The owner built this backyard cottage as a rental but fell in love (with the cottage) during the design process and decided to rent out his house instead.
This backyard cottage features an open floor plan on the ground floor with a kitchen, living and powder rooms that open with accordion doors onto a patio with a gas fireplace. Upstairs is a master bedroom complete with a kitchenette, and a bath with laundry room. The overall strategy with this backyard cottage, as it is with most of our designs, is to keep the structure simple allowing a larger percentage of the budget to be spent on finishes. The height and size of DADUs is limited based on the size of the lot. This lot was particularly small limiting the allowable footprint to 294 sq. ft
Ceramic tile accentuates the entry area. The view from the entry towards the kitchen and patio beyond.
The kitchen is located along one wall is both compact and simple.
Accordion doors open up the cottage to the new patio with gas fireplace.
A movable kitchen island is the perfect accessory to the compact kitchen. Exposed wood joists add warmth and texture in contrast with the concrete floors. The joists were spaced to accommodate the owner's weight lifting rack.
Where some houses may come with a man cave this DADU features a "man wall" with big screen tv, electric fireplace, weight rack and the ultimate amenity, beer taps. A keg fridge is located behind the wall in the under stair space.
A pocket door located at the bottom of the stairs allows for the two floors to be used independently.
The city of Seattle limits both the eave and ridge height of cottages allowing greater height for a gable roof which we took advantage of to good effect.
The master suite features vaulted ceilings and abundant light. A kitchenette allows this room to be used separately from the first floor.
The shower is tucked into an under eave space.
The master bath features vaulted ceilings and skylight. A laundry room is tucked off to one side under the eaves.
The owner built a new patio with a gas fire place. The stairs from the house were rebuilt align with the cottage.