Small House Bliss

Small house designs with big impact


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The Poplar Garden House by Onix

The tiny Poplar Garden House by Onix

We’re now well into Spring in the northern hemisphere, and many people will be busy planting and tending their gardens. For apartment dwellers, that may mean just a couple of planters squeezed onto a small balcony. Some European cities offer their residents a very nice amenity in the form of allotment gardens. Small plots of land are leased out to citizens at a nominal yearly rent, giving them an opportunity to grow their own fresh food while enjoying outdoor leisure. Many people will spend the weekend at their allotments, taking care of their plants, socializing with other gardeners, and just relaxing.

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A contemporary wooden cottage by Prodesi

Small contemporary cottage in Stribrna Skalice by Prodesi

This contemporary cottage faces the Sázava River in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is mainly intended to serve as a weekend and summer vacation home. An old small house on the site was beyond repair and was removed, leaving behind a stone basement. Architect Pavel Horák of Czech studio Prodesi designed a new cottage to sit on the old foundation, gaining space by cantilevering the floor on three sides.

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Modern vacation cabins at the Hölick Sea Resort in Sweden

Modern cabins at the Hölick Sea Resort

Hölick Sea Resort has operated for many years as a traditional tenting campground 300 km north of Stockholm. It sits at the tip of a peninsula, surrounded by sandy beaches and natural forest. The resort already had a few small cabins but the owners wanted to add some more modern cabins to appeal to a wider clientèle. They approached architect Mats Edlund, who collaborated with architects Henrietta Palmer and Matts Ingman to produce two designs, the larger of which we will look at today.

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A House In the Garden by ARCHTEAM

A House In the Garden, a small narrow-lot house by ARCHTEAM

Today we visit a small timber framed house in the Czech Republic. It is located on the outskirts of the historic town of Kromeriz, on a long and narrow lot with mature trees. ARCHTEAM worked within the constraints of the lot to produce a design that is closed on the sides but open to the backyard. The architects describe it as being like “a piece of furniture in the middle of the garden”.

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Casa en los Guindos by DOM

Casa en los Guindos, a small modern house by Rodrigo del Castillo

© Alejandro del Castillo

This small modern house is located near Villarrica, Chile and has a view over a valley to the Villarrica Volcano. For a relatively small house, it has a fairly complex and dynamic shape. The house consists of two opposing shed-roofed volumes separated by a small courtyard. Architect Rodrigo del Castillo of Chilean studio DOM designed the two volumes to correspond to the client’s request for a house with a separate flexible-use space.

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The Sea and Sky Cottage on Cape Breton Island

The Sea and Sky Cottage on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

photo by Stewart Applegath

The Cape Breton landscape is dotted with small gable roofed houses, often shingled and with minimal roof overhangs. The Sea and Sky Cottage was designed by architect Craig Applegath and artist Stewart Applegath to resemble those vernacular houses. However instead of the small, closed-off rooms that would be found in older houses, this updated version has an open floor plan and a ceiling that vaults up to the roof ridge.

The cottage sits on an exposed grassy bluff with sweeping views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bright red shutters protect the windows from the storms that regularly sweep in from the Gulf, bringing winds of up to 130 km per hour.

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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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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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