The C3 Cabin | Vandeventer + Carlander
The owners of this small house on Camano Island in Washington originally intended it to be a vacation cabin. After using it a short while, they soon decided to make it their full-time residence. Given the location and the quality of the space, that likely wasn’t a difficult decision to make.
They built the home themselves from a design by architect Tim Carlander of Vandeventer + Carlander Architects. He was faced with a number of requirements: The cabin had to be built on an existing 16′ by 22′ foundation, provide privacy from nearby neighbors, take advantage of an existing garden, and be easy for the clients to build themselves.
A shed roof atop a simple rectangular box met the requirement for simplicity of construction. The cabin is clad in galvanized metal and fiber cement panels for low maintenance and long life. One metal-clad wall extends from the cabin to screen the windows from the view of the neighbors or of anyone coming down the driveway, at the same time forming a protected outdoor room.
A sleeping loft surrounded by windows fits snugly under the high end of the roof. A small kitchen and bathroom are tucked below the loft. The living room has two sets of eight foot tall glass doors providing views of the garden and nearby waterways. With the expansive views and the light flooding in from the loft windows above, this small house is unlikely to ever feel claustrophobic.
The architect has given the space a very boat-like feel through the use of nautical finishes and fittings. The loft has a cable railing and is reached by a boat ladder, while the entire interior is lined with maple and cherry plywood fastened with exposed screws.
If you’d like to build your own C3 Cabin, the plans can be purchased through the Vandeventer + Carlander website.
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Photographs by Steve Keating Photography.
Text copyright 2012 SmallHouseBliss. All Rights Reserved.
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This is a wonderful house! I do wonder, where did you find such a nice boat ladder that could reach the loft? All of the ones I find online are very short and labelled “pontoon ladder.” Was this one custom-made? Thanks!
Gibt es eine Preisliste und Katalog ?
Wondering…. why you would slope the roof down to the front instead of the other way around? Any rain… snow… … rocks… will fall down in front of the doors.