On a sabbatical year in France, Jessica Helgerson and her husband fantasised that their storage unit would burn down. “We couldn’t remember a single thing we owned that we cared about,” says Helgerson, a designer. When they moved back to the US, the couple bought a small piece of land on Sauvie Island, 15 minutes north of where they were living in Portland, Oregon.
The plan was to transform a dilapidated, one-storey cottage into a make-do bolthole for weekend getaways. Berry-picking and hikes to the beach were the main attractions of an island the size of Manhattan, but with a population of just 1,000. But weekend visits turned into a permanent move when the couple and their two children fell for small-scale living.
The house now consists of an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area; a small bathroom; a children’s bedroom with built-in bunk beds and a pull-out wardrobe on wheels; a sleeping “attic” in the eaves for Helgerson and her husband; and huge sash windows. While the first winter was “a little cabin feverish”, it was amazing to discover how much you don’t need, Helgerson says.
Here’s how they did it.
Master bedroom
The master bedroom is a masterstroke: a double mattress under the eaves, accessed via a ladder. The tiny space features a window, a Moroccan rug, two wall lights and nothing else.
Living area
Built-in seating may not seem instinctive in a small home, but it maximises floorspace. The sofa bases are wooden boxes that double as drawers. Helgerson had foam cut to the same size as a single mattress and got the seats upholstered with matching cushions; they double as beds for guests.
Bookshelves
“My father was an English professor and my mother was a writer,” Helgerson explains. “I’m good at getting rid of everything but books.”
Kitchen
The marble-topped counter runs across the back wall, and the couple used barn wood to cover the wall and cooker hood. Storage is kept simple: “My philosophy is that you’re better off with lots of generic storage,” Helgerson says. “You don’t want to build a spice rack that fits only one brand of spices.” No space goes to waste: even the cooker hood has a pull-out drawer in a cavity next to the fan.
Bathroom
The bathroom is dominated by a “slipper” tub. A recessed cupboard shares the wall cavity with the bookshelf on its reverse. The ceilings here and in the children’s room were lowered to accommodate the loft space..
The green roof
The living roof changes with the seasons, but is always green in colour. It was created by first covering the roof with protective vinyl, then overlaying that with a watering system, spraying on soil and laying mossy pelts. Over time, seeds, weeds and bulbs have been added by hand and nature.
