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Dwell on Design Exclusive House Tour: Atwater House

This cute Atwater cottage on the East leg of the Dwell on Design house tours was designed for and by the husband and wife team of RST Design and 73 Construction, Inc.

From the designer/owners:

Originally a 500 sq.ft. cottage on an empty lot, the Atwater house has grown to include 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms as well as an office and several outdoor rooms. The intent has been to open up the house to the yard in a way that makes it feel much larger than its 1,150 sq.ft., avoiding dead-end spaces that feel removed from everyday use and the outdoors. The house and landscape are connected through the use of “hard” materials such as board-formed concrete walls/benches and a polished black slab floor, as well as “soft” materials including old fence boards, re-used for siding in the living room, and plywood as both flooring in the original house and paneling on the exterior of the addition.

Completing the work ourselves has allowed for the inclusion of sustainable technologies like the green roof and a rainwater collection system. The house serves as a demonstration for a practical use of inexpensive and re-purposed materials as well as for the benefits of connecting indoor and outdoor living space.

Photos by Julie Karatzis of Cartoules Letterpress.

I couldn’t attend Dwell on Design this year, but I was lucky enough to be able to secure a few photographers to capture some of the house tours. You can see the rest of our exclusive Dwell on Design 2010 house tours here.

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk, is a Jersey girl living in SoCal. She dreams about funky, artistic jewelry + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, making music, and drawing.