Katie Hutchison - The New Small House

DEDICATION

For my parents, Joan and Bill Hutchison

Text 2015 by Katie Hutchison

Photographs 2015 by The Taunton Press, Inc. (except where noted on )

Illustrations 2015 by the Taunton Press, Inc.

All rights reserved.

The Taunton Press, Inc.,

63 South Main Street

PO Box 5506

Newtown, CT 06470-5506

e-mail:

Editor: Peter Chapman

Copy Editor: Candace B. Levy

Jacket/Cover design: Sandra Salamony

Interior design and layout: Sandra Salamony

Illustrator: Katie Hutchison

The following names/manufacturers appearing in The New Small House are trademarks: 3form, AstroTurf, Azek, Benjamin Moore, Caesarstone, Chilewich, Corian, Europly, Forest Stewardship Council, EGE, Galvalume, Gienow, Glulam, H Window, HardiePanel, HardiePlank, HI-MACS, IKEA, Kynar, Loewen, Maax, Mylar, Polygal, Rais, Realtor, Realtor.com, Squak Mountain Stone, TOTO, Trex, View-Master

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hutchison, Katie.

The new small house / Katie Hutchison.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-63186-440-7 (hardcover) -- ISBN 978-1-62710-918-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63186-420-9 (eBook)

ISBN 978-1-63186-421-6 (ePub)

ISBN 978-1-63186-422-3 (mobi)

ISBN 978-1-63186-423-0 (fixed)

1. Small houses. I. Title.

NA7533.H88 2015

728.37--dc23

2015022892

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ITS FUNNY how things work out. As I recall, some vocational test I took in high school informed me I should be an architect. At the time, I thought, There must be some mistake; Im going to be a writer. I blithely ignored the test, and off I went to be an English major and pursue a career in magazine publishing. But after working a short time as an editorial assistant for a magazine in New York City, I began to think, Maybe I should be an architect. At age 23, I jumped tracks. I went to architecture school, eventually became an architect, and later established my own residential studio. Today, with this book, I have the good fortune to be both a writer and an architect. I am grateful to the many who supported me on my somewhat circuitous path, especially my parents, who have always believed in me.

I would also like to thank Chuck Miller, who gave me my first writing assignment at Fine Homebuilding magazine years ago and without whom The New Small House may not have come to be. And Peter Chapman, my editor at the Taunton Press, thank you for patiently considering my many book proposals over the years and for the clear vision you brought to guiding and shaping this book. Many thanks to the freelancers and the whole team at the Taunton Press who contributed their considerable talents and diligence to creating The New Small House. Thank you, as well, to Susie Middleton, who introduced me to the folks at the Taunton Press in the first place.

A heart-felt thank you to the homeowners and retreat owners (many of whom are also architects and/or designers) who so generously opened their small houses and retreats to the Taunton team and took the time to tell me their stories. You are a special group, living small deliberately and graciously. I commend you and the other architects, designers, students, teachers, builders, and tradespeople who helped craft the houses and retreats featured in the pages of this book.

And my dear husband, Chris, thank you for your patience, good humor, and sharing a small house with me. How lucky I am.

INTRODUCTION

I LIVE IN A SMALL HOUSE in New England. My husband culled it from a stream of Realtor.com listings for me to consider when we first began our house hunt while we were on vacation during a sultry July in 2012. This was a bit of a role reversalfor my husband to conduct the initial searchas Im the residential architect in the family. But I was in full-on vacation mode that day away from the studio, and the real-world need to find a small roof to shelter us seemed a distant concern when just outside the window the beach beckoned, harbor breezes wafted, and the grill sizzled.

From the open living/dining area, the long view into the semiopen kitchen helps our small house feel larger. Thats me sitting at the kitchen island.

So when I lazily pulled the laptop close to review his selections, the house that would become ours looked out at me from the screen much as a beloved pet might. It had locked eyes with my husband, too. He didnt say why, but he knew hed found something special. I knew he had too, and I pondered the reasons.

Maybe it was the way the one-story ell presented its smallest face to the street almost coyly or how it and a close-by two-car garage shaped a side garden, deck, and clamshell driveway. Perhaps it was the oversize windows and raised ceiling in the open, shared living space. It might have been the daylight streaming through the southwestern nook, visible from within the north-facing kitchen. Or was it the warm southern yellow pine floors and the large limestone-like porcelain ceramic tiles that defined the kitchen and adjacent circulation path? Maybe it was the view across low windowsills in the living room, also seen from the kitchen, toward a break in dappled tree cover and the river beyond. It might have been the late-1940s narrow bead trim and diminutive crown molding that edged the windows and doors. Or was it the freshly painted original cabinets that lined a kitchen alcove, which had been opened to accommodate a new kitchen island? Most likely it was all of these bundled into a small 1,550-sq.-ft. package that appeared to live larger than its modest size would suggest. Our instincts attracted us to our small house, and living in it today has only confirmed how well its expansive, versatile, sunlit design suits us.