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Did you see The New York Times article last week about the garage retreat near Seattle?  It's a fun and sophisticated 250-square-foot getaway.

A small space of one's own, beyond the hustle and bustle of everyday life, can remind us of life's simple pleasures. Such little buildings generally tread lightly on both the environment and our pocketbooks, while recharging our spirits.

The design of small retreats, backyard and beyond would be a great topic for a book, don't you think?  I thought so and was working on such a book a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, it fell victim to the publishing industry's downsizing which began in mid-2008. I still believe there's a book there, waiting to be discovered.

You can sample a Katie Hutchison Studio small retreat design by visiting the Manchester Garage/Garden Room page in the KHS architectural portfolio.

I imagine my fascination with the topic started with my childhood backyard retreat and was reinforced by my mother's current, petite summerhouse in her Connecticut village. I wrote about her garden and her little retreat in a House Garden Primer.

Get a peek at her garden summerhouse in this short Flip video.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Old Salem Jail complex, now 50 St. Peter, seen from the cemeteryI arrived for the open house a little late.  This wasn’t your typical open house; this was the big house, the Old Salem Jail.  I found a line two- to three-people thick starting at the c. 1813 jail entrance, trailing past the c. 1813 jail-keeper’s house, and turning at the new carriage house which stands on the footprint of its barn predecessor.

From the excited chatter in the line you might have thought we were queuing up to see a prestigious show.  Instead, we were eagerly anticipating the transformation of the jail’s three-building complex into 23 rental units, a restaurant, and jail exhibit.  I was among, what Merry Fox Realty estimates to have been, 3000 curious visitors. So what’s all the fuss about?

“I think any time you have a quality building that’s built from this early of an era, it’s exciting to those of us who are really interested in historic architecture,” explains architect Jim Alexander of Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc. who teamed up with developer New Boston Ventures LLC and Metric Construction to bring the complex, renamed 50 St. Peter, to reality.

Open HouseSince it was vacated in 1991, the hulking granite and brick jail had been lurking behind a razor-wire fence and aggressive weeds on prime property.  In 2005 New Boston Ventures LLC stepped in with a mixed-use proposal that included market-rate condominiums.  When the economy stumbled in 2008/2009, so did the project. As a result, the developer switched gears and secured alternative financing via historic tax credits administered by the National Park Service in order to develop rentable apartments which will be eligible for condo conversion in five years. Now those apartments are scheduled for June 1 occupancy.

“What our goal was, and I’m hoping we accomplished, is to offer the highest level of finish ever offered in a rental development on the North Shore,” says David Goldman a principal at New Boston Ventures and its affiliate Old Salem Jail Ventures LLC.

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Click on this photo to see it in the KHS photo note cards/prints gallery.I walk past the back of this historic brick building several times a week. So often, in fact, that I sometimes forget how remarkable it is. Warm, old brick, bold, over-hanging eaves, delicate snow guards, spare windows with simple, single-leaf board shutters, sporting minimalist star cut-outs and hard-working strap hinges create a spare, yet distinguished, presence that is quietly stately. It isn’t hard to guess that this is a Federal period building. Materials and their thoughtful arrangement can be powerful communication tools. This building says ‘trust me’.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Some consider fences, arbors, gates, and hedges to be the domain of landscape architecture. To me, more broadly, they’re elements of architecture. As an architect, I’m interested in the design of it all.

This gated entry portal elegantly draws attention to the threshold between the public way and the private garden and home on the other side of the gated fence.

The exposed rafters (complete with shaped tails) and eave brackets form a small rooflet just wide enough to provide a moment’s shelter and to formally announce the property entrance. The rooflet's detailing complements that of the flanking fence posts and contrasts the simple fence they in turn abut.

The blue gate, with the arched top comfortably below the rooflet, acknowledges that this is an outdoor passageway to a private, but welcoming place. The shape and disposition of the gate’s recessed panels suggest the proportions of an abstract person: head, shoulders, legs. The hardware could even be seen to express arms, the rooflet an implied hat. All of which make it a relatable scale. The peek-a-boo cutout further entices and invites.

An entry portal like this sets the stage for a house and garden which exhibit thoughtful scale, proportion, craftsmanship, and whimsy.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast