Tiny House Tuesday: Cottage Quaint
November 4, 2008
WHO: Tim and Diana Hammer
WHERE: Ballard, a Seattle neighborhood
WHAT: A revamped cottage + outbuilding
SIZE: 550 square feet (main house); 120 square feet (freestanding guestroom/studio)
The American Dream, architecture edition.
Tim and Diana Hammer purchased their 550-square-foot Ballard cottage in 1999. Then a dilapidated shack in need of some serious TLC, the tiny space wasn’t quite what the pair had in mind as the perfect newlywed nest.
But instead of razing the existing structure, the Hammers opted to rework the former fisherman’s flophouse, creating an open, inviting space that’s anything but cramped. Moreover, they rebuilt an existing outbuilding, outfitting it with reused and donated materials to create a functional guesthouse and studio space, and Diana landscaped the property with low-maintenance native plants. Quaint, cute, and totally tiny, this place is the pinnacle of living Small with style; check out the rest of the photos, and you’ll see what I mean.
Image: Lara Swimmer for Northwest Home
Living Small 
Hammer, what an ironic name! Great post, enjoyed reading.
Thanks; I just love what they’ve done with their tiny house.
I’m so glad they fixed her up. I can only dream of such a wonderful place! Okay, over 400sf is a bit much for me, but you know.
I’d love to see communities of these somehow take over the big dead areas that are springing up all over the Bay Area. I think of Emeryville and -even though much of that has gone to Pixar, etc, the dead space grows as the big-box chains crumble.
It’s heartening to know that people are doing what they can with the space they are given, isn’t it? I wonder how long it will be, given our rapidly growing population, before we do see communities of tiny houses cropping up. Urban density, ho!