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Dwell is the unique modern architecture and design magazine for people who believe that good design is an integral part of real life. Get Dwell digital magazine subscription today.

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Garden Gnomes • A charming, timeless addition or a creepy fad of the past? Our editors and Instagram followers debate whether pint-size yard guardians enchant or repel.

The Rise, Fall, and Return of the American Porch • The porch, as part of the American home, is more than an architectural feature: It’s a view-point into the country’s changing cultural (and literal) climate. Since the mid-19th-century golden age of this classic U.S. domestic design element, its look and role have revealed wider societal fluctuations, from the car’s impact on suburbia to the more recent push for walkable neighborhoods. The porch is so important that it’s the subject of this year’s U.S. Pavilion exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Here, we trace the road to its revival.

Modern World

Shape Shifter • In Vancouver, the Fluevog family builds a bright home in step with the quirkiness of its footwear brand.

Key Change • The cofounder of a record label cues up a second take for a Hollywood Hills midcentury home.

Squeaky Clean • The at-home pet spa has become a sought after feature for people who treat their “fur babies” like family.

Family Trees • A designer hides his home among the greenery on his parents’ ranch in Guatemala.

On The Grid • For renowned artist Charles Gaines and his wife, art historian Roxana Landaverde, a simple expansion of their Los Angeles living room turned into the addition of a perforated metal facade—and, now, a much bigger construction project.

A Creative Nature • An artist lets the wind and wildlife of coastal Mexico flow through her radically open home.

Out of Office • A couple add a greenhouse and workspace to their Uruguay home, making it a WFH dream.

Safe Haven • In Toronto, an emergency shelter attuned to Indigenous identities provides a refuge for women escaping violence.

Elevated Basics • A cabin that avoids clichés enhances the experience of nature in the mountains outside Mexico City.

Sourcing • The products, furniture, architects, designers, and builders featured in this issue.

One Last Thing • How an irreverent objet d’art—a turf-wrapped Chia Pet—keeps landscape architect Michelle Arab grounded in her work.