Little Jewel Box

Byline:

Wendy A. Jordan

Publication Date:

Tue, 2004-03-23 18:00

Article Image:

Wendy A. Jordan's
Editorial Archives [1]

Small remodeling jobs can present giant challenges because they have to accomplish so much in so little space. This Foster City, Calif., solarium addition is a perfect example. It is less than 200 square feet but needed to:

fix a flawed floor plan.

connect the house to the outdoors.

add a sitting area.

encompass an outdoorsy but weather-protected spa.

bring in lots of sun.

block the view from neighboring homes.

A neglected scrap of back yard separated the master bedroom from the family room, where the homeowners spent the most time.

Oh, and do all this without tearing into the existing house or costing a fortune.

The pint-size addition manages to do it all.

The one-story, 1985 house was U-shaped, with a scruffy patch of back yard sandwiched between the family room and the master bedroom. To get from the bedroom to the family room, the homeowners had to go outside or walk all the way to the front of the house and around. Fixing that problem was a top priority.

Project architect Steven House of House + House Architects in San Francisco did it by replacing the back-yard patch with a 12x12-foot breakfast/lounge area. The siding on the family room and bedroom remained untouched. So did the sliding glass doors on the two rooms, although they open to the room that now connects them. In fact, House says they stay open most of the time because the breakfast area has become a hub of the home.

The painted trim, trellis and roof overhang form an integrated structure that harmonizes with the existing house. The glass block wall looks stylish, lets in sunlight and ensures privacy.

Also high on the homeowners' wish list was a hot tub. To protect it from chilly breezes, they hoped to put the tub in a glass enclosure. But with houses surrounding the property, including one just 10 feet away, privacy was an issue. House solved that one by nesting the tub in a 7x7-foot bump-out with glass block walls that admit light but obscure views. A ribbon of custom skylights, peaked to match the house's other roof lines, covers the spa and the breakfast room. Relaxing in the room "feels like sitting outside," the client says, "but we still have privacy." Two of the insulated glass panels are operable, so the homeowners can regulate the heat.

Although the addition fills a chunk of the back yard, it makes the most of the remaining outdoor space. French doors on both sides of the spa platform open to a deck that's handy for barbecues. Flowering trumpet vines weave through trellises over the deck and dangle down. Looking out to the deck, "We get privacy but feel like we are looking at greenery and like we are in an outdoor space," the homeowner says.

Glass walls enfold the hot-tub platform, providing a sense of enclosure without blocking sunlight or views.

To heighten that indoor-outdoor connection, House + House brought a little of the outdoors inside by embedding a 12-inch-wide planter box in the floor next to the innermost wall of the addition and installing an automatic sprinkler system. A rubber tree thrives in the box, festooning the wall with green leaves.

The clients splurged on marble tile for the spa surround. "I love that touch of luxury," the homeowner says. The hot tub, an off-the-shelf, portable unit that House dropped into place, helped offset the tile's cost.

The homeowners "got really good value for their money," House says. The addition had a "modest budget, but it made the house feel so much bigger." House calls it "a little jewel box" -- a good name for a little room that sparkles outside and in.

With large skylights and generous windows, the addition is a sunny, inviting place to relax around the table or in the hot tub. The original siding and glass doors enhance the outdoorsy feel.

Before the addition connected the master bedroom with the family room, the homeowners had to traipse through the rest of the house to reach a room only 12 feet away. The breakfast room addition solves that problem. It aligns with the existing back walls, fitting in as if it always has been there. The spa bumps out but is integrated into the surrounding deck.

A custom skylight runs the length of the addition. A bit of the garden comes inside with a planter box recessed into the floor.

Wendy A. Jordan is senior contributing editor of Professional Remodeler magazine, and the author of numerous remodeling books for contractors and homeowners.