Small House Bliss

Small house designs with big impact


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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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AnnaMarie’s Cottage

AnnaMarie's Cottage

Reader Steve Vandewalle has sent us photos of the small cottage he built for his wife. He was able to take a lot that was considered “unbuildable” and carve out a building area just big enough for a compact one-bedroom home…chalk up another advantage for small houses! Steve is a real craftsman; the fireplace, the kitchen cabinets and a couple of light fixtures were all hand-built by him. We’ll let Steve tell you more……


AnnaMarie’s Cottage

After rebuilding two older homes, the idea of building from the ground up was very appealing. We bought the land at the end of our street and I set out to design and build MY idea of the perfect cabin. Building the cabin was such a positive experience that when the lot across the street from our home became available we bought it—cheap, because it was “unbuildable”—too small to install a septic system and the required 100% reserve area. But, the view was awesome. We had to tear out and move a driveway, re-arrange things, and ultimately ended up with a 20′ x 20′ building site.

The structure had to comply with ‘green building’ standards, wildland fire resistive construction standards, seismic, wind, snow load, and slope challenges too. Toughest standard of all—the entire design had to be my wife AnnaMarie’s idea of the perfect cottage.

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A container house in hiding by Leger-Wanaselja Architecture

shipping container house by Leger-Wanaselja Architecture

At first glance, most people would not notice anything unusual about this small contemporary house in California. With the ends clad in lap siding, you have to look closely to see that it is constructed from recycled shipping containers. A roof with wide overhangs, a feature not often seen on container houses, further helps to disguise its origins. Leger-Wanaselja Architecture designed the house based on three 40-foot containers. Two are stacked on the left, and a third was cut in half and stacked on the right. The two stacks are joined by a double-height atrium-like space with walls of glass on the front and back.

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Eel’s Nest by Anonymous Architects

photo by Steve King

The Eel’s Nest is a small modern house in Los Angeles, California built on a steep and tiny lot of 15′ by 52′ (about 4.6 m by 15.8 m). It’s not uncommon to find rowhouses built on similarly-sized lots in some North American cities, but lots that small are extremely rare in Los Angeles. The name “Eel’s Nest” comes from the term used in Japan to describe very narrow building lots.

As the property is located in a neighborhood that is starting to densify with townhouses and small apartment buildings, architect Simon Storey of Anonymous Architects applied to the city for planning permission to build an extra story in height. With permission granted, the architect designed a house that stretches vertically and from lot line to lot line, achieving the maximum possible floor area. It has 960 ft2 (89.2 m2) of space divided over two floors, plus a garage tucked below. The lack of side setbacks did necessitate the use of a fire-rated exterior finish, for which Storey chose cement plaster.

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Karen’s backyard cottage by New Avenue Homes

This attractive little cottage in Berkeley, California was built behind an existing small house. Karen, the homeowner, needed additional space for regular long-term guests. Since Berkeley allows accessory dwelling units, she hired New Avenue Homes to build one for her. New Avenue Homes offers a turn-key approach to getting a small house built, managing the design, permitting and construction processes.

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