It was launched with a magazine in October 2000 by CEO Lara Hedberg Deam with architecture and design critic Karrie Jacobs as its editor-in-chief.

The blog achieved significant popularity at the time, and its creators wrote a spinoff book in 2011, It's Lonely in the Modern World.

[11] The site for the Dwell Home was a 12-acre plot of land that Wieler and Tung owned in Pittsboro, North Carolina, near Chapel Hill.

Then, Wieler and Tung came to Dwell's office in San Francisco to meet with Arieff and a panel of advisors to select the winning design.

[13] Soon after at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City, Dwell announced that Resolution: 4 Architecture (RES4) won the competition.

[11][14] Resolution: 4 Architecture's proposal, entitled "Modern Modular," used prefabricated modules that were affordably built in a factory, shipped to the site, and craned onto a concrete foundation, which housed the mechanical systems.

RES4's design used many windows and sliding glass doors for daylighting and views, and a roof deck includes an outdoor fireplace.