interior home: small home design

Showing posts with label small home design. Show all posts

NH Architects Interviewed About Cottage Renovation

Country Almanac’s Small Room Decorating, a national magazine designed to help homeowners maximize the living space in their small home or cottage, loved the 400 square foot cottage renovation recently completed by Bonin Architects and Associates in New London, NH.

The cottage renovation project had two primary goals: creating an open, efficient space that looks and feels larger than it really is and reusing as much as the original building material as possible.

The result is an efficient use of space, with a new cathedral ceiling and sleeping loft created when the original ceiling was removed. Apartment-sized appliances maximize space in the kitchen.

Creative storage space was addressed with shelves, cubbies, benches, and hooks.

NH Lakefront Cottage Renovation

One of our recently completed projects is the renovation of a lakefront cottage on Pleasant Lake, New London, New Hampshire.

The property was subdivided and had originally had two cabins on it. A cabin on “The Point” was torn down to open up the lake view from the other cottage. Some of its materials were salvaged for use in the main cottage renovation.

The new cottage serves as a three-season entertainment area for family and friends with lakeside access and wonderful seasonal views.

Master Planning of the lot for a future primary residence was also completed, accounting for CSPA lot coverage, setbacks and storm water management.

Photos by Great Island Photography, LLC

Small Home Design

One of our clients is building a lakefront cottage on their property in southern New Hampshire for their visiting children and grandchildren to use during the summer months. Some of their requirements included:

Large porch for entertaining and to capture lake views
Plenty of bedrooms for extended family
A first-floor bedroom to address any future accessibility issues
Plenty of storage for seasonal items
Large enough common areas (including kitchen, dining, and living areas) for guests to feel comfortable in the cottage when not gathering at the main house

The preliminary design addresses these goals nicely. The small home design is based on a traditional cape form with 4 foot knee walls on the second floor with some classic cottage detailing, such as the shingles in the gable dormers, larger rake and eave overhangs. A large 8’ porch provides access to the entry, and wraps around both the side and front of the home to maximize views of the lake and bring the outdoors into the home. The dining room features French doors which open to the porch, and the living room has large windows which also help take full advantage of the lake scenery. A fireplace will help take the chill off of autumn nights.

The open dining / living areas include built-ins for plateware, and the kitchen includes a small breakfast counter and stools. A large walk-in pantry provides additional storage space for the kitchen, and the mechanical room is housed conveniently behind the pantry pass-through door. The L in the stairs provides the perfect spot for an entry closet, while a small bench allows swimmers to towel off and remove sandals before entering the cottage.

A first-floor bedroom includes dual closets and a full bath with whirlpool tub / shower. A large window in the Master Bedroom also looks out over the porch and the lake.

The second floor has three bedrooms for extended family, each having large closets. Dormers allow for additional windows to meet egress and ventilation requirements in the bedrooms. The chimney on the second floor is hidden in a large storage area that can be used for seasonal items.

The efficient design will lend itself to using SIP panels and should provide a fantastic opportunity to heat the home with radiant floor heat if the client chooses to head in that direction.

Small Green Home Design

I met Pat and Andy at a Log and Timber Frame Home Show, and shortly after, they asked me to design their vacation / retirement home on their property in northern Maine. While they like timber frame homes, they thought it might be too much for this modest project.

Their project goals were:

Small footprint to minimize carbon footprint
Energy efficiency in all four New England seasons
Environmentally-conscious to minimize site impact
Low maintenance and durability, easy to open and close up
Security in rural setting
Take advantage of lake views
Possible addition in future

Translating their goals into an energy efficient, small home design was not a problem, as Pat and Andy had collected a three-ring binder full of notes, pictures, and ideas. The home design, at 1100 square feet, is both energy efficient and practical.

The plan is a passive solar design, with the first floor receiving the low winter sun in early morning and late evening under the varied depth of the porch roof. The second floor, meanwhile, has a moderate roof overhang and will always provide abundant light

Natural cross ventilation will come from the east, south, and west elevations. A cupola provides release for summer heat, and also adds to the architectural aesthetics.

The north side of the building includes a first floor laundry with a storage bench under the window. This is the most buildable side of the design, and will be the location of a future addition to the home.

A central stairway fits nicely in the small home design, eliminating the need for hallways and keeping the footprint to a minimum. Its openness provides natural light between floors and increases ventilation.