This House Will Help You Live Longer

There's an essential secret to a happy life that was well known even 150 years ago: Make your home a sanctuary of self-care, and you'll never have to look elsewhere for happiness. In the early 1870s, when the man behind the nom de plume Mark Tain was building his house in Connecticut, he and his wife, Olivia, had two special directives for their architect: a conservatory for their riotous house-plants, and a third-floor billiards room that would double as an office (the original man cave?).

So today, ask yourself, what exactly are you doing at home live your best life? With all the choices available-from smart light switches for instant relaxation to drugstore face masks-you're now more capable than ever before of designing and stocking your home with an eye toward wellness. It's what Samuel Clemens believed, and what House Beautiful has advocated since 1896: If you design your home well, you'll live well. With a dedicated team of sponsors and pros (builder Michael Ladisic, architect Linda D'Orazio MacArthur, kitchen-and-bath designer Matthew Quinn, and interior designer Sherry Hart), we built a home in Atlanta from the ground up, including a kitchen engineered to inspire healthy eating and a no-excuse fitness studio. Go ahead: Pick a paint color, a gadget, or a whole frame of mind, and let it help you triumph every day.