As I was looking through the latest gorgeous issue of Santa Barbara magazine I had an interesting thought. Although the homes that are featured are grand and gorgeous, I was emotionally touched by a smaller more modest guest house in one of the articles.
A small rustic building on the property owned by Finola Hughes has exactly the charm that I am drawn to.
image by Coral Von Zumwalt
This pool house is beautifully decorated by Elizabeth Dinkel.
What I came to realize is that one of the reasons that small structures like guest and pool houses are so charming is because of what "the puppy effect". A puppy is cute because it has the same size eyes, paws, and ears as an adult dog, but they are on a smaller sized animal. Guest houses use the same size elements (windows, doors, etc...) as the larger main house, but the smaller buildings look "cuter" because their parts are larger in proportion to it's size. Is that confusing?
Let me show some examples.
This is a charming shingle guest house that Steve designed several years ago....
This is the larger main home. Notice that the same sized doors and windows
are used on both.
I love this French guest house that Steve designed. It looks like it could be
somewhere in the French countryside.
This is the larger main house. Although this home is stunning, the guest house
looks more cozy and inviting, to me. Again, note that the same size windows, doors, etc... are used in both.
When designing this guest house that was on the property of a Wallace Neff designed home, Steve used all the same size elements that were used on the
original home. The balconies, windows, beams and doors are all the same size.
Another reason that these guest houses are more charming is because of their size.
I find a smaller structure to be more inviting and less intimidating.
I saw this little guest cottage on a website called my french home.com
This is the gorgeous main house that goes with it.
I could curl up with a good book and never leave this little cottage.
The large windows give this home its charm.
I could not write a post about guest and pool houses without including my favorite one by Thomas Callaway. I am fortunate to live in the same city as Mr. Callaway and to enjoy his designs in my own neighborhood. This pool house that he designed for Lori and Larry David is a dream. The roof is amazing and so over-sized compared to the size of the building. Self taught, Mr. Callaway is a master.
xo
Brooke
