If you’re trying to avoid planes, trains, and automobiles this summer — hoping to relax into something quieter, more casual, and filled with nature — check out our gallery of gorgeous garden houses after the break. We spotted a beautiful, woodsy getaway on website Fubiz that is sure to inspire your green thumb and dreamy spirit. Visit it after the jump, where we’ve rounded up other beautiful garden houses that range from practical to unusual, but all are an invitation to commune with Mother Earth.
Natural wood floors, glass architecture, and the woodland setting of a Finnish island make this garden house the perfect spot to dream. The greenery of the surrounding area is beautiful, but a storage shed built into the back of the house offers a place to practice your potting skills. Bring your creations indoors where they can flourish along with your imagination since the house is big enough for a cozy bed.
Photo credit: Sergio Gomez
Polyhedron Garden House
We’ve admired architect Manuel Villa’s polyhedron house before, a space intended for families to play and relax together. Its simple, functional interior and unique shape make it an eye-catching and practical addition to your garden. The large-scale deck is spacious enough to work outdoors, and display plants and blooms.
Constructed from organic materials like FSC-certified wood, soil, and grass, the Backyard Ark provides a rooftop space to plant a garden, while the benches flanking the unit let you admire your natural surroundings. You can also install a wind turbine to keep things extra eco-friendly.
We don’t know much about this magical garden house set in the woods, but we expected to see Doc, Dopey, and Grumpy in the picture.
Photo credit: James F. Wilson & Gisela Borghi
Dallas, Texas is home to what Cunningham Architects have appropriately dubbed, The House in the Garden. It’s a freestanding addition to a modern-style home on an adjoining lot. Red Oak and Elm trees provide shade and were incorporated into the massive structure’s design. The home features two 8-foot wide sliding glass doors, a façade with frameless, insulated glass, a rainscreen system, and Ipe hardwood that weathers over time to a silvery grey. The best part? The artfully installed lighting makes the garden house glow at night.
During the 19th century, Cluny Hill in Forres, Scotland was a popular place to be during the hydropathic movement — a healing method that uses water to treat a variety of illnesses and injuries. Now, it’s home to this modern garden house, which the architects created as an “exploration of visual and phenomenal transparency, both through strategic spatial organization and abstraction of form and materials.”
This transparent live-work structure is a giant greenhouse that accommodates people and plants. Created by Hiroshi Iguchi, the sustainable design doesn’t sacrifice style. Warm, natural materials are used throughout, along with traditional Japanese panels and canvas drapes to protect residents from the sun. Trees were incorporated into the architecture, growing between the walls of the house.
Shipping Container Garden House
Part outdoor art gallery, part garden house, and all greentainer.
These cottage-style garden houses in the Mississippi Historic District of Portland were entirely hand built and recall the elegant architecture of the surrounding Victorian architecture the area is known for.
With enough extra large glass walls and terrace space, this triangular design set in the forest is a peaceful oasis for relaxing and sowing seeds, inside and out.
This adorable sphere is a wonderful garden house for an intimate, fun gathering. It’d also make the perfect hideout to enjoy fresh air and read your favorite book. Several of the models rotate, and one can hold a sofa for extra comfy flower gazing.
Mid-Century Modern Garden House
Don Draper approves of this garden retreat — as long as it’s stocked with booze.
Minimalistic, curvy architecture meets organic greenery in this sky-high garden house. Every aspect of the design was orchestrated with consideration for the surrounding foliage (existing and planted) throughout the home.
German architect Nils Holger Moormann created this ultra slim design that features open storage areas and a private loft bedroom. The home isn’t much wider than a standard swing door, but an open-sided living, dining, and reading room that seats four still makes it a great hangout spot. The exterior walls look like a modern woodshed, perfect for garden tools and other supplies. The home is nicknamed Walden after Thoreau’s simple living quarters in Massachusetts.
A Belgian architecture firm created the egg-shaped “blob VB3” as a multi-purpose, mobile pod that can be used as an office, guestroom, or… garden house. The home is made of polyester, sports an ultra modern, clean design, and provides enough room for storage and sleeping. Muddy footprints after a hard day of gardening shouldn’t be an issue, as “blob” looks pretty easy to keep clean despite its stark color.