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The Rawene House, a mindfulness compound designed for a sound healer by Stevens Lawson Architects and Katie Lockhart Studio, is located in the Auckland suburb of Westmere. The architects built the steel-free timber house with a cast concrete wall, a cedar shingle steep angled roof, and passive design techniques in order to minimize toxins and electromagnetic radiation. As the build was under way, Stevens Lawson brought on designer Katie Lockhart to develop a “soulful, monastic house with a sense of serenity,” she says. Lockhart was inspired by the “reduced elegance” of Shaker furniture and the George Nakashima House in New…
From our perch here in the US, we’ve long coveted the simple but thoughtful collections of UK-based lifestyle company Toast. First launched out of a barn in Wales, Toast began as a loungewear company before expanding into goods for the home and well-made women’s clothing—now available stateside, too. Their vision is one of simpler but richer living: Each piece in their House & Home shop is borne out of collaborations with artisans around the world; a cultivation of traditional, age-old techniques, from indigo dyeing to basket-weaving; and a belief in the beauty of the handmade. A Toast piece is made…
Price: $70,000Location: Washington, NCContact: Maggie Gregg, Preservation North Carolina, 252-689-6678The History: Just two blocks from the Pamlico River, this Tudor-style cottage was built in 1930 by Henry Clay Carter III, son of a physician, and his wife, Marjorie Hoyt Carter, daughter of the city’s leading clothier. This seaport’s bustling maritime activity may have been what attracted the Carters, who moved from New York in the early 1900s. While the river still draws residents, visitors, and business owners alike, the house, located downtown, has fallen into disrepair. Shown: A short walk to the riverbank, the three-bedroom, two-bath Tudor-style cottage has 1,852…
Practical and pretty: tawashi brushes made from the fibers of the windmill palm have been used in Japan for centuries. For 70 years, Takada’s artisans have been handcrafting tawashi brushes one at a time, using materials harvested from trees cultivated in Wakayama Prefecture, in southwestern Japan. “While scrubbing brushes are usually rough and thick and made of synthetic fibers,” the company says, “tawashi brushes don’t scratch the surface being washed. Takada brushes reflect the expertise of Japanese craftsmen, who know how to turn a natural material into a high-quality, eco-friendly tool.” Here’s a roundup of brushes available for online purchase:…
Today we’re revisiting a few of our all-time favorite baths, notable for their simple, artful order: sinkside soap dishes and efficient medicine cabinets alongside candles, pretty cloths, and small sprays of flowers. Just add a faucet, towel bar, or robe hook from Hausera alongside. Photography by Matthew Williams for Remodelista. Above: In architect Sheila Narusawa’s own Cape Cod home, a simple bathroom counter is neatly fitted with the essentials (scrub brushes, soap dishes), plus a few nice-to-haves (twin candlesticks, books, and bottles of perfume). Above: A glass-fronted medicine cabinet displays vintage-style toiletries in Dagmar Daley’s San Francisco Victorian. Above: Stylish…