaped by muted, earth-toned materials, the residences balance Japanese restraint with global comfort. Traditional spatial principles are reinterpreted through contemporary design, creating a new language of luxury that prioritizes serenity, sensory depth, and connection to nature within one of the world’s densest cities.

Check out the rest of Design Milk’s end of the year coverage here!

With professional degrees in architecture and journalism, New York-based writer Joseph has a desire to make living beautifully accessible. His work seeks to enrich the lives of others with visual communication and storytelling through design. When not writing, he teaches visual communication, theory, and design.