Outbuildings
A Dream Backyard Getaway for Seattle Book Lovers
Modern finishes and a focused palette keep this multifunctional indoor-outdoor living space clean and beautiful
Interiors That Look to the Landscape
This photo shows the cottage’s front room, outfitted with a comfortable reading chair. The couple wanted their cottage, which is permitted as a shed, to be a place where they could connect with nature year-round despite Seattle’s rainy climate. Walls of glass in the front portion of the cottage create an indoor-outdoor feel. The gray-blue siding behind the chair extends onto the shed’s exterior, amplifying the indoor-outdoor connection.
Electric radiant heat is installed beneath the floor tiles. The ladder leads up to the sleeping loft.
Sconce: Park Studio
This photo shows the cottage’s front room, outfitted with a comfortable reading chair. The couple wanted their cottage, which is permitted as a shed, to be a place where they could connect with nature year-round despite Seattle’s rainy climate. Walls of glass in the front portion of the cottage create an indoor-outdoor feel. The gray-blue siding behind the chair extends onto the shed’s exterior, amplifying the indoor-outdoor connection.
Electric radiant heat is installed beneath the floor tiles. The ladder leads up to the sleeping loft.
Sconce: Park Studio
The sleeping loft for the Hultons’ overnight guests contains a queen mattress beneath the angled tongue-and-groove ceiling, which is cedar wood painted white. “Having that skylight allows you to feel like that ceiling isn’t on top of your head,” says Board & Vellum’s Katie Mallory, interior designer on the project.
The ladder to the loft collapses sideways to save space.
In the space beneath the sleeping loft are shelves that house the couple’s fiction and some of their collected objects. Nonfiction and children’s books are stored in the main home, Danielle says.
The wallpapered ceiling has hidden built-in speakers that the couple uses to listen to music or podcasts while they hang out. “When not hosting guests, we use the space for reading and relaxing in the evenings and on weekends,” Hulton says.
Wallpaper: Flashdance in gray matters, Abnormals Anonymous
In the space beneath the sleeping loft are shelves that house the couple’s fiction and some of their collected objects. Nonfiction and children’s books are stored in the main home, Danielle says.
The wallpapered ceiling has hidden built-in speakers that the couple uses to listen to music or podcasts while they hang out. “When not hosting guests, we use the space for reading and relaxing in the evenings and on weekends,” Hulton says.
Wallpaper: Flashdance in gray matters, Abnormals Anonymous
At the back of the room, Board & Vellum designed a large window and a built-in bench seat, another place to settle in for a good read. You can see beyond it to the concrete retaining wall, which was an important part of the landscaping plan (more on that later).
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Between the shelves on the left side of the room is the door that leads to the bathroom.
Floor tile: Terra series, Mosa
Floor tile: Terra series, Mosa
Project lead Ryan Adanalian of Board & Vellum found the tile for the bathroom early in the design process and used it as inspiration for the style and finishes throughout the shed. The idea was to deliberately limit colors and materials in the shed to keep the small space unified. A few big, bold design moves, like the bathroom tile and the reading-area wallpaper, work within that larger style framework. In this room, the mullioned shower doors echo the lines of the windows in the front portion of the cottage, a repetition that adds to the space’s cohesion.
A petite floating vanity fits neatly in the space. “It’s the smallest bathroom we could get with a full-size shower,” Adanalian says. The small toilet (not shown) is beneath the towel bar, which is reflected in the mirror in this photo.
To the right of the vanity is the indoor shower. Inside the shower is a door that leads to a separate outdoor shower.
Light fixture: custom, Park Studio
A petite floating vanity fits neatly in the space. “It’s the smallest bathroom we could get with a full-size shower,” Adanalian says. The small toilet (not shown) is beneath the towel bar, which is reflected in the mirror in this photo.
To the right of the vanity is the indoor shower. Inside the shower is a door that leads to a separate outdoor shower.
Light fixture: custom, Park Studio
Photo from Board & Vellum
Cleaning Up, Then Improving the Outdoor Space
Before. Prior to the renovation, the backyard was not flat and was quite overgrown with vegetation. Board & Vellum cleaned up and leveled the property.
Cleaning Up, Then Improving the Outdoor Space
Before. Prior to the renovation, the backyard was not flat and was quite overgrown with vegetation. Board & Vellum cleaned up and leveled the property.
Photo from Board & Vellum
Once the vegetation was cleared, the homeowners could see the deteriorating retaining wall at the back end of their property. The wall was supposed to hold back their neighbor’s yard from falling into the Hultons’ yard, but it needed to be replaced.
Once the vegetation was cleared, the homeowners could see the deteriorating retaining wall at the back end of their property. The wall was supposed to hold back their neighbor’s yard from falling into the Hultons’ yard, but it needed to be replaced.
After. A new concrete retaining wall (visible in a couple of earlier photos) now more effectively prevents the next-door neighbor’s landscape from sliding into the Hultons’ backyard. The deck in front of the cottage, the fencing alongside the property line and the built-in benches are all made from ipe wood. Concrete pavers create a patio space for entertaining.
The curve of the patio follows the drip line of an Atlas Cedar tree in the neighbor’s yard (see next photo).
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The curve of the patio follows the drip line of an Atlas Cedar tree in the neighbor’s yard (see next photo).
Find outdoor fire pits
“Seattle denotes a tree as ‘exceptional’ based on its species and size,” Mallory says, and local regulation prohibits building or disturbing the land within the tree’s drip line, where water drips onto the ground from the tree’s outermost canopy. “The turf line arcs to follow this drip line and is what guided the framework for the landscape design in the backyard.”
Behind the cottage is a dry sauna that the homeowners purchased off the shelf. It doesn’t exactly match the style of the rest of the yard, which is why it’s deliberately hidden.
General contractor: Joseph Fentress of Proform Construction
More
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Behind the cottage is a dry sauna that the homeowners purchased off the shelf. It doesn’t exactly match the style of the rest of the yard, which is why it’s deliberately hidden.
General contractor: Joseph Fentress of Proform Construction
More
We Can Dream: Look at All You Can Do With an Outbuilding
6 Cozy Outbuildings That Feel Like Cabins in the Woods
Cottage at a Glance
Who lives here: Bookstore owners Danielle and David Hulton and their 3-year-old son
Location: Montlake neighborhood of Seattle
Size: 170 square feet (16 square meters)
Designer: Board & Vellum
Danielle and David Hulton own Ada’s Technical Books and Cafe in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. So it was only natural that plans for renovating their backyard included creating a beautiful place for reading. Like many homeowners, they also wanted to be able to use their outdoor space for relaxing and entertaining — which was pretty impossible before. “Before renovating our backyard, the space was practically unusable for us,” Danielle Hulton says. “We live very close to a park with lots of natural growth, and the native plants had basically taken over our backyard.”
Architecture and design firm Board & Vellum maximized the backyard by creating a 170-square-foot multiuse cottage and adding landscaping, a patio with built-in bench seating, a hot tub and a fire pit.