Design Ideas
Readers’ Top Homes and Projects of 2025
Take a look at the remarkable Marvin homes and projects that were some of the favorites this past year.
A space built for meditation in Upstate New York. A Scottsdale renovation that married Pueblo-style tradition with understated modern elegance. A very contemporary take on a farmhouse outside Salt Lake City with a dedicated music space. A “forever home” remodel in the Portland hills that invited in a bit of whimsy. And lastly, a project more than 150 years in the making: the reimagining of an icon on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.
These five projects highlight the vast range and style that Marvin windows and doors help clients and homeowners achieve — from the ultra-modern to historically accurate — and they were the most read, most commented on, and top case studies of 2025. Let’s take a closer look at all five:
In Search of Peace and Tranquility in the Hudson Valley
Featuring four distinct “pavilions” — including a meditation space, a forest-focused living area, a “sunny” room, and more — this project was designed and built with personal, spiritual, and natural experiences in mind. The home is made almost completely of stone and glass, with the exterior materials quarried from the very lot the home sits on, making it “truly of the place,” as architect Marica McKeel describes. The vast array of Marvin Ultimate windows were thoughtfully placed throughout to maximize breezes and light, without interrupting the calmness of this meditative space.
Artful Arizona Remodel with Masterpieces Inside and Out
With its bullnose details, carved-out spaces, exposed wood beams, deep-set window openings, and fireplaces galore, the beauty inherent to traditional Pueblo-style homes is easy to see. But for interior designer Anne Lukan, it was her task to find a way to preserve these features while bringing the home to a modern, contemporary, art-infused place that enhanced its indoor-outdoor living spaces and refined its organic charm. One of the ways she achieved this harmony: By making one of the home’s great assets — its stunning views of the rugged-but-beautiful Arizona desert — into ever-changing art pieces, with each vista, sunset, and cactus captured by a perfectly placed Marvin Modern window or Ultimate door.
The windows are key because they serve two purposes: One, it's that visual, uninterrupted, ‘wow’ moment when you come into this space, and two, I like to think of them as picture frames. You are literally moving and positioning the location of the windows to frame what you believe to be art: nature and the exterior.”
Anne Lukan
Interior Designer, Anne Lukan Design
Contemporary Utah Farmhouse Hits All the Right Notes
For homeowner Neylan McBaine, the daughter of a Metropolitan Opera singer (and a Juilliard-trained pianist herself), shining a spotlight on music for her and her family was one of the overriding goals in the design of her ultra-contemporary modern farmhouse. The result? A dedicated, full-scale music alcove, large enough to welcome musicians, instruments, and stands, as well as a Steinway piano. Not one to limit the artistry to the indoor spaces, McBaine made capturing the majesty of the home’s natural surroundings a goal as well. One can’t-miss moment: A striking two-story wall of Marvin Ultimate windows, perfectly framing Utah’s Mount Olympus in the distance.
Portland Renovation Stands Out by Fitting In
Situated on a leafy block not far from the shops and restaurants of the postcard-worthy main street of Portland, Oregon’s Multnomah Village, this redesigned mid-century ranch home made a better, not bigger ethos its centerpiece. With homeowners sensitive about keeping the home’s appearance (especially from the street side), in step with the neighborhood, architect Jeff Guggenheim set out not to expand the house, but to rebuild it from the inside out: interior spaces, the flow, the details, connecting the inner home to the outdoors. “There's a process of moving through all the spaces,” Guggenheim said, “and really beginning to understand how they come together to create something that's greater than the sum of its parts.”
Our client requested spaces that were modern, yet warm, and also contained an element of whimsy.”
Jeff Guggenheim
Founder and principal architect at Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio
Re-Imagining Lehigh University’s Most Famous Building
How do you set a path for the future without losing the history that made something special? That was the task in front of the project team for the renovation of Lehigh University’s Packer Hall. Now known as the Clayton University Center at Packer Hall, this building, completed in 1868, had been the center of life at the school since its inception, housing everything from a chapel to dorms to classrooms. While its uses may have shifted over the years, its importance to the Lehigh community had not. But when it had become more of a pass-through than a destination for students, plagued by cramped, outdated facilities and a dim, dark interior, new thinking was needed. The result of the renovation — not to mention the more than 200 Marvin windows and doors? Nothing short of spectacular.
Getting the windows right was a really critical part of the puzzle.”
Bob Mohr
Architect and Principal at Shepley Bulfinch
Ready for more inspiration?
Explore the stories of other stunning spaces — and the visionaries behind them — on our blog now.
Note: We're always on the lookout for beautiful, innovative, and standout Marvin projects. If you have one in mind, please email press@marvin.com.
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