We've published hundreds of weird and wonderful residences on Dezeen over the past year, from super-skinny city houses to wintery chalets, underground bunkers and revamped farmhouses. Architecture editor Amy Frearson picks her favourites. More about Dezeen's top 10 houses of 2014
A white spiral staircase that contrasts with the surrounding stone walls is one of several modern interventions that architect Elisabete Saldanha has added to this converted farmhouse in Portugal (+ slideshow). More about Elisabete Saldanha combines historical features with contemporary details at House in Guimarães
The owners of this brick house in the Netherlands, by Reitsema & Partners, can drive their car up a shallow ramp into a sheltered parking area that frames a view of the low-lying landscape. More about Villa SR by Reitsema & Partners has a parking space driven through its middle
This wooden summer house raised off the forest floor on three concrete beams was designed by architect Johan Sundberg for a patch of woodland by the Swedish coastline (+ slideshow). More about Timber summer house by Johan Sundberg expresses "Scandinavian architectural DNA"
Hexagonal slate tiles cover this extension to a west London home designed by architects Christian Ducker and Tyeth Gundry to create a bright and spacious new kitchen (+ slideshow). More about Gundry and Ducker's Slate House is an extension clad with hexagonal tiles
The concrete and chipboard components of this irregularly shaped holiday home in Japan have been designed to deal with the difficult conditions of its woodland site, from restricted lighting to hilly topography (+ slideshow). More about House by Double Negatives Architecture adapted to suit a difficult woodland site
This rust-coloured copper home extension by British studio Poulsom Middlehurst sits above the red-brick walls and clay-tiled roof of a Victorian terrace in east London. More about Poulsom Middlehurst adds copper-clad extension to east London attic flat
This small black family house in Copenhagen was designed by Danish architect Sigurd Larsen to be built for a budget of just £95,000 (+ slideshow). More about Sigurd Larsen completes low-cost family house in Copenhagen
London firm Stanton Williams has completed a house in leafy north London with a timber and stone exterior, green sedum roofs and an entrance that brings residents over a bridge (+ slideshow). More about Hampstead home by Stanton Williams designed to evoke "the spirit of a tree house"
This take on a traditional Slovenian cottage by Dekleva Gregorič Arhitekti features cast concrete walls inlaid with chunks of stone to create a rugged texture (+ slideshow). More about Rural Slovenian cottage by Dekleva Gregorič has walls of stone set into concrete
Vo Trong Nghia Architects has presented its third prototype for low-cost housing in Vietnam, which combines the lightweight structure of the first model with the durability of the second (+ slideshow). More about Vo Trong Nghia's latest low-cost house is "stable enough to withstand natural disasters"
A spiral staircase rises through the trough-shaped floors of this concrete residence in Japan by local studio Takeshi Hosaka Architects (+ slideshow). More about Spiral stairs puncture hilly floors inside Takeshi Hosaka's House in Byobugaura
More than 900 bamboo poles were used to construct this home, designed by architect Enrique Mora Alvarado for a site in a remote Ecuadorian rainforest (+ slideshow). More about Low-cost house by Enrique Mora Alvarado built using rainforest wood and bamboo
Squeezed between two existing buildings in Barcelona, this family home by Alventosa Morell Arquitectes features a steel frame, a timber facade and two street-facing balconies (+ slideshow). More about Alventosa Morell slots a four-storey house between two blocks in Barcelona
Mirrors create a reflective facade on this pair of holiday homes in the South Tyrolean Dolomites, but have been coated with a glare-reducing film to help prevent bird collisions (+ slideshow). More about Peter Pichler's mirror-clad guesthouses are designed to be visible to birds
Japanese studios SNARK and OUVI have slotted a six-metre-wide house with a lopsided roof between two buildings on the edge of a cemetery (+ slideshow). More about Asymmetric House in Tourimachi slots between two buildings
Architect Jochen Specht has doubled the size of a 1960s house in rural Austria by encasing its stone walls behind a new facade made up of dark timber, concrete and plenty of windows (+ slideshow). More about Jochen Specht envelops a 1960s house in a new timber and concrete facade
Eight glass-walled gardens offer views of greenery to the occupants of this minimally furnished house in Cuernavaca, Mexico, by architecture firm Goko (+ slideshow). More about Goko's House of Eight Gardens frames a variety of open-air courtyards
This house in the English countryside by London firm Wilkinson King Architects features red cedar cladding and a folded roof designed to evoke the line of hills on the horizon (+ slideshow). More about Sussex House by Wilkinson King Architects boasts cedar-clad walls and a ridged roof
Four small blocks fan out from the facade of this white concrete house on a Portuguese island by local studio M-