Madrona House

The owners commissioned architect Daniel Toole to design a modern house next to their old family home in Seattle, so they could downsize after their children grew up.

The final design used two materials for the exterior: The first level is concrete, imprinted with the wood grain of the boards used to cast it, and the top level is clad in blackened shou-sugi-ban wood siding, which looks like the negative image of the concrete below.

“I really wanted to try to bring a sense of massiveness to this house, even with the parts made of wood,” Mr. Toole said. “We wanted it to be rough and robust to give a sense of permanence and connection to the earth.”