Streaming Goes IRL With "Netflix House" Venues—and Everything Else You Need to Know About This Week

A floating pool heads to NYC’s East River, Brad Pitt adds a Greek UFO to his house collection, dog parks get the Airbnb treatment, and more.

• Netflix is going full brick-and-mortar with "Netflix House," launching immersive venues in Philadelphia, Dallas, and eventually Las Vegas where fans can step inside popular shows like Stranger Things and Squid Game. (Variety)

• Construction is underway on + POOL, a floating public pool off Manhattan’s Pier 35 that aims to turn East River water into safe, chlorine-free swimming. A 2,000-square-foot prototype is being towed from Mississippi to New York this month, with plans to open to the public by 2027. (Dezeen)

• Brad Pitt bought a rare 1969 "UFO house" by Greek architect Nikolaos Xasteros. The spacecraft-like prefab was rescued from a forest in Athens and moved by road and sea to California, landing in Pitt’s growing collection of experimental homes. (Ara) 

• Sniffspot, dubbed the "Airbnb for dog parks," lets dog owners rent private yards by the hour—turning suburban lawns and city rooftops into bookable canine retreats. The platform taps into demand for outdoor space amid soaring housing costs. (Dwell)

Courtesy Getty Images

• Suzanne LaGasa is stepping down as creative director of Dwell to launch ProtoToto Design Lab, New York City’s first design studio for kids ages 6 to 12. The new venture will blend play and practice to teach architecture, graphic design, and more. (The Architect’s Newspaper)

Top photo courtesy Netflix

Before & After: A Family’s D.C. Home Gets an Artful—and Art-Filled—$1.6M Renovation

A boxy rear extension dramatically opened the residence, which now pairs Venetian plaster, funky floor tiles, and raw-edge stonework with a personal art collection.

Washington, D.C.’s Kalorama neighborhood, known as an elegant and chic area that’s home to ex-presidents, ambassadors, and other notable residents, features tree-lined streets with large, historic homes. When Lauren and Nicholas Pennys moved there from Brooklyn with their young family, the 1950s address they purchased was doing its best to blend in.

In fact, the home did not strongly reflect any particular style, explain architects Catherine and VW Fowlkes of Fowlkes Studio, whom Lauren and Nicholas would eventually bring on for a renovation. Its facade was dominated by a garage door and a full flight of stairs leading up to the front door, and a combination of brick and a mansard roof gave it a somewhat traditional, if atypical, feel. Lauren and Nicholas were drawn to the home more for its location and proximity to work.

Lauren and Nicholas Pennys purchased a ’50s home in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C., that, compared with nearby residences, didn’t have distinct character.

Photo by Jenn Verrier

But that wasn’t to say there wasn’t potential here: at around 2,400 square feet, the residence had three bedrooms and four and a half baths across its two stories, plus a walk-out finished basement. And while the front was mostly obscured from the street by foliage, its rear elevation with two oversized bay windows gave way to a generous backyard.

Before: Rear Facade

The rear of the home featured two large bay windows on the ground level and dormers upstairs.

Photo by Fowlkes Studio

After: Rear Facade

A new addition is completely distinct from its predecessor in form and material. The siding is a combination of wood shingles and siding, and the clear anodized aluminum-framed doors and windows are paired cladding stained a soft gray.

Photo by Jenn Verrier

See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: A Family’s D.C. Home Gets an Artful—and Art-Filled—$1.6M Renovation
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Passive Design Strategies Abound in This Expanded Victorian Cottage Outside Melbourne

The secret to keeping the home comfortable lies largely in the design of its corrugated zinc roofs.

Houses We Love: Every day we feature a remarkable space submitted by our community of architects, designers, builders, and homeowners. Have one to share? Post it here.

Project Details:

Location: Fitzroy North, Victoria, Australia

Architect: Pop Architecture / @poparchitecture

Footprint: 1,885 square feet

Builder: MRU Construction

Structural Engineer: E2E Design Group

Landscape Design: Sarah Perry Garden Design

Stylist: Jess Kneebone

Photographer: Willem-Dirk du Toit / @willem_dirk

From the Architect: "This project for a family is an extension to a double-fronted Victorian weatherboard home, designed with a focus on sustainability and landscape integration. Situated on a south-facing block, the project strives to optimize natural light, spatial efficiency, and support long-term adaptability while critically engaging with the site’s layered history. The arrangement and architectural resolution of the site speaks to its history—aboriginal land, colonial structures, and post-war migration. Prioritizing a rejuvenated landscape, the design takes a whole-site approach. Three distinct forms—the original house, the extension, and retreat—comprise the built component, allowing the garden and sun to weave through the site and engulf the forms.

"The new forms critique colonial roof design, offering a more site- and climate-specific solution. Corrugated zinc roofs top façades of bagged brick walls and timber windows. The extension’s tapered skillion roof falls north to south, allowing for clerestory windows along the north, flooding the living areas with natural light while minimizing backyard overshadowing. Overhangs to the west and south drop below window heads, providing sun protection and screening the adjacent neighbors, focusing views on the garden. The retreat’s roof slopes in the opposite direction to provide shading for northern windows and optimal solar panel orientation. A pergola structure is designed to accommodate landscape elements, further integrating the garden.

"A new side entrance directs people to a genkan located at the intersection of the original house and the extension, dividing the main house into two zones: private spaces in the original house and living areas in the extension, reducing built circulation. Within the original structure, bedrooms, bathrooms, and a study have been rearranged for improved functionality. Although the original front door was removed, new casement windows allow engagement with the street. The front garden, with a veggie patch, fosters neighborhood interaction, countering the private nature of heritage precincts.

"Materials are warm and pared back. Off-white, gray, green, and varied timber tones subtly reference the hues of a lemon-scented gum, shedding its bark and revealing new growth. Terrazzo in the bathrooms and the decorative wrought iron entry gate (an abstraction of the gum’s trunk) playfully reference the migrant overlay, tying historical narratives together.

"The project spanned Covid and ensuing dramatic cost escalations. Consequently, value management distilled the design to essential elements and prioritized sustainability measures over high-end finishes. The project maintains a modest footprint, using recycled bricks and floorboards while ensuring high-quality light control and ventilation. An all-electric home without gas, the project includes a heat pump, solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and provisions for EV charging. Passive strategies include thermal mass, orientation-driven roof design, and operable shading. Material reuse reduces embodied carbon."

Photo by Willem-Dirk du Toit

Photo by Willem-Dirk du Toit

Photo by Willem-Dirk du Toit

See the full story on Dwell.com: Passive Design Strategies Abound in This Expanded Victorian Cottage Outside Melbourne
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How Fascist Italy Used Modernist Design to Spread Its Ideology

A fascinating new book dives into the subtle but effective role of furniture in the cultivation of 20th-century Italian nationalism.

In Mussolini’s Italy, even interiors were political. That’s according to Furnishing Fascism, a new book by architect, historian, and educator Ignacio G. Galán, published by University of Minnesota Press. Though the book is more of an academic tome than a coffee table page turner, it’s full of interesting facts about the development of not only the Italian nation state but also the unexpected role that modernist decor played in shaping the very idea of what it meant to be Italian.

First, a brief history lesson: Though the peninsula has centuries of ancient history that just about everyone knows—Caesar, gladiators, aqueducts, and so on—Italy wasn’t actually a unified country until a late-19th-century movement called the Risorgimento, when a loose collection of states were finally brought together under the guise of one nation. That left a lot up for interpretation, from what government they’d have to what cities would act as cultural and political capitals. Decades later, as Italy slunk away from World War I in the midst of a financial collapse and unsatisfied with both its rulers and what it had taken away from the war, fascists found a foothold. In 1922, Benito Mussolini came to power, taking brutal control over not only the government but also the press, the schools, and all media.

Part of Mussolini’s vision for Italy centered around producing a totalizing image of Italian identity—not Tuscan or Roman or Sicilian. (As Galán notes in the book, during the Risorgimento one popular saying was, "We have made Italy. Now we need to make the Italians.") In Mussolini’s opinion, the creation of a national identity could engender patriotism as well as uniformity. If he and his buddies could convince everyone that ideal Italians worked hard, maintained a clean home and healthy body, and believed in the supreme leader above all else, then they could more easily control Italians writ large.

Gastone Medin’s modernist set design for Due cuorifelici (dir. Baldassarre Negroni, 1932).

Archivio Fotografico della Cineteca Nazionale–Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Rome (document of indemnity)

For fascists working within Mussolini’s team, part of that control came through shaping what it meant to have an ideal Italian home, or as 20th-century Italian architect, designer, and Domus founder Gio Ponti called it, "la casa all’italiana." (For the record, Ponti didn’t work for Mussolini, but he did comply with the systems in place at the time, as did most of the major architects and designers working in the country during the interwar period. Galán writes in the book’s introduction: "The pursuit of furniture’s modernization and stylization was often able to integrate them in support of the regime, even if the projects were not always conceived with this purpose.") While massive, state-sponsored architectural projects could project fascist dominance on the population as a whole, the government believed in the power of furniture just as much, thinking that showcasing what an ideal Italian living room might look like, for example, could drive the party’s message home through a sort of subtle consumerism. Through furniture and furnishings, the party could reinforce the idea that, to be a good Italian or a good member of the party, you couldn’t live in the past. You needed what was new, now, and what everyone else on your block had, lest you be deemed an outlier.

A uniform set of domestic interiors, the fascists believed, could also unite the Italian peninsula, from rural hamlets to bustling cities. As Galán notes in the book, fascism finds strength in suppressing regional identities, as well as in emphasizing order, hierarchy, and national rebirth. Architects and designers like Ponti and Emilio Lancia used their training to produce pieces like Domus Nova, a mass-produced furniture series designed to update the image of the Italian middle-class home, which fused clean lines, natural materials, and slight nods to the region’s ancient past to push the domestic ideals of discipline, cleanliness, rationality, and productivity. Sold in suites at department store chains like La Rinascente and through catalogs, the pieces were thus highly visible (and covetable) to a wide swath of the population.

While the very idea of modernist, fascist furniture might seem like an oxymoron, given that the movement was by its very nature about international collaboration and progressive views, Italian modernism is, in essence, a blend of what’s best about the modernist movement—efficient design, industrial production, and overall accessibility—and what’s inherently backward about fascist politics.

Furnishing Fascism by Ignacio G. Galán explores how the widespread development of modernist interior design in Italy during the interwar years—and its extensive promotion in magazines, department stores, and on film sets—played a role in the construction of Italian nationalism.

Courtesy University of Minnesota Press

Italian modernist furniture like that produced by Ponti, as well as Carlo Enrico Rava (one of the principal members of Gruppo 7 and founding figures of Italian rationalism), were clean and functional, but they were also elegant and decoratively refined. Pieces often had particular cultural flourishes, like Italianate nods to ancient Rome or the Renaissance, or the kind of intricate inlay work you’ll never find on a Le Corbusier piece. Their furnishings were built with Mediterranean products like local woods, marble, or leather rather than bent steel or other more modern materials, and events like the Milan Triennale (established in 1923) were framed around the idea that the Italian furniture showcased was more a symbol of national rebirth and superiority than membership in a larger international modernist movement. (In essence, "Sure, this furniture’s modern, but it’s Italian modern.")

Though the fascist movement was relatively short-lived in Italy, lasting just under 25 years, Italian modernist furniture survives, drawing big bucks in vintage shops and inspiring designers and architects even now. But embedded in each piece of furniture, in each part of a complete set, is a bit of fascist ideology, the suggestion that you could engineer a national identity through everyday life. Through consumption, the fascists argued, there was consent, and for millions of Italians of the era, buying sets of modernist furniture meant they were ready to ride for Italy—and whether they realized it or not.

Photos reproduced from Furnishing Fascism: Modernist Design and Politics in Italy by Ignacio G.Galán. Published by the University of Minnesota Press, 2025.

Top photo: Giuseppe Terragni, Sala Per Direttorio featuring the Benita chair, Casa del Fascio, Cuomo, 1936. Quadrante 35/36 (October 1936). Avery Classics, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

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Expanses of Glass Immerse This Y-Shaped Home in Its Wooded Setting

The concrete residence in Slovakia combines timber slatting, gabion walls, and floor-to-ceiling sliders that open onto surrounding gardens.

Houses We Love: Every day we feature a remarkable space submitted by our community of architects, designers, builders, and homeowners. Have one to share? Post it here.

Project Details:

Location: Banka, Slovakia

Footprint: 2,626 square feet

Architect: Paulíny Hovorka Architekti / @pauliny.hovorka.architekti

Landscape Design: Martin Sučič

Photographer: Matej Hakár / @matejhakar

From the Architect: "The Banánka family house responds to its natural surroundings through a raw and honest use of natural materials, a restrained horizontal form, and the clarity of minimalist design. Living here is defined by a seamless connection between the interior and the outdoors, primarily achieved through large glazed walls that stretch along significant portions of the house. This connection can be fully opened via sliders located between the central living hall, the terrace, and the garden area with a pond. This allows the melancholic atmosphere of the rock garden, flowing stream, pond, and tall surrounding trees to flow right into the interior.

"The property is located on the outskirts of the village of Banka in a peaceful, intimate setting at the end of a lush valley. The name "Banánka" refers to a female resident of Banka (with "Banánec" as the male equivalent). The area’s relaxed, natural atmosphere stems from its established garden character and the loose, organic pattern of surrounding homes and cottages. The house is accessed via a narrow asphalt road that transitions into a forest path leading further into the valleys of the Považský Inovec mountains.

"The garden plot offers deep privacy amidst mature trees and well-established greenery. The brief was to design a single-story home with a carport, fully connected to the garden. The atmosphere was to be centered on relaxation and contemplation, with a clear separation between the private areas for parents and children. The house also had to be positioned to maximize sunlight in living spaces and preserve every existing tree. The material palette emphasizes natural elements—concrete, stone, wood, and glass—prioritizing durability, longevity, and timelessness.

"The design solution takes the form of a Y-shaped floor plan, with three wings extending outward at 120-degree angles, carefully positioned to avoid existing trees and divide the plot into smaller garden segments. Each room enjoys its own unique view into a private corner of the garden. The structure is solid and expressive, with brushed board-formed monolithic concrete ceilings, concrete interior walls, and prefabricated parapet panels. The material concept is enhanced by crushed stone encased in galvanized mesh gabions, which flow from the exterior into the interior. These are complemented by wooden cladding, floors, and decking. Windows feature ultra-slim frames and can be fully retracted into wall pockets to maximize the visual and spatial connection with the outdoors. Hidden doors are integrated into cladding and plastered surfaces. The interior, largely free of decorative objects, is defined by custom-built furniture, beds, and a modular sofa that can be reconfigured as needed."

Photo by Matej Hakár

Photo by Matej Hakár

Photo by Matej Hakár

See the full story on Dwell.com: Expanses of Glass Immerse This Y-Shaped Home in Its Wooded Setting
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A Home in Portugal Connects Deeply With Its Setting—Down to a Fault Line

It has green roofs, cork cladding, and a sunken path running between private and public areas that mirror a seismic divide.

Houses We Love: Every day we feature a remarkable space submitted by our community of architects, designers, builders, and homeowners. Have one to share? Post it here.

Project Details:

Location: Penafiel, Portugal

Architect: Tsou Arquitectos / @tiago_tsou

Footprint: 3,230 square feet

Builder: Estreia Fulminante

Photographer: Ivo Tavares Studio / @ivotavaresstudio

From the Architect: "Located in a village in Penafiel, Portugal, Casa da Levada blends into its rural landscape. The shape of the house is molded by the terrain, creating a visual and physical continuity between the building and the natural environment.

"The path to the house appears as a paved groove over the green surface of the land. A tectonic fault separates the volumes dedicated to social spaces and private spaces, leading to the central courtyard. The house develops around the courtyard, creating an outdoor space for gathering where horizontal overhangs frame the surrounding landscape.

"The technical and construction choices follow the idea of integrating the house into the landscape, improving energy efficiency and the durability of the building alongside a commitment to environmental preservation and sustainability. Examples of this include the use of cork panels as the exterior cladding of the house, a landscaped roof (continuing with the terrain), and the stone patio constructed with the integration of stone from the ruins, whose design was based on the reuse of the granite stones."

Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio - architectural photographer

Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio - architectural photographer

Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio - architectural photographer

See the full story on Dwell.com: A Home in Portugal Connects Deeply With Its Setting—Down to a Fault Line
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For $5.5M, You Can Own One of San Diego’s Four Richard Neutra Homes

Set in Rancho Santa Fe, the Van Sicklen Residence has been expanded twice—and it currently stands at 8,281 square feet with eight bedrooms and a pool house.

Location: 6009 Mimulus, Rancho Santa Fe, California

Price: $5,500,000 

Year Built: 1952

Architect: Richard Neutra

Expansion Dates: 1976 and 1991

Expansion Designers/Architects: Gerald Jerome and Fred Dong (1976)

Footprint: 8,281 square feet (8 bedrooms, 9 baths)

Lot Size: 1.3 Acres

From the Agent: "This is a very unique and rare opportunity to purchase and restore one of only four Richard Neutra houses built in San Diego County. The original Neutra design was expanded from 2,458 square feet to approximately 4,000 square feet in 1975-76 after the current owners purchased the home. The expansion was designed by interior designer Gerald Jerome and architect Fred Dong. Approximately 15 years later, with an expanding family, the 4,000-square-foot west wing was built. Around this time, the ~900-square-foot pool house was constructed. After the children moved out of the home, both added structures served the family with income from tenants."

Add a caption

Photo by Collin Erie

The ceiling of the Van Sicklen residence is clad with redwood.

Photo: Collin Erie

Add a caption

Photo by Collin Erie

Photo: Collin Erie

Photo: Collin Erie

See the full story on Dwell.com: For $5.5M, You Can Own One of San Diego’s Four Richard Neutra Homes
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