Thundering Paws

Our clients found a wonderful cabin for retirement in West Virginia. The cabin and the land were ideal...except for the kitchen! The tiny kitchen, with about two feet of open counter space, was buried in the center of the house with no visual connection to their beautiful property.

Our clients' thought was to flip the kitchen to the original dining room location, which was south-facing with abundant windows and skylights. We sketched a few kitchen layouts in the sunny room. The initial concept of the kitchen-dining flip worked well. Then, there was an “ah-ha moment”, when we re-considered the circulation in the house. We proposed moving the new kitchen doorway to bring it in line with an existing circulation path in the living room rather than meandering around the new dining room. With this circulation move, the sunny kitchen is in the farthest room, yet the whole house feels more connected. Now, when working in the kitchen there is room for a couple of people to move, work, and hang out.

Additionally, the owners wanted a buffer to the cold mountain air entering the main living space. We designed an entry vestibule in one bay of their existing front porch, as well as an exterior stair, to connect an existing deck to the yard. All good paths for thundering paws.

Location:

Wardensville, West Virginia

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Nathan Webb / Longhouse Architects

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:

RARCO Contracting, Inc.