How to Live Small
Ryan had to essentially carve the addition — which sits directly behind the bungalow — out of the hilly site. “But because of all the light,” says Green, “you don’t get the feeling of being underground.” He praises what he calls the “surprises” Ryan created architecturally, such as the floating glass panels that act as the railing for the stairway leading up to the loft (now used as a guest room), the steel support beams that blend seamlessly with the interior and look more like works of art than structural necessities, and the oiled-steel fireplace front. “Every corner holds interest,” Green says. Adds Ryan: “In smaller houses, all spaces and details have to serve functions; that’s how you make smaller spaces feel larger. Each space has to be efficient.”
Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the “gallery” — a long, narrow space lined with floating shelves along one wall and a dining table along the other. It’s a glorified passageway, really, that connects the new part of the house to the old, and leads directly into the kitchen — another passageway, and one that’s minimal in appearance: No drawer handles or appliance controls or doors are visible. Everything is concealed behind uniform maple cabinets. “We wanted something non-traditional and unfussy,” says Green. “We chose slate for the floors and decided to use it for the countertops, too, where it’s more unexpected.”
The kitchen opens onto the bungalow’s former dining room, now used as a foyer to the master suite. The reconfiguring of this part of the house was one of Ryan’s greatest challenges. “The bungalow was tricky,” he says. In the end, he decided to enclose the original front porch and turn it into a walk-in closet (he left the exterior brick walls for character), transform the original bedroom into a bathroom, and convert the original living room into a bedroom. Details such as painting a horizon line on the bedroom walls, building in mahogany sink cabinets, and adding a skylight to the bathroom make the spaces feel larger. “In a large house, the details work to give scale and add warmth,” Ryan says. “In a small house, you’re constantly trying to maximize the space.”
Ryan’s other strategy for making the now-1,900-square-foot house feel larger was creating an entry courtyard, essentially an outdoor room. “The outdoor spaces are very important to this house,” he says. “When you’re in the addition, you can see the bungalow across the courtyard. That gives it cohesiveness and context.” Green and Palac love the fact that they can stand at one end of the house and look straight through to the other side. “But it doesn’t feel small,” says Green. “It feels spacious because of the pared-down furnishings and the open floor plan and all the light.” Although the outside of the addition doesn’t match — it’s white cedar siding, painted red, to the bungalow’s brick — the interior is seamless. “When you’re inside, you’d never guess that this was two separate spaces,” says Green. “This house works from the inside out.”
