EYE ON DESIGN BY DAN GREGORY

A More Affordable Vacation Retreat

A few years ago Sunset Contributing Editor Peter Whiteley and I came up with a new twist on the cabin idea: “A  Getaway That Grows.” Peter’s ultimate design is really a deconstructed vacation house: you start with a compact, permanent, lockable kitchen-bathhouse and add tent bedrooms and storage on a 2,500 sq. foot deck as needed. Here’s how the Sunset Summer Retreat looked in the magazine’s parking lot then (visit Sunset Celebration Weekend this coming June 6-7 to see the great home design ideas they have come up with this year):

It’s a strong idea that seems even more relevant today. Houseplans.com’s Stephen Williamson, Nicholas Lee, and I have a further refinement: Use one of our small house designs as the centerpiece, like William Turnbull’s Sea Ranch cottage, plan 447-1, below:

The 650 square-foot structure puts kitchen, living, and sleeping area in one open space.

Only the bathroom is enclosed.

Or consider plan 23-2289.

It packs a lot into a mere 400 square feet.

Plans like these give you a head start on the heart of the design (see our Affordable Summer Retreats Collection for more ideas). Then add the tent structures (what could be greener?) with or without a deck. Sunset used tents from Sweetwater Bungalows.

Their tent structures are based on simple wood frames, like the one shown below:

Sweetwater tent bungalows come in various sizes including 10′ by 12′, 12′ by14′, and 14′ by 20′.

The “inside-out approach” is just one way to rethink the cabin. Here’s another I saw on a recent trip to the Rio de la Plata delta town of Tigre, near Buenos Aires:

It’s the Sarmiento cottage, a national hisotric monument where Domingo Sarmiento, the 7th president of Argentina, lived from 1855 to 1888. The house is enclosed in a glass box to protect it from the elements: now the outside is inside! Something to think about for winter, perhaps…