Forever Home｜Custom Home Examples by Architectural Offices8Picks Author: Qurasuki Editorial Department

In a residence built on the premise of long-term living, spaces that accompany daily life across the years are required, rather than mere trends or temporary conveniences. A forever home is conceived as an environment where residents can spend their time peacefully while anticipating future lifestyle changes. While single-level layouts, compact circulation paths, and connections to gardens often draw attention, such expressions are not limited to just one form. The shape of the architecture varies greatly depending on family composition, site conditions, and lifestyles. Nevertheless, a shared approach remains visible in the creation of spaces designed to spend long periods comfortably. As a place supporting daily routines, the way a residence is planned holds a distinct charm in every individual example. We introduce how the theme of the forever home takes shape within custom residences designed by architectural firms.

nest: House with a Courtyard in Kashiwa City e do design architects

This residence is intended as the couple’s final home, for a pair who relocated from Tokyo to an area near the wife’s parents’ home. Centered on a courtyard that preserves privacy while allowing a direct sense of nature, performance aspects such as daylighting, natural ventilation, seismic resistance, and thermal insulation were carefully planned. The courtyard connects to the living, dining, and kitchen (LDK) and to the animals’ spaces, richly embracing the passage of the seasons and family time. It is a home like a 'nest', wrapped in safety and comfort, accommodating life with a parrot and an owl and attentive to future home-based work.

Villa Odawara Atelier Mana

This final home stands on elevated ground overlooking the townscape of Odawara and the sea. The existing old house, cherry trees, bamboo grove, and other vegetation were preserved, while the rooms were arranged radially around the garden. Every room enjoys views of the garden and the surrounding landscape, with six volumes designed for different uses gently connected to one another. It is a home where family members can sense one another’s presence while each spends time in their own way. Decorative breeze blocks were used in the semi-outdoor spaces, creating places where the changing light and the expansiveness of nature can be enjoyed.

House in Tateyama Tada Architectural Design Office

This secondary residence is built within a Quasi‑National Park in Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture, for enjoying the sea and nature. Taking advantage of a fortunate setting with views to the horizon beyond a windbreak forest, the design adopts a disciplined composition with large openings oriented toward the sea and a restrained treatment on the side facing the neighboring house. A generous earthen‑floored space for fishing and a deep‑eaved engawa gently mediate between interior and exterior. Joinery allows flexible changes in the way spaces are used, and a distinctive roof structure gives the expansive interior its character. The pared‑down, minimal dwelling nurtures rich moments together with the sea breeze.

Renovation of a Traditional Farmhouse with a Large Double-Height Space | Kitamachi House Yoshihiro Yamamoto Architects Associates

On the Nara City site, buildings of different eras are connected by open verandas and an inner courtyard. The oldest and largest outbuilding — a former timber storage barn — was planned for conversion into a comfortable residence. The barn had originally been built as a lumber warehouse; half of its volume comprised a large double‑height void and much of the structure was exposed to the elements. All earthen infill walls that had deteriorated and delaminated from the post‑and‑beam frame were removed; posts and beams affected by termite damage and rot were reinforced or replaced. After upgrading the thermal insulation, the double‑height space was repurposed as a large open‑plan living/dining/kitchen (LDK). Surrounding this space, a guest tatami room, bedroom, sanitary/wet areas (bathroom and laundry), storage, and a dedicated room for cats were arranged.

House Behind the School Building an Archi-Lab. First-Class Architect Office

This is a reconstruction plan of the long-occupied family home so that a mother and her daughter can live there. Under the severe condition of a narrow 19-tsubo site with an elementary school building pressing on the south side, a small garden and a nure-en (verandah) were provided on the southern side of the site to bring light, wind, and a sense of depth into the residence. Internally, multiple living areas were arranged according to degrees of privacy and openness, realizing a composition in which light moves throughout the entire house. While engaging carefully with the surrounding environment, the design cultivates a rich residential quality within a limited footprint. The phrase "a house you want to come home to" testifies to that comfort.

Quiet Waiting Residence — A Final Home as a Private Art Museum Tokuhiro Norimatsu Architect

On a site overlooking a beautiful mountain range to the north, this is the final residence for a married couple. The project was planned to inherit materials and landscapes that have accumulated over a long period—such as a relocated early-Showa-period kominka (traditional farmhouse), a weeping cherry, susutake (smoke-darkened bamboo), and Taisho-period stained glass. Traditional materials—roof tiles, stone, earthen walls, lime plaster (shikkui), and solid timber—have been carefully reconstituted using contemporary craftsmanship. Balancing respect for history with a comfortable living environment for the future, it is a dwelling intended for living peacefully while sustaining the continuity of time.

House in Fukushima Abax Architects

An urban residence located in Fukushima Ward, Osaka City. With a narrow street frontage and being surrounded on three sides by high-rise buildings, the site presented a severe environment, so a home equipped with a residential elevator was planned as a "final dwelling." The project initially began as a renovation study but was converted to new construction due to issues with the certificate of inspection/completion. KMEW's Solido was adopted for the exterior walls, placing emphasis on a materiality that can be enjoyed as it ages. Phosphate-treated steel plates were used for the balcony copings and the eave-edge trim, achieving a consistent, urban exterior down to the details.

Residence Featuring an Indoor-Integrated Terrace Archiplace

This is the final residence for a couple who have finished raising their children. On the second floor, which serves as the heart of daily life, the living and dining areas are arranged to frame a southeast-facing terrace. The semi-outdoor terrace, created by openings in the roof and walls, screens views from the surroundings while admitting light and natural ventilation, providing a place where the changing seasons can be felt up close. Changes in floor levels beginning at the music room on the first floor, the double-height void, and the observation terrace give the spaces a rich sense of depth, allowing residents to enjoy the continuity and variety characteristic of a three-story timber structure.