The exterior is 11 1/2' by 20'. The interior is 8 1/2' by 17 1/2' (unfinished --- stone walls). The height is 6' at its low point and 8 1/2' at its high point.

We probably cannot change the footprint at all, because it is so close to our pond (considered wetlands). But it is darn cute, and it is nestled in a very pretty area of trees and gardens, and I would like to make it usable as a studio or guest cottage (they would need to walk to our poolhouse to access a full bath). I could also see a bar set up in there for parties, since it is so close to the pond. I would like at least one of the stone walls exposed, and I would use radiant floor heat and maybe an insert in the fpl? I might make a loft bed.

Of course, we have to raise the roof before we can do anything. I am thinking maybe just a band of windows all the way around, to raise the roof? Does that make any sense?

All ideas welcome!

Here are a few shots of it:

A cute little path through the gardens next to the pool

entrance

partial view of the front

one of the views from the stone house

But thanks, I love it too.

Fun - getting electricity to it is not a problem --. tHe PO has lights in many of the trees, and speakers all around the property, so we have electricity all over the darn place. We also have hose bibs nearby, but I know we can't get zoning permission for a bathroom.

The space is on the small side, I just think a lot more light and height will greatly enhance it. And if we could go high enough, with a loft, then we get more usable floor space, too...

You may want to do a kind of generic reno until you a real need for the space presents itself. You my have a child who needs it as an art studio, or a recently divorced or bereaved friend who needs a haven for a month.

Would definitely raise the roof with a band of square windows all the way around the house under the eaves, and would go with a kind of spare Hugh Newell Jacobsen aesthetic inside (egg crate shelving, etc).

Def install CCTV cameras now, to get the kids used to them before they are teenagers. Do not ask me why I recommend this.

B U T............listen to kswl...............how far is that from main house???
You don't even WANT to know what went on in that tiny place. (I was a GOOD girl tho, NOT me!) and the stuff kids do now--O M G. Monitor it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You could do the bunk house thing along the back where the wall of raised windows would be. Maybe built so that the windows are in each bunk. I don't know how to post the pictures, but within this link is a bunk bed with a small sectional sofa in it. That may work within your space. If you were to do a whole wall of bunks, I'd put a hole in the wall between the bunks to bring in the light. Exposed stone sometimes feels a little closed in.

Great eye candy for bunk beds in the link. :)
Good luck!
Kim

If you do want to use it for another purpose, please don't change the roof line. It's so quaint and cute the way it is!

Geo, Sandy - I kinda doubt it. We are in CT and we have lots of ice houses and root cellars, but not saunas. Plus one of the bathrooms has a sauna in it (PO).

Vivian - I think definitely some skylights, whatever we end up doing.I love chairs on pegs! But 8.5x17.5 isnt terribly big. Im thinking a double bed centered on the wall when you walk in, wall mounted swing arm lamps and little shelves on either side. Maybe a comfy chair to the left when you enter ... and that's it! The only other idea I had was something like this photo below (but I dont think the geometry works, with such a narrow room. If you put the mattress 8' off the floor, what kind of pitch would you need to give you head room up there?)

Annie, That's how I am seeing it. Although luckily we will have electricity.

Kimiko - great bunk bed links, but I am thinking of this as for adults primarily. A lot of guest have asked about sleeping there! I agree with you it is hard to solve the aesthetics. You may be on to something, raising the rear roof line and not the front, and then putting on a roof with a totally different pitch. The positive there is that the front facade is unchanged! Thanks!

Thanks, Music. Our property feels like a park to me and I enjoy it every day.

Note to self: Do not invite Jenny-from-the-block for sleepover. : )

Bronwwyn'sMom, Yes, we would def have to raise the chimney. I think we might be able to find enough rock to do that ...

Cottage - That sounds cool! There are so many little stone structures around, I was surprised I cannot find another example of someone trying to do this! My google search was pretty fruitless. Most people are adding second floors when they raise a roof, and doing it on a frame house where you just paint to match!
As to distance, in the fourth photo you see a white building to the right. That is the pool structure, and the site of the pool bath. The stonehouse is not visible from anywhere in the house, though.

Lascatx - My girls want to use it a yoga studio, but viola practice is a good idea too. Id let the kids do a sleepover, that"d be fun. I just want to finish the inside (stone walls and a gravel floor right now!) and raise the roof and then I will have a better sense of what is possible in there.

KSWL - LOL! totally agree on the cameras. (holding ears and humming, though). Do you see my question about how to do a band of windows when the structure is so much lower in the back? What would I do on the side elevations!

Jterri -- My DH has to duck to enter. And he has already forgotten that more than once, Chevy Chase style. Not so romantic with a concussion.

Has anyone done anything like this with a structure? I can't find nay guidance on the internet. I don't know how to handle the side elevations .... ideas???

I think that you might get some good use out of a long, narrow table--maybe a refectory table-type thing. Could be bar, could be table, could be buffet.

Kinda reminds me of those dinner cottages everyone was so hot about not too long ago...

1) Dig down a bit in the interior to provide a bit more height and a taller entrance (if you take off the existing door and redo the door jambs/trim).

2) Take the roof off, but slant it up in the opposite direction, away from the fireplace wall. That gives you more height on the side where the entry is. The seating area can stay near the fireplace. Fill in the new upper "space" with frameless glass. It will be a modern take, but won't detract from the original stone.

These examples are a bit modern, but just imagine the idea with the original fabric of your little house. You still may need to heighten the chimney, though.

Jakabeddy,
Your images are very much what I was thinking of, but could not find! I think it may be possible to go a little modern if it is kept simple. I know I have seen examples of "ruins" that are incorporated into modern structures with glass, and that is the kind of thing I was wondering about.

1) I don't think we should dig down because the pond is only 15-20 yards away.

2) I like that idea. I wonder though if the roof sloping down toward the chimney can work ... even w lots of flashing?

Let the chunky framing replace the need for cladding, the way post-and-beam construction does, paint it a deep color from your stone, and you have something that stands up to the muscular effect of that lovely stone.

And you get to say "parallelogram!' How often does that happen...?

Can you show me a visual of a "chunky frame member" (no jokes please)

thanks so much!

Because I KNOW you would NEVER consider fake muntins on your authentic stone shed, now WOULD you...???

See? I never even mentioned any rude jokes, tempting though it may have been....

In my post above, I tried to write: "I love the idea of adding a row of window glass at that top edge." ... but my coding failed me, lol.

I have been looking for examples of raising the roof of a stone house with glass, or a row of glass transom windows -- but I can't find any examples!

Looking, still looking...

I couldn't find a great picture either, but here are a few interesting buildings with clerestory windows. I love the butterfly roof in the modern building. Making the roof a green plant roof would be awesome in your spot as well.

Sochi,
I love that barn. I have to look for it, but I recently came across new build with a similar roofline. Your second photo and last photo are very similar to some of the ideas I had. Don't you feel like you have seen this done somewhere, but just cant find it?

MCClarke , ohhh, now i get it! Like timbers, or log cabins. I think the mass is good vs the stone, but wonder how it would look w my house... Thank you for the great link!

Bronwyn, Didnt Marvin recently stop making true divided light? Something about the number of seals in a true vs simulate, and failure rate? Id love to buy old windows ...

A few developments/preliminary conclusions:

1. We have called a local GC with whom we have had good results (he put in our greenhouse add), unlike the not local-GC who unfortunately did the whole rest of the house and over whom we are now chewing up legal fees (alas). He will come by next week to discuss; he has a solid grasp of what will be allowed, which is key in our town.

2. I was open to a fairly modern solution, but I have walked around the property today and taken in a full panorama from this tiny "house" to our main home, and I think we need to keep it very low key and not dissimilar to our main house, which has a lot of stone terraces and walls, even a stone chimney that is very similar. Our house is white stained cedar shake, and it already rambles along with a lot of odd shapes and quirks. Silos, cupolas, octagonal rooms (2!). If we had a simple white farmhouse, I think you could throw in a modern twist. But not here.

3. A few comments here made me realize I really only need to raise the roof in the back, not the front. Very helpful since i was locked into the idea of raising it all up in one parallel shift.

4. DH says he thinks we may have some stone lying around from old stone walls etc that we can use ... fingers crossed. He also points out that it looks like the fpl is diff stone than the body of the building anyway, so that it is such a hodgepodge who can tell

5. We could train ivy on the new stone to hide it, or climbing roses

4. My current leaning is ...
a. take off the roof,
b. raise the height of the backwall with framing and cedar shake, and a row of clerestory windows
c. Put on a gable roof with skylights
d. finish the gables ends in cedar shake (maybe with one window). masking the old sloped roofline by covering some of the stone on the gable ends, so that the demarcation between stone and siding is a straight line
e, paint all the shake in a grey from the stone
f. commence to have lotsa fun decorating the inside!

Plus I am describing everything I want like I can wave a wand --- who knows how feasible it is. I am holding my breath for when they say, "to do x.y. z, first you will have to bring the building up to code". That'd kill the whole damn thing!

Cool party idea, though!

The only changes I'd make would be to put in a skylight and use it as a studio. But, then, I'm 5'2" and would love a studio just like that to paint in. :-)

I'd strongly recommend leaving the outside just as it is. As an entertaining area it would also do well. Put in a radiant floor and a skylight. Put a bar along the 6' high ceiling end and add a few chairs. If you need an extra guest room, buy a hammock and install some hooks in the higher end of the ceiling to hang it as needed.

Sorry, but I had a gut response against raising the roof on this little stone gem.

Jterri,
Noooo, we have a gravel floor right now. I think I need to take some interior shots to disabuse you guys of this image you have!

Cheen, I appreciate your taking the time to voice a contrary view! Trust me, we gutted our house and added 2000 square feet and it still looks pretty much the same (hmm, was that as dumb as it now sounds?).. .so we are all about preserving charm, I promise. The main difference will be the gabled roofline, which I don't think does violence to the vernacular...

No, we don't have a pressing need for another guest room or more space. But I love this little building and I would like to use it. Inside, one wall is 6 feet, and we will lose some of that when we put in a floor (which one must do at a minimum).

Or you could do logs...

One question though...I'm in CT too...can I come visit when it's done?
;)

Sure, just don't pee in the yard like Jenny. : )

Hahahaha, I have no idea. I think I was searching for "tiny house" and "shed roof" and maybe "transom windows" because I couldn't think of the word "celestory". (Thanks, Sochi!)

I wonder what your little house was used for. I would say it was a pump house, but why would it have a fireplace? Or an icehouse, which would make sense near a pond... but again, why a fireplace?

I'm also in eastern CT. When your little house is done, we'll have a CT party!

I'm actually way down in southwestern CT ... but always up for a party.

You may have invented a word, "celestory". For windows you can see the stars through! Did you mean to type "clerestory"?

I used to think it was pronounced "cluh-rest-ory", because that sounds vaguely ecclesiastical and originally they were used in churches, I think. But "clerestory" is pronounced like "clear story". fwiw.

Why not just do a conservatory roof and take care of all the issues at once? Plenty of light, higher space and not flammable near the chimney. You can easily choose a style that's traditional without being fussy, and supposedly the new glass offers lots more temperature and light protection, plus it's under trees anyway.

I want to order a nice pot of Mariage Freres and grab le journal and have a seat in that third photo. Oh so lovely.

... a few thoughts.

1. We have a conservatory, to the right of this little stonehouse. We call it a greenhouse because we chose a simple design and wanted a greenhouse feel, but it is a conservatory imported from England and assembled on site. Right now the wee stone house it is clearly an outbuilding. Tart it up to much and I dont know how it relates to the whole. It isn't hidden or out of the way. To me the stone house is more of a bookend for our house, which rambles horizontally.

2. Do they sell just conservatory "tops", like muffin tops? : ) I would imagine the structural issues are more complex.

3. One interior wall is 6' high ... no matter what we need to make that wall higher and we dont have enough stone.

I see your point about the dangers of bastardizing the whole thing with too many elements. But I don't see where the roof line change is a big desgin risk -- to me , many stone cottages, even tiny ones like this, have gable roofs. And i've noticed the gable is often clad.

Not the first time I've made that error. I think I typed the word the way I would prefer to see it spelled. For windows that deserve celebration, in a house designed by someone named Celeste!

Oh fine, I'll never remember it now, lol...

Oh, that's brilliant. I bet that's the answer!

Yes, you have to figure out the roofline issue, but you have to do that anyway. At least with a conservatory roof you could do a more seamless expanse of glass and frame rather than a separate strip of clerestory windows.

I, uh, third the need to supervise teenagers in the space and also claim the 5th on how I know. :P

I assume you worked with an architect on some of the work you did on the rest of your property - perhaps s/he could give you a couple of suggestions for what to do with the roof to keep the flavor of the building and to blend with your home?

I will come visit when it's done. :)

Mary

Was your stone house used originally as a playhouse?

The local GC guy actually came by today. He has no idea what the building was for, btw.

Anyway, a few take-aways.

1. We probably could make it bigger, if we built in the direction away from the pond. However such an extensive project would probably mean the whole thing would the need to be rebuilt to code- which would essentially require tearing it down! Even then we would probably not get permission to add a BA in any event, so its not really worth it to enlarge the footprint, as I'd assumed.

2. He isn't worried about matching the stone --- if we power wash the whole thing, the new and old stone will just age together and should blend pretty well. That gives us a lot more flexibility.

3. We can do a gable roof, much like the pitch of the gables we have elsewhere.

4. He would leave the stone exposed inside (hooray) and do a dramatic post and beam roof.

He is doing some msmts. now to see how far above the water table it is, so he knows how much he has to raise the floor.

Of course, he would rather tear it down and start over, facing it with stone. I'm sure he's right. Even though our house was hardly a tear down, in fact was in many ways pristine, with all we did to it it would have been far cheaper to start from scratch. I still can't do things that way.

I have done some sketches and have looked around at other parts of our house. I think gable and clerestory would fit well.

PS There are a lot of us in CT - we should think about doing a CT get together in the fall!

I really do have to post some close ups and interior shots to disabuse you of these ideas!

Eandhl --- maybe the first week of Oct?

Yes, please, please, please post some photos of the interior!

I'd love to see pics of the inside, and would be curious as to how old it is (whether it pre-dates the main house?).

Growing up we had a Summer Kitchen that was first my dad's archtecture space and then became my first art studio. It had a tiny dusty loft w/ 1 small window that I threw an old mattress into. Could sit up and that was about it. I'd hole myself up in the Summer Kitchen and at some point every afternoon would climb up to the loft and just daydream about what my ideal life would hold for me.

I dream of a refuge like that again.

Connecticutonians has a ring...

Some suggest connecticut resident

Others suggest a commuter!

But my preference is Connecticutian.

However, my inclination would be to go with clerestory windows and a shingle roof. And not try to match the stone, but go with clapboard, which is appropriate to NE structures. It goes very nicely with stone. (It would take a sensitive eye to continue the stone pattern, anyway.)

Someone stop me.....

Thanks everyone for your input. TheFoxesPad, i very much imagine a similar use .. for me or my kids!

A few general obeservations:
1. I am thinking more about tying it to our house, and to my surprise that means white trim
2. There is a part of our house, a small room off the living room, with very similar dimensions. It is stone about 6.5 ft up then clerestory. It has a gable roof.
3. Before our reno, the house has a very lovely little solarium at the side entrance. We had to demo it to make a mudroom and craftroom (believe me I hated doing it). My DH save the Marvin french doors and oversized windows. We'd love to use them, although whatever facade gets them will really change in character, so still mulling it
4. I want to emphasize its garden setting and path as much as the pond
5. The contractor says if we use too much glass it will be very hot in a stone house ...
6. Decided against post and beam, too much visual weight for the space. Probably shiplap ceiling, painted. Floor should be tile --- maybe antiqued saltillo
7. Our house has a cedar shake roof. Thinking we should copy it although I like tin or even copper too.
8. I think we will put in a sofa bed for those adult guests who want to stay there, and a small loft with a window for the kids as a reading nook.

When we have narrowed done more decisions I will post again for input. In the meantime, thanks!

For those of French descent, Connecticoise
For the social set, the Connected
For the business elite, the Connecticutthroats
For the hipsters, Connecticats

After 16 years here, it feels like home. Perhaps we're Nuts from the Nutmeg state.

mtnredux, what a beautiful property! Hope you find a good use for that fabulous stone cottage.