The flat roof is one of the signal elements of modernist architecture, and one of its principal contributions to architecture in general. The original modernists liked them for their purity of form. But they soon became useful as an additional outdoor space, especially in the heat of Palm Springs and the like.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Coward House is just another house mid-century in Palm Springs. In fact, it is located in Nottinghamshire in the United Kingdom, in what some readers may be familiar with as Robin Hood territory: Sherwood Forest.

Jones House & Studio #1 blends beautifully into its environment. Built in 1939 by the great mid-century modern architect A. Quincy Jones and his then wife Ruth Schneider as their personal home.