Small House Bliss

Small house designs with big impact


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Weekend Fun: The Inshriach Bothy, an artist studio in the Scottish Highlands

The Inshriach Bothy by The Bothy Project

The Bothy Project is an artist-driven initiative to develop small studio spaces for artist residencies in unique locations across Scotland. Some of the studios will make use of space in existing structures while others will be new builds. The Inshriach Bothy was the first of these live/work studios. It sits surrounded by birch trees and heather in a small hollow in the Cairngorms National Park. It was built in 2011 through the efforts of artist Bobby Niven, architectural designer Iain MacLeod and a team of volunteer builders, supported by grants from the Royal Scottish Academy.

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Refugio Pangal, a modern cabin in Chile by EMa

The Pangal Cabin by Etcheberrigaray+Matuschka Arquitectos (EMa)

This small cabin sits on an arid hillside in Casablanca, a grape growing region of central Chile about an hour’s drive northwest of Santiago. It has expansive views of the valleys and ravines below. The clients wanted an unpretentious refuge that would be efficient to build and to use.

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The Bensfield Tree House by Blue Forest

The Bensfield Tree House in Sussex by Blue Forest

Located on a farm in the Sussex, England countryside is this small house built around a very big tree. This isn’t a tree house in the sense of actually being supported by the tree — it does have its own foundation — however it is raised above the ground on stilts and has a large oak tree growing up through the middle of it. The Bensfield Tree House was one of the first tree houses built by Blue Forest, a company specializing in constructing elaborate tree houses and similar structures for hotels and private clients.

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The Kishigawa Residence, small courtyard house by Mitsutomo Matsunami

The Kishigawa Residence, a small courtyard house by Mitsutomo Matsunami

The small house in Japan is located in a rural area of scattered houses set among rice fields. It was built for a sushi chef whose hobby is cars. Those interests led the client to request two specific features for architect Mitsutomo Matsunami to include in the design. The first was for a view of his cars from inside the house. The second was for an irori, a traditional Japanese fire pit that can be used for cooking. The house has a very modern external appearance with shed-roofed forms, a living roof on the garage, and an exterior wall that leans outward on one side. However the layout and interior incorporate many elements of traditional Japanese architecture, including the irori.

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VolgaDacha, a small house in the countryside by Bureau Bernaskoni

VolgaDacha, a small vacation house by Bureau Bernaskoni

This small vacation house, or dacha, is located on the upper Volga River northwest of Moscow. It provides a family of four with a quiet country retreat from their busy lives in the city. From their dacha they have views of the river and an Orthodox church dating from the 17th century.

Most of Russia’s dachas were built during the Soviet era, during which they were limited in size to a single story of 25 m2 (269 ft2) and typically did not have a heating system or indoor plumbing. VolgaDacha was designed with a traditional appearance by Bureau Bernaskoni. Like a typical dacha, it has one story and a large attic loft (attic space was not counted during the Soviet era) and is constructed of wood. However it is larger and was given modern conveniences. It has good insulation and is equipped with heated floors, a woodstove and an indoor bathroom.

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A tropical island escape in the city

An island-style cottage in Seattle

This colorful cottage looks like it might be on one of the Caribbean islands, but it actually sits in the middle of north central Seattle, Washington. Using wide board paneling, buckets of paint and a lot of imagination, someone transformed this small dwelling into their own tropical paradise. It is complete with a thatched tiki-style shelter in the yard for enjoying a rum punch in the shade.

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“Seven”, a tall and narrow house by APOLLO Architects

"Seven", a small house by APOLLO Architects

Tokyo is home to many small houses shoehorned onto even smaller lots. Today’s small house sits on a lot so small, it previously served as a single parking space. With only 29.92 m2 (322 ft2) of buildable area, architect Satoshi Kurosaki of APOLLO Architects had no choice but to build up, creating a home with four levels plus an attic space. All those levels are connected by a switchback stair that rises up through the center of the house. The name “Seven” actually refers to the number of flights in the staircase.

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The Hailey Residence, a small modern house by Richard Neutra

The Hailey Residence, a small modern house by Richard Neutra

This small house in the Hollywood Hills was designed in 1959 by legendary modernist architect Richard Neutra. The home has either been very well maintained through the years or lovingly restored, appearing like a time capsule from the 50′s. It contains signature Neutra elements such as a wall of glass, low-slung built-in furniture and a large open masonry fireplace. Neutra had a reputation for paying close attention to his clients’ requirements and for producing very practical designs that combined aesthetic appeal with function and comfort.

The street side, sitting only a few steps from the roadway, is mostly closed with just a window for the kitchen and a line of clerestory windows that bring natural light into the home’s two bathrooms. The other side, with a view of the Hollywood Hills, is largely glass with a floor-to-ceiling glass wall running the entire length of the main living space. A large roof overhang provides shade for those south-facing windows. A similar roof cantilever at the front forms an open carport just off the street.

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