Eight American houses that are perfect for a Fourth of July pool party

To celebrate Independence Day we've rounded up eight American houses with amazing swimming pools to dream about hosting a Fourth of July party at.

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Edwin Residence in Los Angeles, California by Heusch

Beverly Hills architecture office Heusch renovated this mid-century house above Mulholland Drive in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The architects demolished an existing living room to build a curved infinity pool that has views of Los Angeles below.

Find out more about Edwin Residence ›

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Atelier 216 in the Hamptons, New York, by Studio Zung

A stepped deck surrounds the swimming pool of this house in the Hamptons designed by New York-based architecture firm Studio Zung.

The architects designed the house, located on an exclusive part of Long Island, to look like a contemporary wood-clad barn.

Find out more about Atelier 216 ›

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Valley of the Moon house in Sonoma Valley, California, by Butler Armsden

San Francisco architecture studio Butler Armsden built a saltwater lap pool for this cedar-clad house in Sonoma Valley.

Surrounded by redwood trees, the pool sits in the centre of a courtyard, a design choice Butler Armsden used to recall the Spanish haciendas built in the area during the 18th century.

Find out more about Valley of the Moon House ›

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Slate House in Baltimore County, Maryland, by Ziger Snead Architects

Baltimore-based Ziger Snead Architects built Slate House to replace a ranch-style house lost in a fire. The house is clad in blackened wood, as a way to memorialize the lost building.

A swimming pool projects forward from the terrace over the hillside, framed by a retaining wall of weathering steel.

Find out more about Slate House ›

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Hill House Pool in Palm Springs, California, by Alex Proba

Designer Alex Proba hand-painted the pool of Hill House in Palm Springs, a residence that is available to rent on Airbnb.

Proba decorated the curving pool with her signature organic shapes in blocks of bright colours and contrasting patterns.

Find out more about Alex Proba ›

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O-asis in Phoenix, Arizona, by The Ranch Mine

Architecture studio The Ranch Mine built this house with solar panels and a vegetable garden in Arizona for a client that wanted to be more self-sufficient.

The swimming pool sits in the backyard, next to a concrete bench featuring upholstered seats and a fire pit.

Find out more about O-asis ›

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Viewfinder House in Truckee, California, by Faulkner Architects

A swimming pool with a connected jacuzzi pool abuts this house near Lake Tahoe designed by local practice Faulkner Architects.

A covered porch wrapped in a cedar rainscreen leads from the gym inside the concrete-walled house to the pool area.

Find out more about Viewfinder House ›

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Los Altos Residence in Silicon Valley, California, by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

A swimming pool sits next to a meadow-style garden in the courtyard of this house in Los Altos, lined by a board-marked concrete wall at one end.

Pennsylvania-based practice Bohlin Cywinski Jackson designed the residence as a modernist interpretation of a ranch house, with polished concrete floors and walls lined with Douglas fir and Western red cedar.

Find out more about Los Altos Residence ›

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"Carbon is the most valuable resource in our society"

As we reach the end of the third week of our carbon revolution series, here are ten standout quotes from people pioneering ways of removing the element from the sky and putting it to use on Earth.

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"Carbon is very special"

Carbon is the most important and versatile element on Earth, according to carbon nanomaterials professor Andrei Khlobystov. "Carbon is very special," Khlobystov told Dezeen. "All life on Earth is based on carbon."

Khlobystov believes that science is well on its way to developing viable ways of removing carbon from the atmosphere and turning it into useful products.

"If you take carbon dioxide, remove oxygen atoms and add some hydrogen atoms, we can make liquid fuels that we can use to drive cars," he said.

"You can also turn it into polymers," he said. "You can make chemicals. We can make ethanol out of carbon dioxide and then use it to make vodka, for example."

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"Earth has no carbon emissions"

Ancient construction techniques can offer better ways of building zero-carbon housing than high-tech solutions, according to Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari, who has used earth, bamboo and lime to construct thousands of dwellings.

"There are lots of ancient wisdoms and techniques that have been used over the years but I can't imagine most so-called starchitects would even look at them," Lari told Dezeen.

"I can't say that I've done any kind of evaluation but I do know that earth has no carbon emissions," she added. "It's locally sourced, it's biodegradable, it can be reused 100 times."

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"Carbon is not our enemy. It's a friend"

Carbon has been unfairly demonised for its role in climate change, said sustainable design guru William McDonough. "Carbon is not our enemy," he said. "It's a friend. It's an innocent element in all this."

Preventing climate change is "a design project needing lots of attention," he added. "It's very exciting to look at how many ways we can do this, but it's daunting".

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"Carbon can be an ally in a regenerative future"

Carbon is an incredible resource that can be sequestered into the buildings and objects that surround us, argued designer Sebastian Cox in an opinion column.

"Carbon can be an ally in a regenerative future," he wrote. "Carbon from photosynthesis, not from fossils, should as much as possible constitute the fabric of the things we use and buy."

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"We're helping plan the decarbonisation of whole industries"

Interest in construction materials made from captured carbon has rocketed over the past couple of years according to Sophia Hamblin Wang, chief operating officer of Mineral Carbonation International.

"Holy moly," said Hamblin Wang, whose company makes bricks and other materials from CO2 captured in factory chimneys. "It's been tumultuous in the past two years."

"We're working with some of the largest companies in the world on charting their path to zero carbon. We're helping them plan the decarbonisation of whole industries and whole facilities."

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"Carbon is the most valuable resource in our society"

Swiss company Climeworks builds direct air capture machines that suck CO2 from the atmosphere so it can be either stored underground or put to use.

"We capture CO2 from the atmosphere," said Christoph Beuttler, Climeworks' head of climate policy. "We're mining the sky because there's too much carbon in it. And it's a sustainable resource."

"Carbon is the most valuable resource in our society," Beuttler added. "We have built our society on carbon. The problem is that it's coming out of the ground and it adds additional carbon to the atmosphere."

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"One day we will eat food made from carbon dioxide"

Designer Teresa van Dongen has created a library of materials that capture carbon dioxide. These include potential foods made from CO2 including spirulina, which is a carbon-guzzling algae, and methane-consuming microbial proteins.

"I absolutely do think that one day we will eat food that is produced from carbon dioxide," said van Dongen. "It’s only a matter of time and government legislation."

"It starts with the realization that all plant-based foods that we eat have absorbed CO2 in order for the plant to grow."

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"We need a financial incentive for pulling carbon out of the air"

Nori is one of several companies that is building a marketplace for carbon capture. Farmers, foresters and others who can prove they're sequestering atmospheric carbon for at least 10 years can put it up for sale on Nori's website.

"If we want people to do something they're not currently doing, the best way to get them to do it is by paying them," said Nori CEO Paul Gambill. "So what we need is a financial incentive for pulling carbon out of the air."

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"We're practising an atmospheric circular economy"

Finnish company Solar Foods turns captured CO2 into protein that can be used for a variety of foods. This could feed humanity while using far less land and avoiding the carbon emissions produced by industrial agriculture.

"The key question Solar Foods is dealing with is, how do you enable a carbon-dependent society to shift to a circular carbon system?" asked Solar Foods' CEO Pasi Vainikka.

"That's our perspective," he said. "It's about enabling the end of the concept of mining [fossil fuels]. It is practising an atmospheric circular economy."

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"How come we can't turn carbon into our biggest resource?"

Dutch company Made of Air makes bioplastic out of biochar made from farm and forest waste. The material offers long-term carbon sequestration, according to the company's chief commercial officer Neema Shams.

"What if everything we're surrounded with was removing emissions instead of releasing them?" said Shams. "Climate change is really a materials problem in that there's too much carbon in the atmosphere. So how come we can't turn that into our biggest resource?"

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Carbon revolution

This article is part of Dezeen's carbon revolution series, which explores how this miracle material could be removed from the atmosphere and put to use on earth. Read all the content at: www.dezeen.com/carbon.

The sky photograph used in the carbon revolution graphic is by Taylor van Riper via Unsplash.

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Piet Oudolf creates "ever-changing" garden for Vitra's architecture park

Winding paths lead visitors through this landscaped garden at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, which Piet Oudolf designed to complement the site's iconic architecture.

The Oudolf Garten covers an area of approximately 4,000 square metres at the furniture company's production site, which features buildings designed by some of the world's leading architects.

Top: the garden has a series of winding paths. Above: it surrounds the architecture park

With production buildings, museums and a showroom created by architects including Nicholas Grimshaw, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano and Zaha Hadid, Vitra describes the campus as an "architecture park".

According to Vitra chairman emeritus, Rolf Fehlbaum, who began commissioning architects to create buildings for the campus in the 1980s, landscape design was not a consideration in the first decades of its development.

The garden has a naturalistic approach

"It was only in the course of connecting the northern and southern parts of the Campus, when the projects by Álvaro Siza and Günther Vogt were commissioned, that landscape interventions were first implemented," said Fehlbaum.

"Piet Oudolf's garden has added a fresh dimension to the campus and opens up a new, ever-changing experience for visitors."

The garden has around 30,000 plants

Oudolf is known for his naturalistic approach to gardening, which involves working primarily with perennial plant varieties that are chosen as much for their structure as their flower colour.

The Dutch designer began working with perennials in the 1980s to create gardens that look good throughout the year. His early gardens grouped plants into blocks, whereas more recently he has focused on blending species to create a more natural aesthetic.

Oudolf's best-known projects include the High Line park in New York City, created in collaboration with landscape architects James Corner Field Operations and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

He has also created gardens for the Serpentine Pavilion designed by Peter Zumthor in 2011, as well as for a Maggie's Centre at a hospital in Sutton, England.

It was designed to distract visitors from the buildings

The garden at the Vitra Campus features around 30,000 plants and is designed to distract visitors from the buildings and instead focus their attention on the plants.

"I want people to lose themselves in the garden instead of just passing through it," said Oudolf, who created a series of meandering paths that intentionally eschews straight lines or clear focal points.

Shrubs, ferns and grasses were placed throughout the garden

The gravel paths weave between areas planted with shrubs, grasses, ferns and other herbaceous perennials that are intended to provide different sensory experiences.

The garden was planted in the spring of 2020 and the use of perennial plants that mature quickly means it is already established enough to welcome visitors.

A marble sculpture has a channel filled with running water

The site chosen for the garden incorporates two sculptural interventions called Ring and Ruisseau, which were designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec in 2018.

Ring is a circular steel bench positioned under a cherry tree, while Ruisseau is a line of marble featuring a narrow channel filled with running water.

Visitors to the garden are confronted at various points with views of the park's buildings, including a geodesic dome used for hosting events and the VitraHaus showroom completed by Herzog & de Meuron in 2010.

A circular steel bench was placed beneath a cherry tree

Also at the Vitra Campus, German artist Thomas Schütte placed a log cabin, that was topped with a shingled roof, on the campus.

Photography is courtesy of Vitra.

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Ten loft conversions by architects that add extra space to homes

Our latest lookbook shines a light on residential loft conversions from Dezeen's archive, including rooftop extensions on existing dwellings and apartments built in underused attics.

Opening up the volume beneath the roof is a popular way of squeezing more space out of a dwelling or building. The new spaces often feature unusual geometries, which a skilled architect can exploit to create dramatic and characterful new rooms.

This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbooks series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous articles in the series feature plant-filled interiors, colourful kitchens and stylish home-working spaces.

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West Heath Drive, UK, Alexander Martin

London architect Alexander Martin converted the disused loft of an Arts and Crafts-style house in Hampstead to create this pared-back and light-filled guest room and study.

It has a T-shaped plan and was therefore divided into three rooms – one of which is hidden behind a moving wall that is disguised as an integrated bookcase. The guest room is finished with white walls, a dark wooden floor and a vintage Greaves and Thomas teak sofabed.

Find out more about West Heath Drive ›

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House for a Sea Dog, Italy, by Dodi Moss

While renovating the loft of a 17th-century apartment block in Genoa, architecture and engineering studio Dodi Moss inserted a mezzanine floor that serves as a bed deck to maximise usable floor space under the eaves.

It has a rustic finish, characterised by an exposed wooden roof structure, unvarnished wooden floors and a rough plaster wall, and is furnished with a simple IKEA stool for use as a bedside table.

Find out more about House for a Sea Dog ›

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Dormore, UK, by Con Form Architects

Dormore is a bright home office nestled within the small attic of a house in London, which was converted for a client who needed a space to work from home. A large slice was cut out of the original roof and filled with glazing and a large dormer window to bring light inside.

It is accessed by a compact folded steel staircase and finished with oak joinery and a whitewashed floor, alongside exposed brick walls and a Hans Wegner Wishbone Chair.

Find out more about Dormore ›

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Rounded Loft, Czech Republic, by A1 Architects

Czech studio A1 Architects built a two-storey apartment within the attic of an apartment block in Prague. Its living room, which occupies the lower level, is lit by windows slotted within the attic's sloping roof and finished with tactile wooden furnishings and grey plaster walls.

The lower level also contains bedrooms and is linked to a guest suite on the small upper floor by a staircase lined with wooden bookshelves and a steel net that takes the place of a bannister.

Find out more about Rounded Loft ›

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Maynard Road, UK, by Widger Architecture

A pair of minimalist bedrooms lined with plywood occupy the old attic of this first-floor flat in Hackney, which was converted by London studio Widger Architecture.

As the attic had a sloped roof with limited head height, the architect introduced a flat roof dormer that spans the entire width of the property. While maximising headroom, it also allowed the studio to introduce more windows to invite more light inside.

Find out more about Maynard Road ›

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Alpine Apartment, Slovenia, by Architektura d.o.o.

This loft space was converted into a two-bedroom apartment by Slovenian studio Architektura d.o.o. for the client to use as a family holiday home in the lakeside town of Bled.

At the centre is a kitchen, flanked by two bedrooms, a living room and an entrance hall. As the kitchen has no exposure to natural light the living room entrance has no door, in order to help illuminate the space.

The home is complete with white custom-built furniture that aligns with the irregularly shaped attic ceiling, while pale wooden floorboards nod to the home's Alpine setting. These finishes are complemented by wooden Wishbone Chairs by Hans Wegner and white folding chairs from IKEA.

Find out more about Alpine Apartment ›

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Gallery House, UK, by Studio Octopi

London architect Studio Octopi renovated and extended the dead space below the pitched roof of this terraced Victorian house in Battersea to create a separate reading room and study.

The two rooms are unified by a perforated black steel staircase and their matching spruce plywood walls and floors. Pared-back furnishings are dotted throughout, including a pair of About A Lounge Chairs by Hay in the reading room.

Find out more about Gallery House ›

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Attic conversion in Antwerp, Belgium, by Van Staeyen Interieur Architecten

A dark attic that was used for storage was converted into this bright multi-functional room at a house in Antwerp. It contains a bed, seating area and bathroom defined by spruce-clad partitions with arched portals, curved seating and yellow detailing.

It was designed by Van Staeyen Interieur Architecten for the clients to use as a guest room and a social space for their daughters to spend time with their friends as they get older.

Find out more about Attic conversion in Antwerp ›

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Project Escape (to the Roof), UK, by A Small Studio

Architecture practice A Small Studio created a reading room, bedroom, dressing room and bathroom for a family within the loft of their Victorian home in south-east London.

Between the bathroom and reading room, there is also a new free-standing solid oak stair that helps bring light into the lower levels of the home. Three large dormer windows on one side of the loft frame views of the back garden.

The conversion's focal point is its reading room, which is complete with a Plastic Armchair RAR by Charles and Ray Eames and a black DLM side table by Hay.

Find out more about Project Escape (to the Roof) ›

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Attic conversion, France, by F+F Architects

This spacious light-filled apartment was built by Parisian studio f+f architects by converting the attic of an art nouveau building in Strasbourg. Over two levels, it comprises bedrooms, bathrooms and an office, alongside an open-plan living space with a kitchen, dining area and terrace.

The attic's original pine flooring was preserved and treated with lye, an alkali used to lighten wood, while existing trusses have been painted white and left exposed throughout.

Find out more about this attic conversion ›

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This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing colourful interiors, calm living rooms and colourful kitchens.

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River Architects builds barn-style Seminary Hill Cidery in the Catskills

Local office River Architects has completed a barn-style cidery and tasting room in New York's Catskill mountains with interiors clad in wood reclaimed from an old bridge.

Completed this year, the new facility for Seminary Hill Orchard and Cidery is set on 62 acres of organic apple orchards overlooking the Delaware river near Callicoon, New York.

The gabled building hosts cider production facilities, a cellar for ageing the orchard's cider and a bar and tasting room.

Seminary Hill Cidery's pitched roofs evoke the area's traditional barns

It was designed by River Architects to reference the area's traditional "bank barns", a type of agricultural building that is set into a slope so that the upper and lower levels are both accessible from the ground.

"My childhood was spent exploring Hudson Valley's barns, many that don't exist today," said River Architects' principal James Hartford.

Reclaimed wooden slats cover the walls and roof of the welcome area

Visitors enter into the upper level on the north side, through a slatted canopy that echoes the barn's pitched roof profile.

This floor contains the cidery's public areas including a 3000 square foot (278 square metres) tasting room and event space overlooking the orchard.

The interior wood finishes in this area were reclaimed from underwater pilings of the Tappan Zee Bridge, a bridge in upstate New York that was rebuilt to replace an older structure and opened in 2017.

The tasting room and event space overlooks the orchards

The southern entrance to the building leads to the lower level and is used for the cider production facilities. These are housed in a slightly larger volume clad in local bluestone.

"The cidery production space and ageing cave are built into the hillside and use the natural cooling of the earth to maintain colder temperatures needed for fruit storage and natural yeast fermentation," said River Architects.

The bottom portion of Seminary Hill Cidery is sunk into the earth to reduce cooling needs

The complex has been given a Passivhaus sustainability certification, the first cidery to achieve this according to the architects.

To earn Passivhaus status, the architects designed the building's exterior walls to have much better insulation than what building codes typically require.

This includes triple-pane windows that trap heat inside during the winter and are protected from overheating in the summer with retractable awnings.

"The Seminary Hill Cidery is a low energy-use structure," said Hartford.

Building systems such as greywater recycling, energy production from solar panels, and solar water heaters all help to reduce the facility's carbon footprint.

Light from Seminary Hill Cidery glows through the slats at dusk

River Architects is based in Cold Spring, roughly 100 km outside of New York City. The firm was established in 2002, and focuses on sustainable projects, many of which have received Passivhaus certification.

The Catskills are a popular destination for vacationing New Yorkers. Other projects in the area include a renovated motor lodge and a tiny cabin

The photography is by Brad Dickinson courtesy of River Architects.

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