I am finally getting around to sharing the photos of this recent 440 SF Accessory Dwelling Unit. It is an unusual shape due to many constraints including preserving the bay views from the main house, and preserving as much garden as possible. It is also located on an active landslide and in a wildland -urban interface with strict wild fire safety provisions.
Warm sandy limeplaster walls below and painted fibercement & Boral above. Heavy timber raftertails, no roof ventinga nice window to garden with cheerful green coral trim (photo by Willa McBride) view through kitchen to entrycelebrating completion (photo by Willa McBride)celebrating completion (Photo by Willa McBride)dining area (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)Fir beam and post and guardrail with cute light (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)Loft bedroom (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)compact sink with mirror and window above (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)Bathroom (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)custom bathroom shelving & fir and copper towel bars (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)South window (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)East window (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)Entry & Ships Ladder (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)Exposed fir floorjoists and fir plywood with square LED lights (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)small kitchen – cabinets by Andrew Franklin (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)Living room/ Dining room view to south patio (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)Ships ladder to loft (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)East side Entry door – with architect reflected and builder inside
My client for a remodel of a 1960s house on Galiano Island invited my family up to see the almost finished house. (a few details and exterior paint not finished yet)
The location is truly spectacular and I was very happy with the improvements that we made. Improvements included: on the practical side: tightening up the exterior envelope (including new fibercement rainscreen siding, all new windows, & insulation), upgrading to an energy efficient heating system, and adding a HRV, and then rearranging the interior extensively to simplifying and improve the transitions between spaces. The lower level was majorly improved, but it was a pretty straight forward rearrangement breaking it up into more usable rooms, guest suite, familyroom, office and storage. I didn’t include those photos.
The main event is the view to the south to Active Pass and all the way to the Olympic National Park 70 miles to the south. We spent many hours enjoying the view of wildlife and boats from the covered porch.
View of the house from the water. we simplified the roofline and deckView from the gate – Red windows and trim on this side to give it some personality from the road. New cedar entry porch with benches was a big improvement for easy access for all. (Old one had uneven stone steps down from driveway then back up several steps to the porch.) (I & AI added the ferns to the photo in the foreground, and strangely also a fish amongst the ferns) enjoying the viewBC Ferry Salish Heron with Mayne Island, Prevost Island, Pender Island, and The Olympics beyondEnjoying the viewLong south side covered porch. We eliminated the non structural posts that went to the roof and did not miss them despite my concerns that it might look odd without some posts. Enjoying the fir postkitchen transition to living and dining room – vaulted ceiling to flat ceiling. This was a tricky structural bit for the builder because he had to modify the existing trusses and I am thankful that the owners saw the value in making the transition what it should be rather than the easiest way. Kitchen counters are Paperstone – made from recycled paper and both warm to the touch and acoustically dampening. Livingroom – My favorite detail is the steel beam supporting the wood stove shelflooking downtown the bedroom hallway – we made it more private but kept a slot at the top of the wall to let light through. Aimable recessed light at the end illuminates a painting. Looking past entry toward kitchen – ceiling transition and four fir posts creating an elegant transitionmoonlight and ferryInterior window detail – painted wood jamb on all 4 sides. Another view of the window detailRelocated stairs to the lower level. (Old ones were in the prime real estate between kitchen and dining room.)
Looking down on the big room – I love the flooring – It is existing, structural tongue and groove fir subfloor, but it was lighter and kind of pickled with dark marine grade caulk/ filler between the boards. We thought of putting new flooring on top, but the boards were so nice and long, which is unusual these days. Once we put on the dark stain the super nice figured grain popped and we loved it. The indirect LED strip lighting atop the collar ties also worked out well. The electrician did a great job and knew to stop the lights a bit shy of the ends to minimize bright spots. (This photo accentuates the bright spots) Before shot of the flooring/ structural subfloor with younger Èowyn.I had a goal to be very particular about the clips for the shower glass. So often the clips are not given much thought and they ruin the simple clean look. (First I tried to talk the builder into no clips at the bottom, recessing the glass into the curb, but they were not game to try this detail. The green floor tile is Arto and the shower floor and walls is Fireclay.Èowyn likes the big window looking into the woodsI was proud of this built-in brass towel bar. (Kind of wish the electrical devices were more orderly/ aligned and in a real photo shoot Id probably not have a used towel. Oh well)High tech- low tech – this is the bidet/ heated toilet seat controller and also the handmade wood toilet paper holder with a found gnarled stick. Another custom brass towel bar – this one with ash. You can also see the cool grain in the floor and the mudroom floor tile by Arto. I thought I maybe specified too many pegs in the mudroom, but every single one was being used on the day I was there. Another picture of the green hex Arto tile transitioning to fir flooring. The decorative cold air return cover for the forced air system is in the base of the linen cabinet – painted white to match the cabinet. We had fun with the sun rays over the back door (replacing glass that just caused the mudroom to overheat) and John McBride carved us some more diamond posts for the new covered porch. (Porch is the only addition to the house) This is a photo of the architect’s dog tracking water into the clients recently finished house. Also a photo of very nice green (Elder Green by Arto..photo doesn’t do it justice) tile floor in the entry that can take a little water no problem.This is another view of the big room. Big bifold doors connect the space to the garden and orchard to the west. Ample lighting in the room is provided by indirect LEDs shining up and cable lights for task lighting over the kitchen and dining room. You can’t see all the added insulation in the roof and air sealing and new windows and doors to keep the space warm in the rainy season.Here you can see the ash diamond posts at the end of island that match the redwood ones outside and also the tiled backsplash..somewhat random but also a pattern.A view of the mudroom – pendant by Metrolighting and painted shelving, pretty mushroom Arto tile floor, splash of color in the stained glass (fabricated by Feral Studios, designed by yours truly) I’m not going to bother with the not so nice before shot, but I was very happy with the lighting in this room after construction – Three of these large pendants from Metro Lighting in Berkeley.
This photo captures the four fir columns with foyer with slate floor to the north, bedroom and bathroom wing to west, living and dining to south and kitchen to the east. While most walls are simple painted surfaces, the four columns add some warm fir wood and organize the space.
Here are a few more photos: 1) Lower floor TV room – nice the way the TV disappears into the dark wall. 2) Primary bath curbless shower 3) Burnt orange Powder room with interior window to adjacent skylight 4) Looking in from the front door 5) Dining room 6) Kitchen – Kitchen features paperstone countertops and dark cabinets…a cantilevered island seating area and the best view in the house.
The initial concept was to remodel and possibly expand the kitchen, relocate the stairs down, fix the funky half wall between living room and hall….improve the primary suite, but we ended up doing a fair bit more. The sunroom was a bit too sunny with all those skylights, and it didn’t have any insulation in the roof, so we made some big changes there. (switched to high south windows instead of the skylights)
The big updates to energy efficiency are not evident in the photos.
There was a lot of good teamwork on this project between the very involved owners, the local builder and architect and myself.
Below are some before and after plans, then a few before photos.
Ive been sorting old photos lately. 🙂 This was one of 2 bathrooms part of a full house remodel. It was fun to design the sliding barn-door mirror that opened to reveal a window (to the back yard) Built by Canivet Construction and John McBride (Working for Canivet as a carpenter)
The builder (McBride Construction) is working his way through the punch list. We are both proud of how this rental cottage is turning out. Here are a couple of his snapshots:
The first one is the kitchen with built-in dish drying rack over the drainboard and apple-ply cabinets. The second is the little dining nook with storage benches and salvaged fir built-in table.
XYLO Interiors is fabricating this trestle table for my Rockridge cottage project out of the fir framing wood salvaged from the cottage during the remodel. It’s looking good! (See progress photos below sent from the shop)
We recently finished this kitchen expansion project in Berkeley. Nice work Greenfield Builders! Photos courtesy of Chris D’Andrea the general contractor (Greenfield Builders)
Prototype #1 is finished with a bit of pyrography – a prehistoric winged creature.
Apologies to customers waiting for treasure chests, this one has become my toilet paper storage box. As you can see there are many uses for such a chest. Soon we will have prototype #2 underway.