Houzz Tour: Skylights & Tall Ceilings Brighten a 850-Sq-Ft Home
Tall ceilings, tons of natural light and cheery colour make this accessory dwelling unit feel much bigger than it is
Kathleen McCleary
July 13, 2019
Houzz Contributor. I'm a journalist, author, editor, and teacher who loves houses so much that I wrote my first novel about a woman's obsession with her house. In addition to my three novels, my work has appeared in Parade, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. I wrote a biweekly column about interior design for HGTV.com for several years; one of those columns (about my 1950's chartreuse-tiled bathroom) inspired the series "Bad, bad baths." I live in northern Virginia with my husband and try to entice my college-age daughters home as often as possible.
Houzz Contributor. I'm a journalist, author, editor, and teacher who loves houses... More
When husband-and-wife designers Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki decided to build an additional dwelling unit (ADU) behind a single-family home they own in Los Angeles, they had big ideas for the small space. “We wanted to build something as big as possible with a real focus on the interior volume so we could make something people could live in all day long and not feel cabin fever,” Sundius says.
Vaulted ceilings, multiple skylights and clerestory windows, along with cheery yellow paint, did the trick.
Vaulted ceilings, multiple skylights and clerestory windows, along with cheery yellow paint, did the trick.
Photos by Yoshihiro Makino
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki rent this ADU to a photographer and a filmmaker who both work from home
Location: Highland Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles
Size: 850 square feet (79 square metres); 2 bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
Designers: Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki of Bunch Design
To create the new unit behind a house they own and rent out, Sundius and Ichiki converted a former detached laundry and storage room. They had already designed and built several small homes and ADUs, and they used many of the strategies they had developed to make the relatively small unit feel spacious.
“The vaulted ceiling draws the eye across the space so it feels bigger,” Sundius says. “We added clerestory windows so even though the house is close to the property line, you get nice sky views and it feels expansive.”
The couple rent the unit to a photographer and filmmaker, both of whom work from home. “A lot of people who like these creative spaces are often creative people who work from home,” Sundius says. “It was a design challenge to make it feel warm and inviting through and through.”
Find an architect or building designer near you
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki rent this ADU to a photographer and a filmmaker who both work from home
Location: Highland Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles
Size: 850 square feet (79 square metres); 2 bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
Designers: Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki of Bunch Design
To create the new unit behind a house they own and rent out, Sundius and Ichiki converted a former detached laundry and storage room. They had already designed and built several small homes and ADUs, and they used many of the strategies they had developed to make the relatively small unit feel spacious.
“The vaulted ceiling draws the eye across the space so it feels bigger,” Sundius says. “We added clerestory windows so even though the house is close to the property line, you get nice sky views and it feels expansive.”
The couple rent the unit to a photographer and filmmaker, both of whom work from home. “A lot of people who like these creative spaces are often creative people who work from home,” Sundius says. “It was a design challenge to make it feel warm and inviting through and through.”
Find an architect or building designer near you
The team had done step ceilings in other projects but always with Douglas fir. “This one we decided to do drywall,” Sundius says. “It has a wonderful, white simplicity to it.” He knew he wanted to cut skylights, and he likes the way the drywall edges and skylights “merge to form a sculptural subtraction.”
In order to make the space feel airy, Sundius decided to keep the walls a standard 8 feet tall instead of stretching them all the way up to the 15-foot-high vaulted roof. This lets the unit feel like one big open room. The vertical beams are construction-grade lumber. “We’ve always tried to make the most out of typical construction methods in order to keep costs down,” Sundius says.
One of his favourite things in the unit is the 15-foot custom floor-to-ceiling yellow door at the end of the hallway that’s cut to fit the stepped ceiling. This allowed the designers to keep the lines of the ceiling running from one end to the other but still give the tenants the ability to close off the guest bedroom. The large door also creates an interesting visual design element that goes a long way in a small space.
Engineered pine plank flooring runs the length of the home to also help visually enlarge the space.
In order to make the space feel airy, Sundius decided to keep the walls a standard 8 feet tall instead of stretching them all the way up to the 15-foot-high vaulted roof. This lets the unit feel like one big open room. The vertical beams are construction-grade lumber. “We’ve always tried to make the most out of typical construction methods in order to keep costs down,” Sundius says.
One of his favourite things in the unit is the 15-foot custom floor-to-ceiling yellow door at the end of the hallway that’s cut to fit the stepped ceiling. This allowed the designers to keep the lines of the ceiling running from one end to the other but still give the tenants the ability to close off the guest bedroom. The large door also creates an interesting visual design element that goes a long way in a small space.
Engineered pine plank flooring runs the length of the home to also help visually enlarge the space.
Clerestory windows above the kitchen provide natural light and sky views while maintaining privacy from neighbors.
Lines in the white Macaubus quartzite countertop and backsplash slabs join the lines in the ceiling and floor to help visually elongate the room.
Lines in the white Macaubus quartzite countertop and backsplash slabs join the lines in the ceiling and floor to help visually elongate the room.
Custom white cabinets pair with white appliances for a clean look. “We’re pretty over stainless,” Sundius says.
Sundius designed and built the dining table from a single 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood. The couple’s friend Shin Okuda, a local furniture designer who owns Waka Waka, designed and built the chairs.
Large glass doors connect the combined 400-square-foot kitchen, dining and living area to a patio, which Sundius says functions like another room. “If you live here and have dinner guests, you’re probably eating outside on the patio,” he says.
He painted the concrete masonry unit wall (visible through the glass doors) along the property line a bright shade of sky blue to add to the feeling of spaciousness.
He painted the concrete masonry unit wall (visible through the glass doors) along the property line a bright shade of sky blue to add to the feeling of spaciousness.
The guest bedroom, used here as a playroom, is flooded with light from the skylight and windows in the room next to it.
When you lie in bed in the master bedroom and look at the ceiling, “the light changes constantly,” Sundius says. “You get the bright white, then the white in the shadow part of the step, then the yellow from the large door, then the pink” from the skylight in the adjoining bathroom (see below). “The tonal shifts throughout the day are gorgeous. The space feels like a painting.”
The layout splits the bathroom into two spaces directly across the hall from each other. The main bathroom, shown here, contains a wet-room-style bathtub and shower plus a sink.
Simple white tile in a stacked pattern with dark grout creates a light but graphic wall covering. The designers splurged on the blue Italian floor tile and pleated tub surround tile.
Simple white tile in a stacked pattern with dark grout creates a light but graphic wall covering. The designers splurged on the blue Italian floor tile and pleated tub surround tile.
The room across the hall acts as a powder room and includes a toilet, sink, storage and washer and dryer. Sundius lined a hole in the ceiling that looks up to the skylight with a round piece of plywood that he painted pink. At different times of day, the skylight casts a rosy glow over the powder room and surrounding rooms.
To keep costs down, Sundius and Ichiki designed the unit as a simple box structure while outfitting the interiors with more visually interesting design touches.
For the exterior, they “went with as rough a stucco as we could get,” Sundius says, because they like the look.
See more exterior images of homes
For the exterior, they “went with as rough a stucco as we could get,” Sundius says, because they like the look.
See more exterior images of homes
Sundius situated the unit in a way that created a courtyard between it and the property line, making the patio space there “feel like part of the house,” he says.
This floor plan shows how the open living, dining and kitchen area makes the small house feel much bigger. Placing the bedrooms at the opposite end from the living space means that a two-career couple working from home can use one bedroom for an office and the living area for a second office, if needed.
Read more:
7 Pieces of Furniture Perfect For Small Homes
5 Small Homes Show Clever Space Planning
Tell us:
What did you think about this small home design? Share with us in Comments.
Read more:
7 Pieces of Furniture Perfect For Small Homes
5 Small Homes Show Clever Space Planning
Tell us:
What did you think about this small home design? Share with us in Comments.
T. Walton Carr, Architects is a full-service Architecture firm based in Ohio. The firm specializes in customized... Read More
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I highly commend the homeowners for investing so much money and time into this ADU. I'm considering doing an ADU but the permit and connection fees are a massive bite out of the budget. In my northern CA town a 414 square foot ADU comes with a price tag of over 25 thousand dollars in permit , water and sewerfees. The fire dept and school dept has not responded with their fees which may put it more towards the $ 30 K end of the spectrum for pre-construction fees alone. ... So good for these homeowners that they created a beautiful ADU space despite the high permit fees.
Very nice space that shows what can be done with 850 sq ft if you are creative.
Loving those vaulted ceilings!