Manchester Garage/Garden RoomA prospective client who's a fan of the The Not So Big House book series by Sarah Susanka recently emailed me and asked if I could fill him in on my experience designing and building with not-so-big design concepts. I thought I'd share with you a lightly edited version of my response to him.

I wrote:

I have long endorsed the not-so-big design philosophy which prioritizes quality and livability over quantity. Here are some links to a few of my projects which I believe exemplify not-so-big design. 
 
The first is the Manchester Garage/Garden Room which is a small out-building I designed to accommodate outdoor living three-seasons of the year and a car in the winter. Multi-purpose design is a fundamental principle of the not-so-big canon. Design that maximizes versatility, comfort and fun is not-so big.
 
The Reading Kitchen & Bath Renovation/Addition reconceives how space is used, to better apportion it and appropriately augment it. Re-imagining flow and use to enhance livability is essential to not-so-big design. This project involved relocating the kitchen to a new addition and changing entry points and room function to support the new kitchen location, such that the owners could better access and enjoy natural light and their wooded, rear yard.
 
The Salem Antique: Kitchen Renovation maximizes a small space's potential while maintaining a spacious, coherent feel. Incorporating boat-like efficiency to make the most out of limited space is a hallmark of not-so-big design. 

Not-so-big doesn't necessarily mean small; it means smaller. The West Tisbury House is designed to reduce its scale, such that it reads as an assemblage of elements, as if it evolved over time. Incorporating wrapping single-story features helps to ground it and minimize its visual impact on the site. From the interior, the collection of gathered spaces offer spatial differentiation, with some spaces feeling more open and others more nestled. Thoughtful massing and spatial differentiation can reduce apparent scale, while encouraging livability. 

I could probably continue to reference the not-so-big design ideas behind most of the projects in my portfolio, but I'll stop there for now.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast.

“Adorable,” I kept marveling after discovering this little, yellow house. I found myself using the same animated tone of voice as I use when discussing my parents’ miniature, wire-haired dachshund. I suppose it’s my tone of voice for all things miniature and adorable.

In the photo above, I included a partial view of the neighboring natural-finish, white-cedar shingle house, which is by no means large, as a scale reference for the diminutive yellow house. Dividing a home’s volume into smaller components is a strategy I often recommend for reducing the apparent scale of larger homes. But, here, an already smaller home has divided its volume into smaller components, which results in it seeming even smaller, and, yes, even more adorable. Wouldn’t it be delightful if whoever lives here owned a “Kite Blue” MINI Cooper and parked it out front for my next photo op?!

The attention to detail in the porch brackets, chamfered posts, staggered shingle coursing on the gable end which wraps the side walls, and the angled boards infilling the ends of the porch roof only tips the scale further on the adorable scale. So do the yellow and white color scheme and the seemingly large (for such a petite house) double-hung windows.

Show me the keys; the yellow house would be a dreamy vacation rental. (Did I mention it's on Martha's Vineyard?)

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

This is a porch, yet a room. Outdoors, yet in. It’s a great example of a deep, wrap-round porch which invites use. I’d estimate that it’s twelve-feet deep – twice the minimum recommended depth in A Pattern Language pattern #167: Six-foot balcony.

The semi-enclosing guardrail, periodic turned posts, and gently sloped bead-board ceiling all provide comfortable shelter, while the long, wrapping, open expanse welcomes daylight, breezes, and view. Furnishing the porch for sitting and dining, complete with finished sideboards, serving tables, and a rug, greatly expands and diversifies the available living space.

If I could, I’d wrap this gem up and take it home with me. Short of that, we can borrow from its example. Learn more about integral, wrapping porches in my recent Drawing Board column for Fine Homebuilding’s annual HOUSES issue. Click here for a PDF of the column. "Design an integral porch" by Katie Hutchison, Issue #227, Spring/Summer 2012. Reprinted with permission copyright 2012, The Taunton Press, Inc. Read another porch paradigm “Design snapshot”, too.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill (Boston, MA) Thursday, May 17, 2012 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Concord Museum 21st Annual Garden Tour (Concord, MA) Friday-Saturday June 1-2, 2012 9:00 am - 4:00 pm 
 
Farmington/Unionville Friends Kitchens and Gardens Tour (Farmington/Unionville, CT) Saturday, June 16, 2012 10:00 am – 4:00 pm 
 
South End Garden Tour (Boston, MA) Saturday, June 16, 2012 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour (Portsmouth, NH) Friday, June 22, 2012 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm and Saturday, June 23, 2011 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Vineyard Haven House Tour (Vineyard Haven, MA) Saturday, June 23, 2012 12:30 pm -3:00 pm

New Castle Village Walk & Garden Tour (New Castle, NH) Sunday, June 24, 2012 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Newport Summer Secret Garden Tour (Newport, RI) Friday-Sunday, June 29-July 1, 2012 10:00 am - 5:00 pm  

Provincetown Art Association and Museum Secret Garden Tour (Provincetown, MA) Sunday, July 8, 2012 10:00 am - 3:00 pm 

The Maine Home + Design Cape Elizabeth Garden Tour (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Pittsfield Garden Tour (Pittsfield, MA) Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and Sunday, July 15, 2012 noon – 4:00 pm  

Private Gardens of the Kennebunk’s Tour (Kennebunk, ME) Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:00 am - 4:00 pm  

Camden Garden Club House and Garden Tour (Camden, ME) Thursday, July 19, 2011 9:30 am - 4:00 pm

Nantucket Annual House & Garden Tour (Nantucket, MA) Wednesday, August 8, 2012 11:00 am - 4:30 pm  

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days 
 
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Image excerpt from my Fine Homebuilding "Drawing Board" column about integral porches.Start your spring home-planning with Fine Homebuilding's annual HOUSES issue, on newsstands now. Inside, find my latest "Drawing Board" column. This one focuses on designing integral, entry porches. Learn to differentiate an applied, entry porch from an integral one, and explore four examples of successful integral, entry porches.

Click here for a PDF of the column. "Design an integral porch" by Katie Hutchison, Issue #227, Spring/Summer 2012. Reprinted with permission copyright 2012, The Taunton Press, Inc.

Visit the KHS publications page for other magazine columns and articles I've written.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast