columbia city farmhouse

This small cottage was designed using the same principals we use for our backyard cottages but is a little bit bigger.  The house is designed for the owner's family of four and contains three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  The total area of the cottage is 1,100 sq. ft. The house sits on a newly segregated 3,000 sq. ft. lot. It is placed back against the alley to preserve a number of mature trees located in the front yard. Because the lot is under 3,200 sq. ft. in size the cottage went through administrative design review which required posting of the project and a public comment period.  The comments received praised the design reflecting the character and scale of the neighborhood. 

The cottage owner, from Seattle but currently living in Brooklyn, understands small spaces and we were on the same page when we set out to design a new house for him and his family in columbia city.  

The traditional front porch features reclaimed lath as an accent which is continued on throughout the house.

A compact kitchen is located in the center of the main floor and features an island and a window bench seat. We used a built in but open book shelf to segregate the study from the rest of the open 1st floor.  In the near term this allows separation without making the rooms feel too small. It also allows for this area to be converted into a bedroom if having a bedroom on the ground floor becomes a necessity. A full bath and back door are located off of the study.  

Exposed fir t&g ceilings with fir beams and custom joist hangers. Shiplap clad walls.

Changes in ceiling finish were used to create rooms within rooms with exposed t&g fir car decking and exposed joists as the ceiling in the living room and study and a soffitted ceiling over the kitchen.  

The stairs lead up from the entry.  A back door is located under the stair and adjacent to the ground floor bathroom.

Upstairs the cottage features three bedrooms and bathroom. The flooring throughout is fir t&g which is also the ceiling viewed from the main floor.

The bedrooms are compact. The largest two measuring 12 ft. x 12 ft. but feature vaulted ceilings and rustic finishes including the car decking floor and t&g walls and ceiling.