531 Pope Street Residence
Our first-time developer clients approached us with a request for a new house on a narrow lot in an urban setting, bordered on two sides by an elementary school.
After a brief flirtation with an overly glassy French Colonial design, our clients took our suggestion to re-envision the house in a fully contemporary style, a move our office enthusiastically embraced.
The maximum floor area was restricted by the planning department as percentage of the lot size, but we attempted to make the house live larger than its square footage through careful use of indoor/outdoors spaces that do not count as “floor area” and also increase the transparency of the house.
A west facing courtyard streams light into the family room, stairwell, and a guest bedroom while also serving as an inhabitable space.
A dramatic rear roof extension off the family room extends the living space outdoors and provides shade for the mostly west-facing backyard. A series of sliding doors allow for continuous flow between the great room and relatively deep and flat backyard.
Even the upstairs hallway features a large window, with a wood screen wall obscuring view of the one story neighbor below.
The house features 3 bedrooms and 2 baths upstairs, including the master suite. A laundry room completes the floor.
At the ground level, a formal living room and guest suite occupy the front of the house, while a family/dining/kitchen combo comprise a great room that all overlook the rear yard.
We met the city’s requirement for 2 car parking by splitting the program into two one car garages off a small parking court, a move that will help facilitate the future conversion of one of these garages into an art studio, home gym, or workshop.
The home as a remarkable quality of natural light as well as a strong indoor/outdoor flow of the house, both of which were primary drivers of the design.