Great Rear or Side Views

This unique home actually has a working fountain in the middle of the house, set beneath clerestory windows that protrude from the roof. If your property dictates that you build a house with a side view, this house features 6'–tall windows with transoms above them lining one entire side of the house, along with a pair of glass doors that open to a wide and deep deck. The house itself is only 58'–deep without the garage, which is a separate structure (connected via a breezeway) that can be located wherever it works best. It can be a passive solar house if it faces south.

As you step into the house off the covered front porch, you enter a narrow foyer with coat hooks on the left and double doors on the right that then widens to reveal a sunny atrium with a fountain or an indoor garden. The double doors you passed open to a room that can be used as a study or a guest bedroom. If used it as a study or office, you could move the laundry into the space behind the closet and enlarge the master bath area. There's a bumped–out bay filled with windows looking out to and through the front porch, and another window next to a small closet for additional light.

There are up and down stairs just off the atrium, but if you don't need a lower level (which is actually a very small area with a mechanical room and some storage spaces) you could replace the stairway headed down with a deep coat closet, and remove the hooks in the entryway. The center of the atrium space soars to a height of 27' in the middle. Three sides of the clerestory are filled with windows that can be opened automatically or with a long pole, so sunlight pours into the middle of the house while hot air is sucked out on hot days and nights. The original homeowners actually installed an indoor fountain with a 16" wall around it in the middle of the atrium space!

As you pass through the atrium you enter the living spaces of the house. The far wall of the great room and dining space (which are open to each other) is lined with windows and glass doors. Each window and door is 3'–wide and 6'–tall, and all are topped by 2'–tall transom windows, all of which provides a truly spectacular side view. One of the glass doors opens to a 42'–long deck that wraps around the corner and continues along most of the rear of the house. The ceiling at this side wall starts at 10' – the height of all the ceilings on the main level that are not vaulted – and rises to 18' at the edge of the atrium space. There's a gas fireplace in one corner of the great room that can also be enjoyed by family members and guests in both the dining area and the kitchen.

A long counter with angled sections at each end is all that separates the kitchen from the living areas. The center section has a range on top – and an oven below it – so that the person doing the cooking gets to enjoy the activities in the living areas, and the entire counter has a raised outer edge for casual dining and/or serving. In the corner of the kitchen, there are two 4'–tall windows flanking the sinks, and the ceiling vaults up all the way to the roof, where two skylights are located.

Another unique feature of the kitchen is that it includes an extended area with pantry cabinets, another oven, and a vegetable sink below a window. At the end of this space there's a door that opens to a mudroom that also functions as an airlock family entryway. One door in this space opens to the area at the front of the house, while another opens to a two–car garage. The garage has lots of windows for light, and pull–down stairs that provide access to attic storage.

Just off the kitchen and next to the dining area is a lovely morning room with a 10' ceiling and views in two directions. And on the opposite side of the house, next to the great room, is a sunroom with a vaulted ceiling. Six–foot tall windows look out to and through the side and rear decks, and a glass door provides access to these decks.

The remainder of the main level is devoted to the master suite at the rear of the house. Double doors off the atrium space open to the bedroom, which features an angled wall that gives the room an interesting look and feel, a lofty 10' ceiling, and windows and a glass door that look and open out to a wide portion of the rear deck, where the homeowners installed a hot tub. You pass a large walk–in closet on the way to a bath area with a double shower in the corner, two sinks next to a tall window, and a small laundry room.

The first landing on the way to the second floor has a plant shelf with a skylight above it. The upper level has a large and unusually shaped loft area. A 42"–high wall zigzags around, providing views into a portion of the atrium and the living spaces below, and another low wall looks down to the kitchen. At the end of this walkway there is a door that opens to an attic storage area. There's space in the loft to accommodate a bed and furniture for guests, and this space also has a built–in seat beneath a trio of windows. A door in this area of the loft opens to eave storage.

Other doors in the loft space open to bedroom 3 and a small bathroom. The bedroom has a pair of windows for views to the rear, and a door off the closet that opens to a huge eave storage area that wraps around the side of the house. A narrow door in an angled portion of the bedroom provides access to a plant shelf overlooking the sunroom below.

Modification Ideas
Move the laundry to the airlock entry and then enlarge the master bath. Make Bath 2 a half bath and expand the laundry.