I kinda flipped when I saw how homeowners Marilyn and Brian turned what had been a run-down garage behind their home on Cape Cod into a charming guest cottage.
The potential downside, though? Their guests may never want to leave…
It was featured by This Old House.
The homeowners hired architect John Kuhn, contractor Tom Hague III, and interior designer Tina Lalonde to transform it into a guest cottage.
To look at it now, you’d never know it was once a garage…or that it was built in the 1960s!
Kuhn Riddle Architects won the 2013 Chatham Preservation Award for restoring the main house, built in 1880. You can see the photos on their website.
I really wanted to get a peek inside the main house, too, and found an article about the kitchen if you want to see it!
For more photos and information about the garage-turned-guest cottage: This Old House and
Kuhn Riddle Architects. (TOH Story by Deborah Baldwin; photos by Keller + Keller).
…love!…blessings…laney
You had me at “sweet” + “cottage” — + then I discovered that it was the cover story for the current issue of This Old House magazine. I was just glancing at my copy again yesterday + remarking to myself about how much I liked it. While I’m on the subject, the current project on This Old House, the TV show, is drawing near the end — meaning the kitchen reveal in the next episode!
I can never resist a kitchen reveal! 🙂
Yes — I do love This Old House on TV, but not so much all the talk about plumbing + heat pumps + electrical stuff! 😉
It is my favorite home improvement show. The guys are never surprised by a foundation issue. They never have to go back to the home owner and ask for more money. They get along great – and I even catch an occasional almost eye roll over new “trends”. I am glad to have a basic understanding of how a house is built. I feel so bad when I read a homeowner on a forum having trouble with shoddy work. I am glad I know a shower surround needs waterproofing in addition to cement board, even if I will never do that work myself. When I do DIY, I check TOH website first to make sure I am doing it right. I watch it online – and OK I admit to pulling up Pinterest to look at pretty stuff during technical HVAC talk:)
That’s one grand garage! I love, love those doors at the top of the landing.
Oh how I love this house!! I would love to live in it – perfect size and cute as a button!
Upon seeing the initial picture and your heading I thought “Where on earth would you find a garage that looks like that?” and then find it’s on Cape Cod—well, of course it is! 🙂 Their team created a magical little place and it looks like it’s been there for almost a century. Yeah, I’d have a hard time leaving…
Wow, Julia! So much to love on your blog today . . from the charming cottage to the amazing front porch of the main residence. A feast for the eyes.
I pinned pictures from this cottage when it was featured on This Old House website recently! If I remember right, the closet at the top of the stairs hides the laundry. Love the balcony. Thanks for finding more pictures and giving a peek into the main house. I just pinned the main house kitchen:)
That is adorable! I’d love to stay there.
In the main house, is that a screen door leading to the pantry? How cool is that.
Yeah, isn’t that fun?
Gorgeous….both home and guest cottage. They must really love that heritage green color, as it’s used in both places. Why don’t I have friends with an adorable guest space like this?
I loved your little “spot the differences” game! 🙂
1.Different wicker rocker
2.Shelf instead of wall clock
3.Stuff on bottom shelf of table
4.Curtains instead of blinds
5.Basket on stairs
6.Vase at base of stairs
I prefer photo 1, as it seems less cluttered. Did I miss anything?
Good job, Alie! Those are the things I noticed, too. You get a Gold Star. 🙂
Love! So adorable and it feels old, even though it’s not. I’m making a note of the paint color for the cottage’s kitchen cabinets. Going to look it up on my Benjamin Moore fan deck. I’m still hunting for the perfect color for a painted island.
I love that shade of green they used. So pretty.
No other word but ‘perfection’.
Okay, I’ll play the game:
1) two rugs vs one rug
2) wall cock vs wall shelf
3) bucket of flowers with book vs magazines on table top
4) black box thing vs nothing on bottom table shelf
5) different wicker chair
6) different chair cushions and pillow
7) curtains vs no curtains
8) pottery under window vs no pottery
9) basket on stairs vs no basket
Wow, you came up with 9 differences! Bravo, Aaron. 🙂
Go Aaron! 🙂
It’s Thursday evening and I haven’t yet received your email for the newsletter. Did your change-ups affect that? Or is it a bit slower getting out today?
It’s still coming! I decided to try sending it out at 10:00 at night instead of at noon for all the people who sign up on Thursdays when I mention it. 🙂
The kitchen floor in the main house… WOW! Wonder if it’s painted concrete or plywood or what. Love the subtle plaid set on the diagonal. Really nice!
Oh my, can I please get this cottage (the first one) shipped over here to live in? Pretty please? 😉
I’ll see what I can do, Melanie! 😉
Loved the screen door on the pantry in the main house!! I’m not much for cooking or baking, but I’d be in and out of that pantry all day just so I could hear the whack of that old screen door opening and closing…that sound would transport me every time to a warm summer day!
I know, right? Love that sound!
Oh, Julia! There’s not a single thing that I don’t love about that adorable guest cottage or the main house! Those cute ceiling tresses are a great idea! (I’m on the fence about what to do w/ my old house .. and I have a great upstairs space that I’d love to renovate, so doing something fun w/ it — like those tresses — would be just the thing!) I’d also love to have a guest cottage like theirs in my backyard .. oh, what fun!
Maggy
That is absolutely perfect. Perfect. The only possible thing that could improve it would be to replace the little range with my 24″ Aga (2 ovens, British Racing Green) when I move in.
Any guesses on the paint color of the french doors in kitchen? I love it!
Oh.My.Goodness….talk about my dream house! *swoon*
The wall/trim colors are so soothing, and I really like the minimalist style with the artwork….something I wish I could do, but alas, I have a weakness for frames (I have empty frames just waiting for artwork all over the place – drives my husband crazy).
I so want to find a way to ask the homeowners and photographer if I could paint a watercolor of that cottage, it’s just begging to have it’s portrait painted!!
I wonder where they got those kitchen shelf brackets? Maybe custom made? And that little sconce thing on the kitchen window trim….I wonder if that is a light or a candle holder, whatever it is, it’s unique!
That is one perfect cottage! I could live it in and not change one single thing. Thanks for the eye candy! 🙂
Our kind of cottage…just right! 😉
What a cute guest house. Wonder what the bath in the cottage looks like. Considering it is probably a multi million dollar property I am surprised at how basic the stove is in the cottage. Although I am sure it is hardly used.