Tour Sarah Susanka's Newest Right-Sized House
Get ideas for neighbor-friendly, efficient home design from best-selling author's latest project near Chicago
Sarah Susanka, architect and best-selling author of the "Not So Big House" books, has just finished her newest example of building a right-sized home.
The home, in the School Street neighborhood of Libertyville, Ill., is 2,450 square feet on two floors and sits on a small and narrow lot, 29 feet wide by 100 feet long. The home's interior spaces are lined up in a row; each has a west-facing window that lets in plenty of sunshine on cold winter days.
This house is part of the School Street Project, a development that will include both single-family homes and the old School Street school building converted to condominiums. The development is an example of New Urbanism brought to an existing small town. It is within walking distance of schools, houses of worship, the town's Main Street and the commuter rail station for those working in Chicago.
The home, in the School Street neighborhood of Libertyville, Ill., is 2,450 square feet on two floors and sits on a small and narrow lot, 29 feet wide by 100 feet long. The home's interior spaces are lined up in a row; each has a west-facing window that lets in plenty of sunshine on cold winter days.
This house is part of the School Street Project, a development that will include both single-family homes and the old School Street school building converted to condominiums. The development is an example of New Urbanism brought to an existing small town. It is within walking distance of schools, houses of worship, the town's Main Street and the commuter rail station for those working in Chicago.
The home's Arts and Crafts aesthetic helps it fit into its surroundings. And the front porch gives back to the neighborhood, allowing the home to engage in the public sphere.
The front porch, large enough for a table and chairs, aligns with the other porches in the neighborhood. Spaces like this promote friendly neighbors and safe neighborhoods.
The front door is actually at the side. This enables a more open layout. The entry axis and circulation axis along the spine of the house provide the interior with a clear organizing principle.
The living room, to the left after you enter the house, is made special and spacious with a raised ceiling that incorporates indirect lighting. The screen wall keeps the room open to the stairs while providing enough of a barrier to ensure the space has its own integrity. In the view down the hall, a piece of artwork is displayed in a lighted niche.
To the right of the entry, toward the street side of the house, are the kitchen and dining areas. These rooms are open to each other yet maintain their own spatial integrity through the use of ceilings, walls and trim.
A reading area is visible from and open to the living room.
The light from the large west-facing window of the reading area illuminates the core of the house, bringing natural light to the living room. The custom muntin pattern makes the window all the more special.
The kitchen is visible from the entry area and circulation spine. A unique feature of the layout is the kitchen's location at the front of the home, ideal for preparing a snack while watching for the kids to make their way home from school. Also, the front of the house receives the most sunlight so having the kitchen here gives this heavily used space a lot of natural light.
The organized circulation of the home is evident in this view.
A backsplash is one of the places you may want to splurge on when constructing a new house or remodeling a kitchen. It's one of those items you see every day — many times a day — so it should be meaningful and interesting.
This is the view entering the house from the garage. This mudroom provides plenty of storage for coats, boots and backpacks, and there's a desk for organizing the family's activities and information. Toward the front of the house, we can see the stairs, living room and kitchen.
The stair hall is three stories tall and gets plenty of natural light deep into the core of the home. When open, the windows at the top provide natural ventilation to the home, especially helpful on hot summer days.
Built-in display spaces and niches make journeying up and down the stairs delightful.
At the top of the stairs is a laundry/crafts room. This room provides plenty of storage space and counters for folding. A sink provides a handy cleanup spot for crafts and home projects.
The master bedroom at the front of the house, incorporates a window seat and taller ceiling for light and spaciousness. The simple, painted trim gives the room a tailored feel.
Unlike many houses that have the bedroom closets built at the interior walls, the closets in this child's bedroom flank the window so a built-in window seat can be incorporated into the room.
The same attention to detail is found in the bathrooms.
An outdoor living space accessed from the second floor is above the garage and back end of the first floor. This location provides a quiet and secure place for children to play and for outdoor parties.
The plans show how the home's linear plan of one room deep spaces is positioned to gather as much light as possible. This approach allows some passive heating of the house during those cold Illinois winters reduces the home's carbon footprint and saves on energy bills.
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More: 10 Elements of the Just-Right House
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