Cozy Weekend Cabins

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To keep costs down elsewhere (the house was built for just over $118,000), architect Brun and his partner Lizmarie Esparza specified Ikea kitchen cabinets and a black refrigerator, which is less expensive than stainless steel. "It was really important that the kitchen opened up to the outside deck. Its designed in an L-shape with an indoor-outdoor table," Brun says. "The idea is that when you open the door, there's a continuous environment connecting the inside with the outside—it's as open as possible." Gordon purchased the hand-crafted solid teak antique table from Indonesia.

In the dining and cooking pavilion some creature comforts, like Karim Rashid Oh chairs, a stove, and a dining table made of a felled tree propped on sawhorses, do exist.

One side of the building contains two simple bedrooms and a bathroom. The other, larger side houses the open-plan living area, kitchen, covered deck with fireplace, and additional bedroom. The deck-hallway that runs the length of the building is partially covered, but the decking boards and inset fiberglass door panels allow air and light to penetrate. The architects wanted to suggest that moving between the different living spaces involved a trip through nature, as it does in traditional camping.

Johnsen oriented the building vertically to minimize the amount of grading and landscaping necessary for construction.