A 3 bed, 2 bath home will be turning into a 4 bed, 3 bath home plus a 470 sf separate two-car garage. Erin contacted New Avenue in April 2012 to help her remodel and expand her home in Menlo Park, CA. The project is weeks from completion.

Erin had sold a nearby Eichler Home in Palo Alto and bought this home specifically to add a second unit for her daughter.  As a former urban amber she knew what to look for and what the permitting requirements are. The roofing Erin wanted was discontinued and impossible to replicate, so we were very careful to reuse what we could and put a new roof material in places where they don’t overlap with the old roof.  We love Eichler and hope to make New Avenue micro unit Eichlers some day.

Earlier this May, local Girl Scouts in Palo Alto showed off their very own EcoHome models! The youngsters took a tour of EcoHome in April and learned about features and products that promote building and living in a more environmentally-sustainable way. The demonstration home has numerous exhibits such as: recycled glass countertops and tiles, solar panels, rainwater collection barrels, bamboo floors, salvaged windows, metal roofing, and non-toxic paints. The Scouts’ science badge objectives included building model homes that would have to pass a “green certification” review. Check out some of their work!

Photos from PRWeb

If you’re interested in visiting the EcoHome, Kevin Carley of the City of Palo Alto Utilities department gives guided tours the first Thursday of every month from 3-5pm. The next one is on June 6. Check the City of Palo Alto’s website to call and schedule a time.

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The Department of Energy, in partnership with the Silicon Valley Energy Watch and the City of Palo Alto, hired New Avenue to build this modular home as a model of sustainability and energy efficiency. It has a full kitchen, bathroom, laundry, one bedroom and an extra sleeping loft. Read more about the home on our website.

Dennis and Lisa, two young parents from El Cerrito, CA, contacted us in the summer of 2011 with the idea of replacing a huge old chicken coop in their backyard with a nice little cottage for Dennis’s mother. Having grown up nearby, Dennis wants to invest wisely in their character-rich property that has amazing gardens and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The family has a sizable and interesting yard. Three homes in a row used to be shared by one family, and thus no fence separates their home from their neighbor’s home. In a various small clearings in the yard sits a children’s playset and slide, a chiminea fire pit, a hot tub and a swinging bench. In the very rear section of the yard sat an old chicken coop they inherited and used for storage. Lisa is a former plant dealer with some experience in landscaping, so throughout the yard succulents, agave, trees, shrubs, and potted flowering plants are traveled by mazy pebbly paths. Their neighbor, former owner of Urban Ore, has also curated a collection of great iron sculptures on her side of the long-since-overgrown property line. Altogether the yard paints a welcoming lush and colorful desert scene.

During the early design stages, we discussed some options with Dennis and Lisa. The first design was a sloped 850 sf modern small home with a loft and shed roof. This had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a living/kitchen area.

After some thinking, though, this scheme was scrapped in favor of a more classic cottage design. The second design is a 600 sf one bedroom, one bathroom, L-shaped small home with a living/kitchen area and a gable roof and loft. Just outside the house will be a great outdoor patio and trellis for rest and relaxation.

Moises, a retired surgeon, and Kathleen, the local small business owner of gift and plant boutique The Potting Shed, are making room for family and friends in Fairfax, CA. They contacted New Avenue back in the fall of 2012 looking to create a backyard cottage. Located at the foot of a hill, their trapezium property consists of a relatively large flat lot dotted with fallen leaves, native grasses, carpet ferns, oak trees, and quaint outdoor furniture and is bordered by the woodlands on three sides. Their main home and a small existing accessory structure occupy two corners, and in another corner they will be building a little cottage for their daughter. They will also be adding a lap pool for entertaining their extended family and for Moises’s rigorous Ironman training routine.* Central landscaping features and gardening around a serene streamlet will top off the project to create an active and enchanting yard that the main home and cottage will look towards.

The design of the cottage is inspired by one of our designs, “The Small L“.  At 440 square feet, it will feature a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room in an L-shaped configuration. In the interior of the L will be a wood deck with a small hole accommodating an existing tree. It hasn’t been decided yet, but a trellis and a green roof may also be incorporated in the design. Salvaged materials and nontoxic materials will go into the construction of the cottage.

Presently, the project is in phase 2, which involves designing floor plans and permitting. We submitted a request for a paper street – a road that was laid out by city planning but never developed – to be removed from record and are awaiting the planning department’s approval. A soils report will likely be also required for the hilley lot before further development occurs.

Stay tuned for developments to Moises and Kathleen’s project! You can keep up with New Avenue developments on our weekly newsletter, Facebook Page, or twitter stream. If you are interested in starting your own small house project, create a design book on our website and contact us to discuss your ideas. You can save the images of this project from here.

*Actual Ironman training is TBD, he may just swim a few laps every now and then.

Note: You can create an account on our website to start a design book and collect these pictures for your small home project brainstorming, or you can contact us.

Hillary and John, a young couple in Walnut Creek, CA, contacted New Avenue early this year. They want to build a senior-friendly backyard cottage so they can be closer to Hillary’s mother.

In January we completed their feasibility study to determine the best permitting process and reviewed initial budgets for different design paths we could choose. Phase II, the Floor Plans and Schematic Design phase, began in February. Hillary and John were inspired by work we had done for another client, whose accessory dwelling unit has a view of Mt. Diablo. We used that as a starting point for their cottage because they have a great backyard with gardens, nice trees and a stream that flows by the most likely location of the cottage. The large, mixed-use area offers spacious and holistic living, and there are only a few interior walls – for privacy in the bedroom and bathroom.

After a few iterations, we arrived at a design that they fell in love with. The one bed, one bath cottage is around 550 sf. Some features include a vaulted ceiling, exposed rafter tie beams, skylights, and a trellis. There is even a sizable entertainment center and lots of shelving for books and other items.

Our design incorporates several Universal Design elements such as grab bars, soft non-slip flooring, an open living plan, a flush shower pan, and outdoor lighting for the pathway to the main home and more.

The building permit applications will be submitted soon, and construction will begin this summer.  As part of our Integrated Project Delivery process, New Avenue will present the project to our partner builders and manage the project. The contractors will bid for the construction of the cottage.  The homeowners will be saving some money by doing some of the demolition of an old shed and storage unit themselves. John will be doing some work in his woodshop, and they may also take over the flooring and painting.

The project is planned to be completed this fall. Stay tuned for updates!

If you are thinking of starting your own, the project managers and small home consultants of New Avenue are here to help. You can create an account on our website to start a design book and collect these pictures for your project brainstorming.  Contact us, and we’ll sit with you to discuss your ideas.

 

You can save the floor plans on this blog post to your New Avenue design book from here.

“I live in Santa Cruz and have a decently large lot, and we want to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) with a garage in our backyard for my father-in-law,” John inquired New Avenue at the end of November 2012. We visited John and his wife, Kathleen, shortly thereafter to check out what their options could be. After some zoning research, we determined that, with a lot size between 5,000 to 7,000 sq ft, the couple would be allowed to build their Santa Cruz ADU with:

• A floor area of up to 500 sq ft, measured from exterior walls, not including a first floor garage.
• Height of 22’ for a two-story unit.
• 5’ side setback for two-story unit, 3’ for a one-story unit.
• 10’ rear setback with AUP, 20’ without an AUP. (An AUP, or administrative use permit, may be required by a planning/development department to review and assure that construction or property use are consistent with zoning regulations. It adds time and costs to the project but can afford leniencies for the building.)
• Required fire sprinkler system.
• Architecture similar to the primary residence.

Santa Cruz is a beautiful and progressive city by the ocean but buying and renting a house is very expensive. In the early 2000s, a city committee looked to ADUs as a solution to address the shortage of affordable housing. While they housing code already permitted them, it wasn’t easy for homeowners to develop them. The city introduced ADU ordinances to encourage homeowners to build ADUs as well as some methodical restrictions on how they could be constructed or used. This move has been well received by Santa Cruz communities and homeowners alike. The city has a great manual on ADUs on their website. Check it out: PDF (3.4 MB).

We drew up a handful of site plans for John and Kathleen and took note that they wanted some room in the yard for their young son. Upon deciding where and how the ADU will be located in the backyard, we came up with a rough schematic sketch of the unit. The family is big on bikes, so room for them is an important part of the layout.

This early design process underwent several iterations before a floor plan was agreed on. Here are some of the schemes. They are labeled A-E on the lower right.

Scheme A

Scheme B

Scheme C

Scheme D

Scheme E

After some back-and-forth with John and Kathleen, we arrived at scheme E for the final design. We will assemble the submittal to the city for the planning permits next week. Stay tuned for more updates on John and Kathleen’s project!

Until then, if you’re interested in getting in touch with us about your small house project, sign up on our website to create a design book and collect some ideas. You can save the floor plans on this blog post to your New Avenue design book from here. We’ll sit down, discuss your goals, and help you through the entire process of adding your ADU. Read more about what we do and how it works or contact us immediately.

Job Summary:

The senior designer position is a key position responsible for developing custom home designs, communicating with clients and building departments and overseeing construction administration. The senior designer will oversee 10+ jobs concurrently from inception to completion. You will have autonomy, creative control and ownership of your projects from pre-design through completed construction. We are looking for a long-term partner and if timing isn’t right for you now, then moonlighting with us on one or two projects in the near term is possible.

Specific Duties:

• Assisting sales team in follow-up meetings
• Gathering second unit planning code from various planning and building departments
• Materials selection and specifications
• Drafting schematic, planning and construction documents in Revit
• Offering excellent construction administration and construction observation for our clients including change order approvals and managing general contractors.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 3-7 years experience in architecture, preferably residential
• Proficiency in Revit including backend topics such as creating families and making schedules
• Proficiency in rendering software such as 3Ds Max or SketchUp
• Car owner – site visits with personal car required
• Strong graphic, written, and verbal communication skills
• Strong working knowledge of the California Building Code
• Demonstrated ability to control project scope, schedule, and budget
• Proven project management capabilities and ability to drive projects forward

Personal attributes:

• Charismatic and enjoyable team member
• Self-motivated, able to work with little to no direct supervision, results-oriented & proactive
• Excellent critical thinking skills and problem solving skills
• Excellent time management skills and attention to detail

» Apply for this position on Archinect