aspire design and home is seeker and storyteller of the sublime in living. As a global guide to in-depth and varied views of beauty and shelter, we go out of our way each year to collaborate with emergent and eminent architects, artisans, designers, developers and tastemakers, to share design that stirs the imagination, delights and inspires.
Below, take a look back at some of our stand-out features of 2025.
TRIBECA, NEW YORK
Design: Min Design
Photography: Brooke Holm
Thanks to a limited palette (in both color and materials) and an embrace of open space, the work of San Francisco’s Min Design in this Tribeca penthouse – formerly a bookbindery dating from 1882 – is both compellingly substantive, and somehow wonderfully dematerialized. Read here
MINNESOTA
Design: Benigno Aguilar
Architecture: Pka Architecture
Photography: Canary Grey
Romanian artist Constantin Brâncuși – touted as one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century – once waxed poetic that “architecture is inhabited sculpture.” This romantic notion manifests itself on 40 acres of lakeside land in central Minnesota, in a home that invites a sense of wonder and surprise in lieu of the ordinary. Read here
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Design: Anders Höglund
Photography: Johan Sellén
Stylist: Gill Renlund
Visual serenity manifests in myriad ways. It can take shape in a sun-dappled kitchen or emerge in the cocoon of a book-lined library. It can be boldly fashioned, too, as in the black-and-white apartment of real estate consultant and bespoke tea purveyor Anders Höglund. Read here
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
Architect: Erik Peterson, Phx Architecture
Design: Stephanie Wohlner Design
Photography: Laura Moss
Nestled into the foothills of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, a couple from Chicago found the lot – and the creative team – that would bring their vision for a second home in Arizona to fruition in stunning form. Read here
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Design: Jeff Schlarb Design Studio
Photography: Matthew Millman
“My mom was in a rock band in the 1980s, and she dragged us to her gigs,” relates Allison Ballmer, the senior biotech exec who lives in this turn-of-the-century Victorian home in San Francisco’s Eureka Valley. Which is to say that when it comes to design, timid she is not. Read here
DALLAS, TEXAS
Design: Ginger Curtis, Urbanology Designs
Photography: Matti Gresham
“Everyone deserves a beautiful home – it affects how we live and function,” muses interior designer Ginger Curtis. A credo that is brought to life in the Das House, a 5,600-square-foot midcentury modern marvel in Dallas’ prestigious Preston Hollow neighborhood. Read here
BETHESDA, MARYLAND
Design: Sara Swabb, Storie Collective
Photography: Stacy Zarin Goldberg
Rich, textural, warm, welcoming. These were the terms that bonded new homeowners in the Greenwich Forest neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland to interior designer Sara Swabb of Storie Collective. Read here
BIARRITZ, FRANCE
Design: Carole Dugelay
Photography: Patrick Sordoillet
Production: Marie-Maud Levron
The linear clarity that pervades Carole Dugelay’s home is as solid as an irrefutable equation. But there’s nothing formulaic or forbiddingly mathematical about the way she has inscribed these rooms. Like a fine hand on rag paper, they read beautifully. Read here
SILICON VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
Design: Jon De La Cruz
Photography: Douglas Friedman
“When I approach a house, especially if it’s a remodel,” explains designer Jon de la Cruz, “I usually want to do exactly the opposite of what it tells me to do.” Exhibit A: This almost 6,900-square-foot, five-bedroom Colonial in Atherton, built in 1957. Read here
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Design: Leo Cesareo Design
Architecture: Kirley Architects
Photography: Christopher Stark
Stylist: Yedda Morrison
It’s a time-honored adage that every home tells a story. For a couple intent on raising their young family in a setting rich with both history and happiness, that adage came alive through a thoughtful balance of preservation, palette and personality. Read here
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
Design: Bethany Adams
Photography: J.L. Jordan Photography
Original historic details, like conservatory windows and deep wood moldings, lend extravagance to this charming room that speaks to the surrounding nature.
PALOS VERDES ESTATES, CALIFORNIA
Design: César Giraldo
Photography: David Christopher Lee
When LA-based César Giraldo created a 3,000-square-foot entertainment zone for a client’s home in Palos Verdes Estates, he didn’t hold back. Richly indulgent and almost cinematic in its larger-than-life impact, the space — which includes a theater, wine cellar and whiskey room — puts many a private club to shame. Read here
MERGOZZO, ITALY
Design: Hilary Belle Walker
Photography: Helenio Barbetta and Deborah Piana Agostinetti
On the tranquil shores of Lago di Mergozzo, a lake so discreet it feels like Italy’s best-kept secret, Hilary Belle Walker has created a retreat that reflects her singular approach to style and sustainability. Read here
TRIBECA, NEW YORK
Design: The Rath Project
Photography: Tim Lenz
Trading bright city lights for leafy suburban streets, a fashion stylist and her family left Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood behind to plant new roots in a 4,000-square-foot Center Hall Colonial in Bronxville, New York. Read here
BRUGES, BELGIUM
Design: Joël Buseyne And Gert Sturm
Photography: Claude Smekens and Magda De Smet
The canal-side home of Joël Buseyne and Gert Sturm is an eye-stunning concatenation of singular vistas and tableaux, a finely calibrated environment in which a range of art and objects make for a minimalist cabinet of curiosities. Read here
ÎLE SAINT-GERMAIN, FRANCE
Design: Marie Uzeel
Photography: Yann Deret
“If I could, I’d live facing the Atlantic Ocean all year round,” confesses Parisian designer Marie Uzeel, the dynamic interior architect who turned her home on Île Saint-Germain into an elegant fusion of Californian cool and Parisian sophistication. Read here
FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE
Design: Béatrice Laval
Photography: Yann Deret
Having a country getaway to retreat to from the city sounds like an idyllic solution to the frenetic pace of contemporary life. Nevertheless, Béatrice Laval was initially resistant to the idea when her film executive husband suggested buying a 19th-century farm in the Forest of Fontainebleau. Read here
LONDON, ENGLAND
Design: Lucille Lewin
Photography: Ingrid Rasmussen
“I let the building dictate how we live,” states sculptor Lucille Lewin, her words a quiet manifesto for the delicate interplay of space and sensibility that defines her home in the London borough of Marylebone. Read here
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Design: Dan Rak
Photography: Rikki Snyder
This Carroll Street brownstone, sensitively appointed by Chicago interior designer Dan Rak, puts one in mind of poet Marianne Moore’s Brooklyn, when “An atmosphere of privacy, with a touch of diffidence prevailed, as when a neighbor in a furred jacket, veil and gloves would emerge from a four-story house to shop at grocer’s or meat-market.” Read here
HÖGANÄS, SWEDEN
Design: Dunke Design
Photography: Ingalill Snitt
Stylist: Gill Renlund
Singular pieces – a vintage, glass-fronted display case in the entrance hall, a set of old, wooden movie house seats at the top of the stairs, a Gucci umbrella hanging from the ceiling as a light shade – add a warm, lived-in layer to the interiors of this former school. Read here
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Design: Johan Sjöström
Photography: Johan Sellén
Stylist: Gill Renlund
Mixing and matching is hardly novel – old with new, sleek with primitive, refined sophistication with pop irreverence. But Johan Sjöström demonstrates an intriguing eye for scale in his Stockholm home. Read here
SUMMERLAND, CALIFORNIA
Architecture: Salt Architecture
Design: Dylan Henderson
Photography: Matt Weir
It seems a truth universally acknowledged that a home situated on an 18-acre parcel of land in Summerland, California, must be grand. But even with that edict, a home created by Dylan Henderson of SALT Architecture is amazing… yet looks as if it’s been on-site forever. Read here
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Design: Stephanie Bradshaw
Architecture: Ziger|Snead Architects
Landscape Architect: Form Garden Design
Photography: Jennifer Hughes
The indoor-outdoor-living character of this beautiful site dictated not just the home’s structure, which was designed by Ziger|Snead Architects, but also the lifestyle for the family. Read here
NARDÓ, ITALY
Photography: Alexandra Meurant
Trust the locals. A vacation excursion and hopeful home-hunting trip to the Salento region of Italy led to a journey of discovery and design when an attentive hotel owner directed an international couple to an off-market property that would become their part-time home. Read here
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Design: Studio Solenne
Architecture: The Brooklyn Studio
Builder: Black Square Builders
Photography: Malcom Brown
There is an exceptionalism to carving out one’s own place in history. For a couple in Brooklyn, that feeling of being home was discovered in the Cobble Hill Historic District, where they envisioned the future of their nascent family in the historic presence of a landmarked Anglo-Italianate row house. Read here
UGGIANO LA CHIESA, ITALY
Design: Casa Pizzelli
Photography: Johan Sellén
Stylist: Gill Renlund
When she isn’t busy running her fine leather goods company ATP Atelier, Maj-La Pizzelli and her Milanese husband, Claudio, head south from their place in Stockholm to a getaway in the Salento region of the Italian peninsula. Read here
DALLAS, TEXAS
Design: Swoon, The Studio
Photography: Ps.Swoon
“Philosophically, our approach to design is to help our clients realize the best version of themselves,” Joslyn Taylor explains of SWOON, the Studio, which she cofounded with Samantha Sano. This, of course, means a deep dive into their clients’ passions, their personalities and how they live day to day in their homes. Read here
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Design: Harold Skulte
Architecture: Eric Rothfeder
Photography: Mike Schwartz
As simple as they are, the apartments Mies van der Rohe designed in Chicago are often badly abused when updated. One of the more successful examples is this penthouse unit in the circa 1957 Commonwealth Plaza Tower, a project of architect Eric Rothfeder. Read here
LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
Design: Charlene Miranda, Miranda & Co
Photography: Matthew Williams
Stylist: Molly Fitzgerald
When Brooklyn-based designer Charlene Miranda was hired to help put the finishing touches on a property in Litchfield, Connecticut, she put convention aside in favor of an environment that spoke to her clients’ unique perspectives. Read here
HAUTE SAINTONGE REGION, FRANCE
Design: Justine + Jean Hay De Slade
Photography: Sylvie Becquet
Whether working on a wheel, building from slabs or shaping from coils, creating forms from clay is an earthy business. And the home ceramicist Justine Hay de Slade and her husband, Jean, have fashioned from a cluster of time-worn structures in France’s Haute Saintonge region seems a perfect reflection of the labor-inflected life they lead. Read here
MILAN, ITALY
Design: Silvia Makita
Photography: Andrea Martiradonna and Jasmina Martiradonna
“Style isn’t something external,” explains Silvia Makita. “Things end up having a style if there’s a unifying spirit underlying them — a coherence, a common thread. My common thread revolves around three pillars: nature, concentration and connections.”
BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS
Design: Sashya Thind
Builder: Brite Builders
Photography: Jared Kuzia
Unapologetically mood, this space leans into the depth and drama of a dark palette. Read here
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Design: Jessica Nelson Design
Photography: Carina Skrobecki
“This house had amazing bones,” recalls interior designer Jessica Nelson, who was brought in to infuse the homeowners’ life and style into the cabin they eventually acquired. “The river rock fireplace is extremely special – all we did was update the mantel and the hearth, transforming this element into an elevated focal point for the home.” Read here
CONNEMARA, IRELAND
Design: Róisín Lafferty
Photography: Ruth Maria Murphy
There’s no trompe l’oeil trickery or subversive deployment of materials in this Irish cottage, but as reimagined by Dublin-based Róisín Lafferty, the small getaway on County Galway’s Atlantic coast vibrates between fluid and concrete, between austerity and richness. Read here
HOWQUA VALLEY, AUSTRALIA
Architecture and design: Rob Mills
Photography: Anson Smart
Quietly immersed in the wilds of its alpine setting, a model of resilient design and refined luxury sits in respectful harmony with its natural environment. Read here
RED ROCK CANYON, LAS VEGAS
Design: Jeff Anderson, Avalon Architectural Inc.
Photography: Manolo Langis
Set in an arid expanse in the shadow of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, the property, designed by California-based Avalon Architectural, Inc., is a strikingly linear affair in which the play of planes not only defines space but also embraces it. Read here
MALIBU, CALIFORNIA
Design: Vanessa Alexander
Photography: Rich Stapleton
Stylist: Lisa Rowe
Other developers might have approached this project and saved nothing but the shell or, worse, just taken a wrecking ball to the whole thing. But, states Vanessa Alexander, “We always treat the homes we renovate as if we were going to live in them ourselves. We don’t approach them from a value-engineering perspective; we sweat the details.” Read here
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