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The dilapidated, metal, one-car garage at the end of the dirt driveway held a certain charm for Sandi Cook and her husband, John Greci, when they bought their 1895 home in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.
"I thought it was really cool. I liked the way the garage looked, but it wasn't functional," explains Sandi. It was, however, well situated along their backyard, providing privacy from neighbors and a focal point beyond their garden. "When we bought the house, I knew that we'd eventually have to replace it," remembers Sandi. Yet they weren't particularly interested in having an outbuilding that would function solely as a garage. Inspired by the outdoor living they enjoy on their annual Caribbean vacations, Sandi and John decided the new structure would function as an outdoor living space from spring through fall and as a one-car garage in winter.
photography: Paul Whicheloe
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When they asked me to be their architect, we discussed placing the new building in the same general location as the old, though a little farther from the brook and large silver maple that border their property. We figured at 12 feet wide by 18 feet deep, it would be just large enough to house their camper-van in the off-season while comfortably accommodating either a dining area or garden sitting room in warmer months. "I've always liked small spaces," says Sandi, a designer herself. "There's a mini-structure obsession going on—and it comes from my mother, if you really want to trace it back." When Sandi was growing up in Victoria, British Columbia, her mom had a hobby of sketching floor plans for cabins and one-room cottages. "She was into efficiency, having exactly what you need and nothing more, nothing less," Sandi says.
photography: Paul Whicheloe
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We knew that the key to the new multiuse space would be two large sets of doors, one pair facing south on the gable end fronting the driveway and another facing east toward the backyard and garden. I suggested that the eastern pair be custom-made, oversize glazed doors designed to slide on overhead tracks completely clear of a nearly 10-foot opening. When fully open, these would provide uninterrupted access to a new brick patio and the house's rear deck. When closed to protect from wind or chill, the glazing would still allow light to warm the interior. The overhead tracks, though, posed an aesthetic challenge. We puzzled over how to mount them so they'd seem integral to the building, rather than tacked on. Since we'd been considering the informal, New England look of cedar shingles for the exterior siding, I suggested incorporating shingle brackets as a playful touch to receive the tracks and exposed rafter tails. 
photography: Paul Whicheloe
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To maximize daylight and views, we chose large double-hung windows similar to those on the main house for the rear and east side. For additional natural light yet some privacy, we used smaller windows, mounted high in the southern wall facing the driveway and the western wall bordering the neighbor's property, as well as small panes of glass across the top of the carriage-style front doors. Sandi notes, "People can be so close by, but not realize we're in here."Sandi and John chose exposed, premium-grade pine studs and shiplap pine sheathing to create an authentic outbuilding interior. We used Douglas fir beams and rafters for both strength and color contrast with the pine. I recommended the floor be made of compacted stone dust with granite cobblestone thresholds.
photography: Paul Whicheloe
Remembering a white, canopied, double chaise that
they rented at Nikki Beach in St. Bart's, Sandi and John topped a daybed in the garden room with a white coverlet surrounded by white mosquito netting. |
"It makes it barnlike," says John. "I think it's great," adds Sandi. "You can rake it. It's not going to stain. You can replace it." They chose a galvanized steel roof to complete the package. "I've always liked metal roofs. I like the sound of the rain," Sandi explains.Not long after they outfitted the interior with a gauzy white scrim of mosquito netting and furniture inspired by the West Indian bungalows of St. Bart's, they opened the carriage doors to the passing local Fourth of July parade. "People were coming right up the driveway," Sandi recalls. John overheard one passerby say, "Oh, that's the way life should be." | 
