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 townhouse is located on an alley near the center of the Danish port town of Holbæk. It was built in 1894 and has been modernized since then. With only 49 m2 (527 ft2) over two levels to work with, the owners have used a number of tricks to get maximum utility from the small floor plan.
The front door opens into a narrow stair hall. The hall proceeds straight ahead to the kitchen, but it is such a tight squeeze past the stairs that it hardly qualifies as a hallway. Possibly the stairs were updated to meet current building standards at some point, with the original stairs being narrower than the current ones. With that being the case, the hallway seems to be used mostly as a storage space with the main circulation path to the kitchen cutting to the left through the living and dining rooms.
3×9 House is located on a narrow street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Named for the size of the lot it sits on, 3×9 House is an older house that was renovated under the direction of Vietnamese firm a21studio. Their objective was to make the home a more pleasant and practical space for two people.
This tiny terraced fisherman’s cottage is located in the seaside resort town of Bray, Ireland. Built in the 1830′s, it had fallen into disrepair and was derelict when the owner engaged DMVF Architects to design a renovation. The goals of the project were to restore the exterior of the protected heritage structure and to modernize its interior.
With only 25 m2 (270 ft2) of interior space, there was very little room to fit the requirements of modern life. Architect Colm Doyle’s solution was to design a plywood box that sits in the tiny cottage, defining the spaces around it. The sitting room is to one side, the kitchen is on the opposite corner, and they are linked by a small entry hall alongside the box. A staircase built into the box leads up to a sleeping loft on top, and a bathroom and storage space are contained within it. The box itself was constructed of furniture grade birch plywood by skilled cabinetmakers. The warm tones and smooth finish of the plywood work well with the white walls and charcoal floor tiles.
This charming bungalow home is to be found in the Alberta Arts District of Portland, Oregon. Alberta Arts is a funky neighborhood known for its artist community. The area has been gentrifying in recent years, with many of the older houses being spruced up or completely renovated. This small house was built in 1912 and was extensively remodeled a few years ago. It features the broad eaves supported by knee braces, exposed rafter tails and decorated porch structure that are hallmarks of the Arts & Crafts bungalow style.
This 4 bedroom home, constructed in the mid-sixties, has the horizontal lines, large expanses of glass and open floor plan that are typical of Mid-Century Modern architecture. It was updated in the late nineties with a renovation overseen by renowned Swedish architect Thomas Sandell.
Gites Castelnaut is a recently modernized house in the tiny village of Laroque de Fa in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southwestern France. The roughly 135 m2 (1,450 ft2) cottage has a straightforward rectangular floor plan with living areas on the ground floor and bedrooms up.
photo by Justin Alexander
This 74 m2 (797 ft2) brick structure was built in 1890 to serve as a blacksmith’s workshop, and has housed various industrial uses since then. In 2003 it was bought and converted into a two bedroom residence by designer Richard Peters. The east half of the residence is a double-height combination living and dining room, while the west half contains a bedroom and bathroom on each of the two levels. A bank of kitchen cabinets and storage closets along the south wall helps to buffer the occupants from the noise of the adjacent street.
