The photo above is taken from the back of this tiny four-room semi-detached house on a sloping block of land.  Built in the late 19th century, the front  room of the house, the living room, is only 3.2 metres wide and the next two rooms, the single bedroom and the kitchen are only 2.4 metres wide.  The kitchen, which is down a flight of steps, has an effective width of only 1.5 metres because of the virtual corridor and a further flight of stairs down to the bathroom/laundry beyond.

     Before:  exterior                                                             Before:  interior stairs

On the left above is the front of the house as it was before any work was done.  Its attached neighbour is to the right of the parking sign.  The interior photo is taken from the tiny hallway looking down the stairs to the kitchen and bathroom/laundry.

    More before photos

From left to right above are the original kitchen, the home made bath and shower and the front room - note the wall on the right of the fireplace.

The project involved knocking together the front two rooms and the introduction of a first-floor level up a set of stairs, located above the new kitchen bench.  The first floor includes an alcove at a lower level and an ensuite located within the existing roof space, which is ventilated by an opening skylight. The kitchen stairs lead down to a tiny garden room, which opens onto a timber deck off which is a shower, WC and laundry.

This required complicated three-dimensional planning, which resulted in the building having 5 distinct levels.

  The build

Part of the planning involved lowering the existing ceiling in the front two rooms, at the same time maintaining the existing front window and door (left hand photo above).  The existing ridge line was maintained while the rear roof was raised to accommodate the first floor rooms. The right hand picture shows the existing rear section of the roof, which is about to be demolished (Gully Coote is wearing the straw hat and Tony has ear muffs)

The key to how the whole thing works is the staircase shown here under construction.  It links 4 levels in a tiny space.  It was constructed out of kiln dried hardwood that is usually used for structural support members.  In the photo on the right Tony is working on the removable balustrade while three ladies chat.  The balustrade is held in place by four screws and can be readily removed to provide access for furniture.

Completed job

     

The completed stair and extended living room.  The louvred window gives light and extensive views.

Two night shots of the 1.5 metre wide kitchen, which is partly under the stair.  The kitchen windows are located under the over-bench cupboards, which are a budget flat-pack item.

The view from the top bedroom looking over the stairs and alcove (left).  On the right is the ensuite (with the door open), which is in the front part of the existing roof space.  A built-in wardrobe is behind the curtain.

The alcove, which became the baby’s bedroom and the ensuite, with its skylight and boxed-in chimney.

The louvred windows to the stairwell and the view from the rear.

The existing brickwork was bagged and painted.  The street front was unchanged apart from the new skylight to the ensuite and the bagging of the existing brickwork. The photo at the left shows how the existing gable and chimney were maintained and the new first floor bedroom and alcove have been built behind the gable as secondary elements.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The house was finished for occupation in early 2005 after a 3-month building period over Christmas.  The cost was less than $100,000.  Since then Gully, his partner Julie and their daughter, Imogen, have outgrown this tiny one-bedroom house, which is really only suitable for a couple or a single person because the whole house is open.  They now have another child and have bought a house in Gladesville, which they are in the process of renovating and are about to submit a DA to Council for alterations and additions.