Home Construction

This Highland Park contemporary home was custom built with a unique design feature. There are no ground-level windows on the front facade of the house. Now, before you picture a home devoid of light, it's important to note that the back walls of the home are covered in windows and doors that let in plenty of sunlight. Listing agent Pogir of Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty said this was an intentional feature because the homeowners wanted privacy in the design. The house is the work of architect Mark Domiteaux and builder Robert Hopson and, it was built in 2019, according to the listing information. Pogir said the home has a C-shaped layout that creates that sense of privacy and focuses on the views in the backyard. Pogir said that the architect designs in a "concise" way with clean and clear lines throughout. "There's no wasted space," Pogir said. The home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two half-bathrooms in its 5,649 square feet. A ...

There are few things that beat the feeling of waking up in a cozy cabin, taking a first sip of coffee, and looking out the window to a world blanketed with snow. That's why we've rounded up 15 picturesque winter cabins you can rent to experience all the fun winter has to offer. From tiny A-frames to larger getaways built with big groups in mind, these winter cabins have cozy amenities like fireplaces, hot tubs, and fire pits, as well as easy access to cold-weather activities like skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing. You'll find places to stay across the country, from the Green Mountains of Vermont to the Sierra Nevadas in California, and many of them are located near National Parks. Once you've booked a winter cabin rental, you'll need to pack the right gear to keep warm, so we've also rounded up cold-weather accessory ideas like heated gloves, cozy scarves, snow boots, winter coats, and puffer vests. Need more wintertime travel inspiration? Be sure to explore...

Need some home updating? These top contractors offer a wide range of quality renovation services. BobVila.com and its partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links. Photo: istockphoto.com With the per square foot cost of houses on the upswing, being able to afford a new house is beyond the financial scope of many current homeowners who would like to move up. The next best thing is often remodeling an existing home to update it and make it more attractive and comfortable. Renovating a home consists of a wide array of projects, from remodeling a nursery to create a preteen bedroom to repurposing an adjacent bedroom to create an upscale en suite. Often, the homeowner has a general idea of the look and design they're going for but cannot visualize the finished project, usually due to a lack of construction knowledge. That's where the best home renovation contractors come in—they have the ability to turn a homeowner's ideas into reality whil...

E ach spring I get antsy WhatsApp messages from friends across the U.S., as well as London, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Their high school senior kids have just been admitted to colleges in America, Canada, Britain, and elsewhere, and they want my opinion on the best option. Over the past decade I've been tracking these late teens' decisions and the trend has been unmistakeable: Less America, more Canada. Canadian education is as good as America's and more affordable. Universities such as Waterloo have blended apprenticeships into their curricula as a requirement for graduation, and McGill has established itself as a global innovation hub. The next beneficiary of America's reputational fall from grace is Europe, especially universities in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Netherlands is also very much in vogue as many countries switch to English instruction. ...

In recent years "Man's Best Friend" has morphed into "Everyone's Best Travel Friend." Even before the pandemic, dogs had become more vital members of the family, with Americans spending record amounts of money on their four-legged children. This has included more travelers wishing to take their pets with them on vacations. In the luxury end of the travel market this has also been greatly driven by the enormous expansion of private aviation, which makes flying with dogs easy. The concurrent growth of home rentals via platforms such as Airbnb, with many pet friendly properties, also smooths the process. All of this has surged even more during the COVID-19 pandemic, for several reasons. Pandemic induced adoptions drove the rate of dog ownership in this country to new highs, while a focus on keeping the core "pod" of the family unit together became the norm at home or on the road, and boarding occupancy became unusually scarce. Road tripping by c...