When more space makes things smaller

A snadstone cottage of a narrow block. A growing family. Another baby on the way meant a house that was tight, and getting tighter.

The obvious answer was to build out the back.

But every metre of extension costs the smae in outside living.

The yard was part of why they bought the place. So was the light it brought into the back of the house. Building out would have given them more room, but it would also have taken away some of what made the house worth keeping.

A second storey looked like the other answer.

It kept the yard, but on a cottage like this one, it also meant strengthening through the original walls, planning complications, and the cost of both. Priced properly, it cost more than the space it bought.

So the footprint stayed.

The roof did the work.

Living was split over two levels inside the existing volume. A void between them carried light down and made the height count. The small plan began to feel like a larger one.

From the street, the cottage is still a cottage.

The yard is still there.

The family got the room they were short of, and kept the reasons they wanted the house.