Dezeen's top five houses of October 2025

Three out of five of our houses of the month for October meet the world with windowless facades, including an Austin accessory dwelling unit with no external fenestration at all.

Also among the most popular residences published on Dezeen this month are two different takes on a woodland hideaway – one built from steel and elevated on stilts, the other clad in wooden shingles.

Read on to find out more about Dezeen readers' favourite houses this month:

Photo by Shannon McGrath

Woodend, Australia, by David Hicks

This house is in Victoria, but its design is heavily influenced by the architecture of French and Italian countryside villas.

Its front facade has no windows or doors, with access to the richly finished interior granted only via a side gate.

Find out more about Woodend ›

Photo courtesy of Roberts Gray Architects

SKI House, New Zealand, by Roberts Gray Architects

Drawing on very different style cues but also devoid of street-facing windows is this house in Wānaka, New Zealand, by local studio Roberts Gray Architects.

It was designed for the parents of one of the studio's co-founders and features a stern facade to conceal a courtyard garden with panoramic mountain views.

Find out more about SKI House ›

Photo by Cristóbal Palma

Casa en los Arboles, Chile, by Max Núñez Arquitectos

Chilean studio Max Núñez Arquitectos compares this house in the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Chile to a lunar lander.

Constructed from prefabricated steel, it was raised onto columns to ensure its footprint was small enough to avoid cutting down trees.

Find out more about Casa en los Arboles ›

Photo by Leonid Furmansky

Stealth House, USA, by Specht Novak

This accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Austin has no exterior windows at all. Instead, it is arranged around two interior courtyards that bring light and a sense of space into the living spaces.

"Eliminating perimeter windows was a deliberate move to redefine how a home interacts with its surroundings," said Specht Novak principal Scott Specht, who is the homeowner as well as the architect.

Find out more about Stealth House ›

Photo by Alex Lesage

Waterhouse, Canada, by Oyama and Julia Manaças Architecte

Canadian studios Oyama and Julia Manaças Architecte clad this house in a woodland clearing in Quebec in wooden shingles.

The house is separated into three volumes, nicknamed the Atelier, the Great Room and the Tower, intended to make the most of the site's various views.

Find out more about Waterhouse ›