Nestled on a quiet, secluded cove of Lake Blue Ridge against the National forest, Kelly’s Cove was a rustic log cabin family retreat for over 20 years. When their youngest was soon to graduate from high school, the clients decided it was time to expand and update their cabin. Their desire was to convert the “rustic cabin” into a “cottage” with the addition of soft, soothing colors and minimize the brown wood finish and color. The rooms were all tiny, the
kitchen cabinets blocked the view of the lake with no dining area nor pantry. Their desire was to seat at least 8 in the dining area and sleep at least 12 in beds. They realized their existing footprint was way to small to remodel for a larger master suite, so the direction was to add a new master suite, kitchen and outdoor living and dining areas in a whole new building connected to the existing structure via the outdoor living area.
Two weeks following our preliminary design meeting, the cabin flooded from a busted water pipe. Being made of 100% wood, the cabin interior buckled and bowed, the electrical panel and HVAC system both blew and they suffered substantial loss of their interior furnishings. This caused a rethinking of the design direction. We gutted the existing cabin, added towers for new bathrooms creating two master suites, added dormers to the roof to expand the room’s volume’s and added an extension to the house but only for the new outdoor living space with a new basement below with a new bedroom, bath and office.