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.
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.
La Luge is a small vacation cottage in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec. Not far from a major ski hill, it was designed by Yiacouvakis Hamelin Architectes as a retreat for enjoying the winter season and its activities. To ensure comfort in cold weather, the cottage is equipped with a fireplace, cozy built-in beds, a sauna and a hot tub. Window walls on all four sides connect the occupants with the landscape while the surrounding forest maintains their privacy.
Following the 2006 housing market crash in the United States, Revelations Architects/Builders set out to design a small house alternative to the bloated McMansion that had become so prevalent there. They aimed to distill housing down to the basics of providing space for eating, sleeping, bathing and socializing, while making efficient use of resources.
The result was the E.D.G.E. (Experimental Dwelling for a Greener Environment). It consists of two modules containing the service areas of the house, with the kitchen in one and the bathroom in the other. The modules are intended to be prefabricated, ensuring that the plumbing, mechanical and cabinetry work is done in a controlled setting. Once those modules have been put in place, the space between is filled in with walls of glass to enclose the living/dining area. The whole structure is covered by a butterfly roof (one that slopes towards the center), facilitating rain-water collection. Utilities are housed in a small bump-out at one end of the house.
© Nina Tolstrup
Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama designed this modern beach hut for her own family. Just an hour outside London, it sits on a tiny patch of seashore, one in a row of 25 tiny vacation cottages. Small though it may be, the cozy hut was designed to comfortably accommodate her family of four during vacations stays in its 388 ft2 (36 m2).
The Sunset Cabin merges into the landscape of its shoreline setting on Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada. Designed by Taylor Smyth Architects, it is a highly refined variant of the traditional cottage country “bunkie”, a tiny cabin used to provide additional sleeping quarters for the main cottage or cabin. At 275 ft2 (25.5 m2), this one is larger than most. There is room for a full-sized bed with storage drawers below, a couple of good-sized closets and a small sitting area around the wood stove. And, unlike most bunkies, the Sunset Cabin has its own bathroom consisting of a composting toilet and an outdoor shower with a view of the lake.
living room to kitchen | photo by Vicenç Prats, STARP Estudi
Architect Roger Sauquet designed this adaptive reuse of an old brick stable in Castellar del Vallés, Spain, not far from Barcelona. The building’s 55 m2 (592 ft2) of floorspace was sufficient for a large living room, an eat-in kitchen with built-in seating, one bedroom and a small office.
This home, called Small House With a Great View by the architects, also has a great layout. It was designed by A1 Architects for a family with two young children. Located on a hill overlooking a village near Prague, the site offers pastoral views of the countryside below and the nearby Tocník castle. The architects followed the local building tradition of modest gable-roofed houses. While the exterior is attractive and welcoming, it is the interior layout that really caught our attention. The house has only 115 m2 (1,238 ft2) of interior floor area but A1 Architects were able to design a small floor plan that packs in a lot of living space, and it is worth having a look at the floor plans to see how they did it.
