BEFORE & AFTER- SAN JUAN ISLAND, WA

This was a very difficult lot- in fact, the real estate agents said that it was “UN-BUILDABLE” because of the waterfront setback from top of bank. It only left a thin slice of land between the water setback and the driveway setback that was access for another house. But my clients persisted ans so did I…..this photo shows the taping for the building footprint. The owers are walking the lot.

This is the resulting house- it stepped with the setbacks to do a dance within the limits of the site and take down no trees was the mandate! The house is only 12’ wide in some places, but it works! The water views are worth it and being able to see the Orcas swim by is a huge bonus.

KITCHEN REMODEL IN SKYLINE, ANACORTES

SPECIFYING THE CABINET SIZES, IS OUR SPECIALTY. Why have to re-do the design when you get down to ordering? Get it right the first time, is my motto! This is example of a kitchen, where the owner’s brother is a contractor and has offered to travel from California, to help out his sister. So, I wanted to make this the easiest possible, by suggesting a cabinet company in Oakland, CA. that has really great prices on cabinetry and quartz counters…..not sure how the Coronavirus is affecting their workshops in China, but they do have American made cabinets too! Let me know if you are interested in their line….typical kitchen cabinets run $5,000 compared to custom cabinetry in Anacortes at $25- 50K.

2/20/2020- a Good Day for a Post! Orcas Island House update.

Took a Google Earth shot of the site and over-laid it under the model of this new house, in order to get a better idea.

The red on this is the red pinpoint form Google Earth to mark the spot…..

Here the model is rotated to get rid of the red pinpoint, and it shows the deck arbor better. The client decided to add a mudroom off the kitchen.

This is the current house c. 1956. The owner is planning on re-building all of the walls with SIP panels (Structural Integrated Panels) and adding a second floor.

NEW ENTRY DRESSES UP AN A FRAME IN ANACORTES

Slanted entry posts give a clear indication of where the front door is, in this 3D rendering.

I am proposing a new entry that includes a carport- see photo below of the existing house.

EXISTING HOUSE IS RATHER DATED…..and it is hard to figure out where the front door is. It is actually the slider on the far left on the photo above. Not very inviting eh?

SMALL HOUSE ON SAN JUAN ISLAND

THE SOUTH FACING facade has 9 huge windows to soak up the sun and enjoy the view- access to the deck is from a side door that is covered with an outdoor fireplace to hang out with.

This is the Entry side- opposite- you can see the side covered deck and the covered entry.

The view from the street is this side with high windows that wash down into the staircase and 2 story living room. The owners wanted privacy from passing cars, but wanted light to come in.

This is the wrap around from the street side, so you can see how the upper clearstory windows relate to the South Facade. SO from the inside, they are the same height. The second floor has a loft with the Master Bedroom and bath. The lower floor has a bedroom and bath- total sq. footage is 1426 sq. ft. The site is heavily treed and will be screened because of it.

The client had a quick idea about a pop-out window seat for the Master Bedroom and I added it to the model in 15 minutes, just so that she could see!

NEW MODERN HOUSE- SAN JUAN ISLAND

This is a working model still in progress- the site has a pretty good slope to it, and I like to leave the grade showing as how it intersects the building.

This is showing the Entry feature, that is actually the back of the house. This is the way visitors will first see the house. They wanted a high ceiling entry flanked with stone walls.

One of the most important features that they wanted was a large covered deck with a BBQ, Fireplace and TV to hang out on that faces the Western Water view. A place to enjoy the sunsets.

GUEST HOUSE STUDIES- SAN JUAN ISLAND

Back of house has the garage and side entry. The pop- out is for the bed area on the main living space.

Right side showing the covered entry and the deck off the main living area.

The house is perched on a knoll.

Left side of the house.

Looking inside the second floor to see the layout.

ADDITION STUDIES- how to add to the back of a house?

The question is, is it better to have 2 smaller Gable additions or one big one? This is a 1960’s simple Gable roof and the trick is how to add an addition off the back ?

Adding a big Gable winds up being higher then the original roof and there is a lot of wasted material in a bigger roof if a pre-fab truss is used (which is the cheapest building method).

The double gable is smaller in scale. Verses a large gable that extends up past the existing roof.

KITCHEN OPENS UP SPACE

The existing kitchen has a wall where I am proposing the counter with stools.

By removing the wall that separates the Living Room from the Kitchen, the feeling of “Openess” is created, where the kitchen was cramped into a slot of its own.

A view from the Living Room into the kitchen, to show the concept to the owners. We may or may not need a beam for support- still need to Ok with my engineer. But the truss roof is similar to the garage beyond, so it may be Ok without the beam-either way it still achieves the goal.

UPDATES TO MODERN ADDITION ON SJI

Budget concerns have removed the visible GluLam Beams (the contractor said that they would double the cost for the roof framing, as they have to be sanded and stained and masked off from the rest of the ceiling). So now we are using standard framing of TJI’s that will be hidden in the ceiling plane, with a continuous veneer of cedar T&G planking that will go from interior to exterior soffit. The front entry also got revised with a longer overhang- just at the front door. We are in permit, the engineer is re-working the framing plans….so need to submit the changes soon, to keep the 14 week permit time on track.