Contemporary coastal cottage on Bowen Island, BC
Visitors to coastal British Columbia can enjoy ocean views from this small cottage on Bowen Island, just a short ferry ride from Vancouver. Other windows look into the adjacent forest of majestic cedars and Douglas firs.
The cottage is actually a coach house, being built over a two-car garage. However, because it is located on a slope, the cottage has its front door only a couple of steps above grade.
The cottage has a simple rectangular floor plan encompassing roughly 600 ft2 (55.7 m2). Aside from the bathroom in one corner, it is essentially one open volume with a freestanding closet unit in the middle, leaving wide passageways between the main living space on one side and the bedroom on the other.
The kitchen has a galley layout, an efficient design that works particularly well for small kitchens. Instead of a separate dining area, the extra-wide peninsula includes an eating bar. Note that the eating bar is not raised above the work surface and there are also no upper cabinets, keeping the kitchen more open to the sitting area.
Compensating for the lost upper cabinets, the lower ones have drawers that provide easy access to items at the back, making it possible to utilize more of the under-counter space. The money saved on upper cabinets would pay for the upgrade to drawers. As a bonus, drawers make the storage space accessible to those with limited mobility. The large closet next to the front door might also include some pantry storage.
Rather than being centered along the counter, the kitchen sink was pushed right to the windows, presumably so that you can enjoy the view while cleaning up. Kitchen designers normally recommend having at least 18″ of counter space on either side of the sink, but the width of the peninsula does allow a drainboard to be placed behind the sink instead of next to it.
If you’re going to be in the Vancouver area and would like to stay in the cottage, it can be booked via Airbnb.
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Photographs courtesy of Airbnb.
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I like the simplicity of this little house. It’s small but open so it doesn’t look small. Just dreaming…………………….. š
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Great ideas incorporated in the tiny house. No loft, a lower bedroom, no upper kit cabinets, lots of drawers.
When I was homeless in Duluth MN I were rented a room in a former hotel and I used plastic milk crates to create a walled off area for my sleeping pad separating it from my reading chair. Worked fine.
The bed behind a standing wall is perfect. Why the full size frige? and 4 burner cooktop? Only two will do, and small frige best.