Designing sustainable, energy-efficient, and comfortable homes has been a passion for Ken Dahlin (shown here with son Nathan holding Edward the Shih Tzu and wife Kim) ever since he received his master’s degree in architecture in 1986 at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, he twice won a Better Homes & Gardens “Innovations in Housing” competition and was given the magazine’s “Home of the Year” award three times. Today Dahlin and his team design homes “that balance human scale with natural flowing spaces,” he says. “No pretense, no gimmicks.”

Sources:
Front door (custom, with custom etched glass pattern designed by Ken Dahlin): Genesis Architecture, 262/752-1894.
Hanging lights: IKEA, 800/434-4532, ikea.com.