Our 15 Favorite Stories of 2023

While we’d certainly say that each and every story is a special, beautiful snowflake—they are!—when you’re in any kind of publishing, things start to blend together. Here at Dwell, we’re no exception: in a year where, as usual, we published thousands of pieces, sometimes it’s hard to remember them all. We’re deeply appreciative of everyone who has let us into their lives for the over two decades we’ve been in business, but here are a few that we’re particularly proud of this year.

1. This Housing Center Provides Sanctuary for Starting Over

From our recently released November/December issue devoted to American design’s past, present, and future, the Ben Smith Welcome Home Center in New Orleans, designed by local firm OJT, demonstrates what design is capable of in its best moments: giving everyone—in this case, formerly incarcerated men adjusting to life on the "outside"—a comfortable, beautiful place to live.

2. Why I Returned to Renting After a Few Years of Home Ownership

Writer Rabekah Henderson’s personal essay about returning to renter-dom was one of our most read stories of the year, proving that the rent vs. buy dilemma shows no sign of leaving the crux of the American housing conversation. As one commenter wrote, "This article was really helpful for me. I appreciate that we aren’t the only couple going through these struggles."

3. The Wiyot Tribe Is Getting Its Land Back and Making California More Affordable

For our May/June issue centered around urban, shared outdoor spaces, journalist and photographer Kalen Goodluck went to Eureka, California, visiting the first community land trust developed under tribal law in the United States, where empty buildings are being turned into transitional housing, resulting in a moving story about thoughtful land usage.

4. A New Generation of Earthship Owners Looks for Climate Solutions in the Past

From our sustainability-focused January/February issue, New Mexico local Adele Oliveira profiled a group of friends who are taking the often-marveled after, otherworldly earthship, and reconsidering how it can be used as model of living. In it, one of them says: "I hope that, long term, we can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem—trying to find a way to make this sort of housing more scalable and affordable."

5. The Kardashians Are in Their Modern Farmhouse Era

Over the past two years, we’ve expanded our purview to explore more stories at the intersection of architecture, design and culture at large, like Managing Editor Jack Balderrama Morley’s deep dive on the Kardashian-Jenner real estate industrial complex is the perfect read for pop culture enthusiasts and American history obsessives alike.

6. Villages for Unhoused People Are Popping Up in More Cities. What’s It Like to Live in Them?

There have been many stories in the past few years about "tiny houses" as a solve for the housing crisis, temporary or otherwise, but there’s been far less written about the actual lived experience of spending time in one. Writer Hannah Wallace looked to bridge that gap in our March/April issue (The Money Issue), speaking to three residents of micro-shelter communities in Oregon to find out how they hold up.

7. Swimply, and the Public/Private Pool Divide

For our May/June issue—which had a few fun stories on pools—Dwell columnist Alana Hope Levinson went long on Swimply, a recently introduced company that lets you rent someone else’s pool, and how it fits into the past and present of water access in our country.

8. The Italian Huts Where Mountaineering Was Born

Perhaps one of Dwell’s most ambitious stories to date had writer Jenna Sauers and photographer Benjamin Rasmussen hiking the Italian alps, and finding much more than just great views, for our July/August Travel issue cover story.

9. How One Renter Turned Her Loft Apartment Into an ’80s Dance Studio

In this Guides piece, dancer-choreographer Angela Trimbur takes us inside her Brooklyn home/studio and offers tips for how to designate a personal creative space within your home. If you don’t read the piece, at least watch the video.

10. Confessions of New York City’s Traveling Pool Guy

This summer for Dwell’s Beach Week, when we published daily stories "celebrating the best place on earth," writer Molly Osberg interviewed a man who has perhaps the best job in New York City—and he doesn’t even live there anymore!

11. For These Seniors, There’s No Such Thing As Being Too Old for Roommates

We also published a number of lovely stories "exploring the highs and lows of cohabitation" for Roommates Week, but this one, about the rise of home-sharing platforms geared toward aging adults, really hit upon a larger current conversation around the value of shared living spaces.

12. The Life-Changing Magic of "Knolling"

People LOVE things that are lined up, as this very popular story from writer Tyler Watamanuk about an organizational method born from the studio practices of artists, designers, and DIYers demonstrated.

13. Budget Breakdown: An Indiana Couple Hand-Build the Farmhouse of Their Dreams for $166K

The architects, designers, and homeowners whose projects we feature are often passionate, but few have been quite as excited as Audi Culver and Ivy Siosi, who took it upon themselves to get into it in the comments of our Instagram with readers who couldn’t wrap their heads around how little money the couple spent on building their home featured in our March/April issue.

14. Budget Breakdown: A Family of Five Gut Their Rustic A-Frame Themselves—for $77K

Indeed, our Budget Breakdown series remains one of our most popular, and with good reason: where else will you find out how a couple like Jennifer and Kenard Bunkley pulled off this upstate New York cabin renovation for less than $80,000?

15. The Cost vs. Time DIY Conundrum

Do-It-Yourself content online shows no sign of abating online, which is why this Guides piece by writer Jessica Goodman is so helpful: when is it worth taking on a challenge yourself, and when should you just give up and hire a professional?

Top photo by Benjamin Rasmussen

Related Reading:

The Top 10 Prefab Homes of 2023

These Are Dwell’s Most Popular Homes of 2023