Architecture and design magazine Dezeen has unveiled its top five most popular houses from October 2025, revealing a fascinating trend toward privacy and unconventional design approaches. Three of the five featured residences present completely windowless facades to the public, including one Austin accessory dwelling unit that eliminates all external windows entirely. The selection showcases diverse architectural philosophies from around the globe, spanning Australia, New Zealand, Chile, the United States, and Canada.
The collection includes two distinct interpretations of woodland retreats that capture readers' imagination through contrasting approaches. One features steel construction elevated on stilts to minimize environmental impact, while the other embraces traditional wooden shingle cladding to blend seamlessly with its forested surroundings. These designs represent a growing movement toward architecture that responds thoughtfully to natural settings while maintaining modern functionality.
Leading the selection is a house in Woodend, Australia, designed by David Hicks, which draws heavy inspiration from French and Italian countryside villa architecture despite its Victoria location. The residence features a completely blank front facade with no windows or doors, requiring visitors to enter through a side gate to access the richly finished interior spaces. This dramatic approach to street presence creates an element of mystery while providing complete privacy for residents.
In New Zealand, Roberts Gray Architects created the SKI House in Wānaka, designed specifically for the parents of one of the studio's co-founders. Like the Australian residence, this home presents a stern, windowless facade to the street, but this design choice serves to conceal an interior courtyard garden that offers panoramic mountain views. The architects deliberately chose this approach to create a private sanctuary while maximizing the property's spectacular natural setting.
From Chile comes Casa en los Arboles by Max Núñez Arquitectos, which the Chilean studio compares to a lunar lander due to its distinctive appearance and construction method. Located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of southern Chile, this prefabricated steel house was deliberately raised on columns to minimize its environmental footprint and avoid cutting down any existing trees. The elevated design allows the structure to float among the forest canopy while maintaining a minimal ground presence.
The most extreme example of the windowless trend comes from Austin, Texas, where Specht Novak designed the Stealth House, an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) that completely eliminates all exterior windows. Instead of traditional perimeter fenestration, the home is organized around two interior courtyards that provide natural light and create a sense of spaciousness within the living areas. 'Eliminating perimeter windows was a deliberate move to redefine how a home interacts with its surroundings,' explained Scott Specht, principal of Specht Novak, who serves as both the architect and homeowner of this innovative project.
Completing the top five is the Waterhouse in Quebec, Canada, created by collaborative studios Oyama and Julia Manaças Architecte. This woodland residence embraces a more traditional aesthetic, featuring wooden shingle cladding that helps it blend naturally with its forest clearing setting. The architects divided the house into three distinct volumes, creatively nicknamed the Atelier, the Great Room, and the Tower, with each section designed to capture different views and aspects of the surrounding landscape.
The October selection demonstrates how contemporary architects are reimagining the relationship between private residential spaces and their public contexts. Whether through complete facade opacity or elevated forest positioning, these projects challenge conventional approaches to home design while prioritizing privacy, environmental sensitivity, and unique responses to site conditions. The popularity of these designs among Dezeen readers suggests a growing appreciation for bold architectural statements that prioritize inhabitant experience over traditional street appeal.
