How to Live Small

Backstory
Behind the scenes at Michael Green’s and Pete Palac’s Frenchtown home.
1. The art. Green is a Renaissance man of sorts. A former art director and graphic designer, he now divides his time between his music — he plays jazz piano and trumpet professionally — and his art. A corner of the addition is dedicated to his piano, and most of the art on the walls, including NAME TK over the stairway and NAME TK above the sectional sofa, was painted by him. (Architect Michael Ryan transformed the bungalow attic into a painting studio.) “We wanted the space to have a gallery feel,” says Green. What better canvas than two-story-high white walls?

2. The Eclipse light fixture. When Ryan designed the new courtyard entryway to the house, he added a step up to the sliding glass doors that lead into the addition. Building code regulations require a light wherever there’s a step, but he didn’t want to ruin the ambience of the courtyard by installing a bright fluorescent light, so he found a round fixture that’s dark in the middle, resembling an eclipse. It gives off enough light to satisfy all codes, but is subtle enough to retain the integrity of the design — plus, when it’s on at night, it reflects off the glass doors and really looks like the moon. “Mike and Pete were very open to different ways of thinking about the space and coming up with solutions,” says Ryan.

3. The foyer. Formerly the dining room in the original bungalow, the room between the kitchen and the master suite has essentially become the foyer to the suite. Sliding doors of frosted glass close off the bedroom; when lit from behind, they look like shoji screens. “The room takes on a whole new character depending on the light; it’s very Zen without being overtly Japanese,” says Green, touching on one of the points he and Palac raised in their initial project memo.

4. The gallery. Conceived as a passageway connecting the addition to the bungalow, this narrow space has evolved and taken on several functions of its own. With its floating shelves (designed by architect Michael Ryan) on one side and dining table on the other, it acts as a library and an eating area. And Palac’s office. “The loft was supposed to be my writing space,” he says, “but I found myself sitting at the table in the gallery instead. It gets great light from the courtyard, and you can see the whole house from there.”