Kumi Inoue Architects

Single-Story Houses｜Custom Home Examples by Architectural Offices18Picks｜A Grounded, Enriched Lifestyle

Author: Qurasuki Editorial Department

Single-story houses that consolidate all living spaces on a single level offer a mode of living distinct from two-storey homes: stair-free, easy circulation; expansive interiors that take advantage of ceiling heights and roof forms; and a strong sense of integration with the garden. They attract attention as a comfortable housing type across a range of life stages—from families with young children to seniors planning for future barrier-free living. At the same time, such houses can require larger site areas and demand careful design strategies to ensure privacy and adequate daylighting. Architectural practices, by carefully reading site geometry and the surrounding context, propose homes that maximize the unique richness of single-story living.

Single-Story Houses

nestle: single-storey house in Ishioka

e do design architects

This single‑storey dwelling was built on a lot adjacent to the wife’s family home, designed for the family and their dog. The couple, who relocated from Shonan, chose to live near the sea when remote work became an opportunity. Seeking an environment for the husband who enjoys surfing and for their dog to run freely in the garden, they created a new place to live. Centered on an LDK (living–dining–kitchen) that opens onto a south‑facing wood deck, the layout is organized like an open‑plan, one‑room arrangement in which the various spaces are gently connected. It is a "nestle" home where the family naturally comes together and cultivates tranquil time.

Tea House

Yoshihiro Ito Architect & Associates

This residence is located in a residential neighborhood near a major road. A courtyard brings light and air deep into the house while incorporating the greenery of the park extending along the street frontage. The spaces are gently divided with the eye level of floor seating in mind, while carefully designing the sense of distance between people, the wind, and furniture and other objects. Rather than clearly separating the spaces with walls, the house gives architectural form to invisible “intervals”—light, air, and subtle presence—creating a quiet sense of connection.

A Home in San’in

Tetsuya Kimura Architects

This dignified single-story home stands on a site bordered by roads on two sides. Gardens are placed throughout the plan to provide ventilation and natural light, while arranging the rooms in a staggered configuration along the main garden creates expansive views and a rich, looping circulation route. The broad roof with its deep eaves generously envelops the interior, and light from the skylights is softly diffused through the shoji screens and walls. The careful layering of material textures and shadows creates a home whose character deepens with time.

Matsuyama–Edamatsu House

Masahiko Sawamura Architect and Associates

A generous resort house that takes advantage of the site's changes in elevation.

House of the Elephant

Mitsuhiro Kojima Architects

A residence punctuated with a variety of interior and exterior nooks and gardens of different scales. While occupants can choose comfortable spots according to season or mood, the spatial arrangement is designed to allow a gentle awareness of family presence. Connection to nature through sightlines, sound, and scent, together with a calibrated sense of proximity that permits drawing near or stepping back, creates the richness of this house. Precisely because contemporary mobility has made the locations of daily life more flexible, the project pursues an environment in which one can live authentically while remaining aware of family and the surrounding landscape. The generous spaces make the home fitting of the affectionate nickname “Zou no Ie” ("Elephant House") given by the daughter.

Forest Living

KICHI ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

“Forest Living” is a single-story residence situated within a dense forest. The exterior is clad in traditional Japanese yakisugi (charred cedar), whose subdued black finish naturally melds with the surrounding woodland landscape. The building is organized on a single level, with a plan that provides forest views from every room. By experiencing the expanse of greenery through the windows, occupants are afforded a quiet, tranquil mode of living.

House in Katsuragi — Linked Square Roofs and Mount Nijō

Tokuhiro Norimatsu Architect

This residence is sited on a generous lot with views of the beautiful ridgeline of Mt. Nijō. It was planned for occupants who, after living in high‑rise housing, sought a life closer to nature, and was carefully designed to establish a comfortable relationship with the landscape. Three square‑plan roofs that traverse the site diagonally generate expansive interior spaces and a variety of exterior spaces, fostering a rich engagement with nature. While protecting the dwelling from strong mountain winds, a glance upward reveals Mt. Nijō. It is a home where a sense of security and openness coexist serenely.

ELL — A Single-Storey House Adorned by White Spaces, Like a Museum

YIA Ishiue Yoshihiro Architectural Design Office

Located in the rich natural environment of Saijō City, Ehime Prefecture, this single‑story residence has a ceiling height of 3,950 mm. Although the client originally requested a two‑storey house, we proposed a single‑storey dwelling that achieves the sense of openness of a double‑height atrium. High ceilings, southern daylighting, and a ventilation strategy using clerestory windows produce a spacious, comfortable living environment. Beyond an approach enveloped by the large roof are an entrance facing the courtyard and a space for displaying bicycles. A nure‑en (shallow covered veranda) gently links interior and exterior, bringing a generous spatial continuity to daily life. The home carefully shapes the sense of ease and expansiveness that its height provides.

Louver

Hirotaka Sato Architects

Located in the hilly terrain of Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, this weekend house overlooks both the sea and the mountains. The building is set perpendicular to the axis extending from the sea toward the mountains, capturing views in both directions while gently connecting the interior and exterior through a semi-outdoor buffer zone. Operable louvers function as devices that adjust sunlight and views while freely modulating the sense of distance from nature. The changing interplay of light and shadow within the house creates the leisurely atmosphere of a weekend retreat.

House with a Light Well

Yu Architectural Design Studio

This is a small single‑story house with a total floor area of 17 tsubo, located in a residential neighborhood of Ichikawa City. Facing challenging daylighting conditions caused by surrounding taller houses, the design places a double‑height “light well” at the center of the home to deliver natural light to every corner of the interior. Light entering through clerestory windows brings brightness and a sense of spaciousness, creating a compact yet expansive living environment. The exterior employs yakisugi charred‑cedar cladding and a gabled roof, producing an impressive presence that calmly harmonizes with the streetscape. The residence carefully draws out the richness unique to a small single‑story house.

House in Tajimi

Tada Architectural Design Office

This is a final residence for a married couple located in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture. The approximately 60-year-old family home was renovated, preserving the dignified presence of the beautiful tiled roof while achieving a comfortable living environment adapted to the local climate. The south-facing hiroen (wide veranda) was reconfigured into a doma (earthen-floored) space, creating an expansive dwelling that admits seasonal breezes and natural light. With an eye to the future possibility of opening a small restaurant, a lane-like approach and a guest room were planned. The plan is arranged as a one-room-like composition that allows continuous circulation from the LDK (living/dining/kitchen) to the bedroom and wet areas, delivering a comfortable, tranquil living environment with minimal temperature differentials.

House in Komoro

KASA ARCHITECTS

This single-story residence in Komoro City, Nagano Prefecture, is occupied by a couple and their two children. Taking advantage of site conditions with views of Mount Asama to the north and the Yatsugatake range to the south, the design is a simple dwelling with a mono-pitched roof that opens broadly to the south. To mitigate strong northerly winds in winter, north-facing openings are minimized, while the layout facilitates comfortable cross-ventilation from seasonal breezes. Deep eaves temper the summer sun, and the low, elongated horizontal lines impart a calm, composed presence.

House in Higashiura

Kumi Inoue Architects

This residence is situated on a hill in Higashiura on Awaji Island. Positioned on a site overlooking Osaka Bay, it was conceived with a priority on health and comfort. Making the most of the easterly views, the rooms are arranged in a gentle staggered (stepped) configuration along the site’s elongated north–south axis, and a series of high‑ceiling volumes is linked beneath an expansive roof. Fresh air is drawn in from under the floor and circulated throughout the interior, creating a healthy living environment that is also attentive to the family’s physiological needs.

House in Ōhora

Kota Goto Architectural Studio

A residence situated on a high point within a newly developed housing area. The project was prompted by the client’s desire to brew coffee and entertain guests in a museum-like environment. To capture panoramic mountain views to the north and south, the design organizes a tall, tubular primary volume and introduces changes in floor level to expand sightlines and generate spatial variation. The entry is enlivened by a top light whose illumination alters the space’s expression, and the wet areas are finished in white to evoke a sense of the extraordinary. The house offers a place to welcome guests while savoring quiet moments and abundant nature.

House in Rikuzentakata

ARCHIXXX Satoru Shinno Architectural Design

This project involves rebuilding a home with an attached stationery store in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, which suffered extensive damage in the Great East Japan Earthquake. By carefully interpreting the local climate, natural environment, and regional customs, we sought to create a home where the family could live with peace of mind while restoring even a small part of the former landscape. Looking ahead to the possibility of operating a general-goods shop based on their hobbies after retirement, the design incorporates a large earthen-floored space and a distinctive curved roof. It is a home that carries on memories of the past while nurturing the life to come.

House in Ashikaga

Mochizuki Architectural Atelier

The site is a single-story lot elongated east–west. Because an apartment building sits to the south, the house is sited as far north as possible and organized on a rectangular plan. All habitable rooms face south, while openings and a rear courtyard are provided on the north side of a long corridor to create a clear north–south through-axis. From the entry, a large opening leads to a dining area that connects to the garden via a deck; slightly sunken, this transitions to the living room with a wood-burning stove. The exterior is composed of a deep-eaved mono-pitched roof with white plaster and timber cladding, and the interior takes advantage of the mono-pitched roof by finishing the ceiling with cedar boards sourced from thinning operations.

moment

*studioLOOP Architects

A single-story home for a family of five, set on a spacious 500-square-meter site. Taking advantage of the rural landscape to the north, abstract images reminiscent of a museum by the water or one set within a forest have been translated into the architecture and landscape design. The east–west volume temporarily blocks the view, creating an extraordinary experience as the reflecting pool and landscape unfold the moment the entrance door is opened. With the LDK at its center, the rooms are arranged around it, while deep eaves and exposed structural beams guide light and air, shaping a calm lifestyle in harmony with nature.

A Small Single-Story House on a Sloped Site

12mm Architects

This is a small, single-story house of 12 tsubo built on a sloping site adjacent to a mixed woodland in Moriyama Ward, Nagoya. The square building, gently placed on the mid-slope of a site with level changes, was planned under the theme "enveloping a sense of largeness within a small footprint." The interior is an open-plan, one-room layout with minimal partitions—a highly flexible space that carefully incorporates daily life, hobbies, and cherished furniture. Large openings face the woodland, allowing occupants to experience light and breeze shifting through the trees and the seasonal changes. It is a rich residence quietly connected to nature.