Our own Back Yard Mansion

My wife and I are passionate about community.  When you live in a 790 square ft house, you soon find that entertaining more than a few other people gets very cramped.  Since we built this 320 sq fot Tudor-style studio.  The space has housed giant meals with a table spreading accross its entire length.  It has been host to many small concerts and performances, rehearsals, and recitals.  On a daily basis it is a design studio in the morning and a violin teaching studio in the afternoon.

Ultimatelly this project became the catalyst for Vintage Greenhouses and Little Mansions Designs as people continually told me that I needed to bring this creativity to the market--both with my furniture and with my building designs.

In designing the studio, my Wife and I each had a requirement.  Her requirement was that it have all leaded glass reclaimed windows.  Mine was that it have a tower....neither requirement made construction easy, but when we were done it was all worth it.

The Interior space is completely open.  Weyerhaueser engineered a large beam in the middle of the building that allowed it to be one big open space with high vaulted ceilings. 

The bookcase was built out of reclaimed wood from an old barn near Puyallup, WA.  The owners had bought the house to retire in...and the barn was why they fell in love with it.  They finally were forced to take it down.  I found them and they gave me the wood for free!  My favorite wood was the floorboards, which had about an inch of horse dung that had built up over the last 100 years.  But after cleaning and lightly planing with a dull blade, I found the most beautiful old growth fir...still in good shape, but with plenty of "beauty marks" from bugs, nails, and just the perfect amount of rot!

Community Space and Teaching Space were very important to us.  By spanning the space created by the tower and the lower wing, we were able to create a giant square in the middle of the building.  The 320 sq ft building with a small grand paino, has been known to host as many as 38 people for concerts, events, and recitals.

A Classic Storefront Greenhouse

So maybe your typical greenhouse doesn't look like a turn-of-the-century storefront, but this client wanted something unique that matched the property and didn't overwhelm the small space allotted for it.  The owner had built a beautiful wood-shed, with a farm-style single pitched roof.  They had suggested I mirror that with the greenhouse, but I was having trouble figuring out how to make it look refined enough, while matching the shed.  After about 5 different drawings, the though hit me....a classic storefront would provide the perfect place to display favorite plants, and would accomodate a roof line that match that of the woodshed.  

The clients, a designer and an antique collector collaborate with me to create this fabulous design.  They plan to add shelves and a number of details.

Little Greenhouse or Back Porch Greenhouse

$125.00

This little greenhouse is perfect indoors or out.  It is just the right size for a small tomato plant, or some other veggies.  It keeps the temperature about 5-15 degrees above outside temps and protects against wind, rain, snow, hail, and pets.  In the Northwest you can even grow some plants year round in it, both indoors and out.

Greenhouses for Apartments and Condo's

$175.00
If you are a greenthumb, but live in an apartment, condo, or townhouse with no pea patch and a little tiny porch, don't despair.  These mini-greenhouses are perfect for you.  The vertical greenhouse is perfect to start plants in the spring, or even in the fall.  The cedar porch greenhouse is great for an herb garden, starting plants, and greens.  And not only that, they look great!

$85.00

How A Greenhouse Can Transform Curb Appeal

These before and after pics show how a greenhouse can completely transform a house's curb appeal. This mid-century ranch-style house was begging for something on this wall.  The owner is an avid gardener, so a greenhouse was the perfect solution.  

 Rather than try to match the green and tan paint, I chose a more "Northwest" look by using high quality fir 4X4's for the frame, and finishing then with a clear, nearly invisible linseed oil.  


The windows and doors are all reclaimed.  The old white paint on the windows adds to the charm, and with the wood, it isn't too stark of a contrast with the house.

For Ventilation, both windows in the front open outward, and the two side windows are hinged on the bottom with a catch on the top so they can let the warm air out on a hot day.


Price:  $1950.00

Latest Projects

Just Finished the Apse on our "Model Home" greenhouse....Love it...it makes it feel like a cathedral inside!

Prototype for the First Urban Greenhouse takes shape

In our front yard, you can now see the first prototype of what I call a "Large" urban greenhouse. It would fit nicely in a larger city back yard or on top of one of those hillside Garages Seattle has so many of.
Watch this site later this week for the completed pics.  It will have all reclaimed windows, and what I call a "Cathedral Back", where the back side of the building slopes off into an intimate 3-sided alcove.
Soon we will also have Tomato Greenhouses--the perfect size for one tomato plant--and really cool looking!