Living Smaller in a Bungalow

By Jay Dedrick

The showpiece of the project is a new living room on the main floor, a 12-by-20 space that takes the old rectangular bungalow into an L-shape. A trio of dual doors connects the room to the courtyard, sheltered by a massive ash tree.

Unconventional details distinguish the courtyard, most notably a boardwalk and pergola with rough-hewn wood columns painted white and copper tubes overhead. Adding to the whimsy are the bases of the wood columns, which are set inside custom-drilled boulders that rest on boxes of small stones.

Natural light flows freely. Those six doors connecting the courtyard and living room are capped by a row of transom windows that wraps around to the adjoining wall, where four more windows frame the gas fireplace. The hearth is done in black glazed porcelain tile.

Light bounces from the vaulted ceiling of corrugated, galvanized metal, contrasted by scissor-like trusses in clear vertical-grain fir. The blond grain also shows up in the window trim, shelves and cabinets.

The golden hue complements Virginia's interior wall palette of muted green, purple and orange, contrasted by crisp white window trim.