The Widner Cottage is going to be open to the public twice this summer for tours:
First, the Phinney Neighborhood Association's Home and Garden Tour will roll through on June 12th, from 11-4 pm (see link).
Second, the Cottage will be featured as the AIA Seattle's Open House on July 17th from noon to 3 pm. Â More information here. Â As part of the tour, the house will be published in Seattle Magazine, in the Northwest Home section in July.
I'm trying to organize a tour of recently completed backyard cottages in the month of June. Â If you have one that you'd like to have considered for the tour, please contact me!
Matt@CASTarchitecture.com
The cottage in Phinney Ridge is taking shape--it is all dried in and the drywall is up. Â One of the owners is pictured above savoring being on the cutting edge of increased density in Seattle's single family zoning!
The Widner's cottage is starting to take shape!
Kate and Ric have begun construction on their backyard cottage... They have been working hard the last few weeks and have enlisted the help of a few friends and colleagues along the way. A few key players have been helping guide us through the process:
Ric has been doing a wonderful job of photographing the process and has put together a few galleries of the construction process thus far (all images in this post are © 2010 Ric Cochrane). He has also agreed to write up a blog post on the experience thus far - so stay tuned for that!
DECONSTRUCTION GALLERY
An existing shed (that was a bit worse for wear) was painstakingly deconstructed and all reusable and recyclable materials were sorted and stacked
LABOR OF LOVE - THE FOUNDATION
Digging in the dirt and other fun activities - the true definition of 'sweat equity!'
LUMBER FROM THE BONE-YARD
Salvaged beams, columns and decking are being purchased from Bruce Borjesson of Pacific Resources
We have been working with a couple who are planning on moving out of the original house, and into a new backyard cottage. Â We're pushing the limits within the ordinance--almost exactly 800 square feet--in order to build a 2 bed room, bath and a half cottage. Although the house is small, the spaces inside feel just right. Â And we'll be able to include a lot of high finish touches and crisp details because we aren't spending money on lots of square footage. Having a finite perimeter and volume really focuses the mind on the priorities of the design.
The character of the house the client's wanted is very craftsman and the scale and roofline fits right in with the neighborhood in general--certainly not the scary developer vision that opponents of the ordinance summoned during the public hearings. Â It reinforces that these projects are for people with a vested interest in both their property and their neighborhood and are very sensitive to the impact on their neighbors.
Here is another view which shows off the walkout patio off the dining space, the entry mudroom and the band of windows that wrap the living room, dining and kitchen:
We are also going to integrate a rain water harvesting system, radiant floors on a super efficient combination boiler, vaulted ceiling upstairs, and a extra height crawlspace with a rat slab to make up for some of the storage space lost in the downsizing. Â For floor plans, follow the jump below:
First floor plan:
Second floor plan:
We've completed the second round of design on our CAST architecture case study backyard cottage.
The plan has been fine tuned to optimize it for advanced framing. We adjusted the spaces to work better with Kate and Ric's needs and have started looking at potential materials and finishes.
We've also started talking about systems - at this point everything is on the table, solar hot water, energy efficient boiler, hydronic floor heating systems, rainwater cistern for flushing the toilets and watering the yard, super insulated walls...
I suspect that our choices will narrow as the reality of our budget forces us to separate the wheat from the chaff. Right now however, the possibilities seem limitless!
The Seattle channel recently interviewed myself and CAST clients Kate Lichtanstein and Ric Cochrane regarding the backyard cottage we are currently working on together. They included our project in a broader story that profiles an owner of a recently completed backyard cottage and gives a basic outline of the new Seattle backyard cottage ordinance.
Now that the new legislation is in place we’ve updated Quickstart Guide for 2019. Please keep in mind that this information is intended as a high level primer for the code that governs backyard cottages in Seattle… It should only be used as a basic starting point for planning. If you would like to move forward with the design and permitting of a backyard cottage for your home we recommend careful scrutiny of the entire ordinance and the assistance of an architect or design professional.
Download guide as a printable pdf
We've seen an unexpected level of interest in backyard cottages in the 2 months since the new ordinance has been in effect. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the projects is the diversity of needs for each one...
We have a young couple with a small house on a large lot that would like an outbuilding with a workshop and guestroom. We have a couple planning to build and occupy a cottage in their backyard in order to open up their home for their children and grandchildren to live in. We have a third couple who have separated but are committed to raising their children together. They currently live in the same house and believe that adding a backyard cottage to the property will maintain the proximity they need to raise their children together while providing them the space they need as individuals.
In a bit of a surprise, we have yet to see anyone looking to build a cottage for the sole purpose of rental income. Although one of the guys here at the office has been running the numbers and is strongly considering building a cottage for rent in his backyard.