The winners of our 24th biennial program celebrate their settings

Visually tied to nature, elegant yet practical, rooted in the region but not bound by it ― these are some of the qualities that define Western living at its best. And they are particularly apparent in the winners of the 2003–2004 Western Home Awards ― cosponsored by Sunset and the American Institute of Architects. The jury (pictured at left), composed of architects and Sunset’s Home staff, selected 11 winning projects out of nearly 500 entries submitted by architects from the 13 Western states. Each home embodies a special sense of place, from the sod-roofed getaway on a bluff in Washington’s San Juan Islands (above) to the mining town-inspired community in Breckenridge, Colorado, and the restoration of an early modern icon in Los Angeles.