While open floor plans enable greater flexibility, the notion of a well-planned and truly private living area – more than just an open loft or an extra bedroom - has become as important to many clients as large bathrooms, home offices, or family rooms.
Finding common ground in an ADU* to bring family togethercomfortably
He is a modernist. She is a traditionalist. She loves suburban life and is a skilled craftsperson. He wants to live on rural acreage and ride his motorcycle. They migrated cross-country to the Pacific Northwest for his work, leaving their young adult children behind.
They aspire to have a home to which one grown daughter and young grandchild will come for extended stays. Their younger college-aged daughter is transferring to a nearby school. Enabling more family time together is a shared priority.
After a visit to their hillside building site and some candid discussion about home-style priorities and budget, we suggested the Lindal Elements 2836 model, in which a covered breezeway connects the main entry to a garage with a private 500 square foot apartment above. An ideal living unit their daughters could use and maintain autonomy and privacy, enjoying time with their parents... and time alone. A space in which kids’ toys could be strewn and loud play contained. We suspect that he also has designs on the retreat as a man-cave for group football game watching.
The clients both appreciated the house plan, but she found the flat-roofed design too modern. We assured them that we could do a traditional country home with all the modern features of the Elements 2820, and in collaboration with Aris George of OM Studio, we hit a homerun that thrills them both.
In addition to the new roofline, window configuration, and traditional color scheme on low-maintenance cementboard siding and trim, we relocated the breezeway link and garage to join the house at a new mudroom with direct access to an outdoor dog run. This change minimized alteration to the site’s natural topography and enabled a sweeping and sunny south-facing valley view from the ADU living room.
*By definition, an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a second house on a single family lot, not attached to the main house.