Thursday, August 23, 2012

tiny house

I've always been drawn to small homes. It may be because I live in Brooklyn, where space is at such a premium, with my years of living in small spaces making me equate them more with "cozy" rather than "crowded." Of course, not everyone can make a small space work for them, but as you'll see from these beautiful photographs, interior designer Jessica Helgerson makes small-house living look effortless with her own 540 square foot tiny house.





Situated on a five-acre property on Sauvie Island, 15 minutes north of Portland, Jessica's tiny house is simply gorgeous, and way more spacious feeling than you'd ever think a house that small could be.
The house is an interesting experiment in reduction and reuse not only because it is only 540 square feet or because it was remodeled using nearly exclusively reclaimed materials, but because the building itself is now being recycled for the fourth time. It was first built in the early 1940s as part of Vanport Village; a quickly erected development built to house shipyard workers. When Vanport Village flooded in 1948 this particular little house was floated down the river to Sauvie Island, where it became the goose-check station. Years later it was remodeled to become a rental house.

When Jessica and Yianni bought the property in late 2008, they decided to remodel it without adding to the existing footprint. Their first step was to redesign the interior for maximum space efficiency. A ‘great room’ houses the kitchen, dining room and living room with large, comfortable, built in sofas that double as twin beds for guests. Drawers under the sofas hold children’s toys and a wall of shelves houses books and more. The ceiling was opened up in the main space, but the bathroom and bedroom have lower ceilings to accommodate the parent’s sleeping loft above, accessible by a walnut ladder. The children’s room has two bunk beds as well as a full bed for guests. A pull-out closet makes maximum use of the narrow space near the bunk beds.

(Photography by Lincoln Barbour. Via Poppytalk)

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