Ocean View Apartment

When designing the home, we had to get creative to balance the following driving factors while obtaining the modern look we like:

  • Stay on the existing footprint of the old house

  • Build up out of the flood zone

  • Maximize the views

  • The size of home

  • The look of the home

If we put a roof right over the garage, it would have looked like a traditional home. I decided we should build up 2 stories over the garage and finish that space down the road as its own finished apartment with a separate entrance.  That meant that the whole entire home would look tall and wide (and most wouldn’t notice that it’s not very deep).  To create a visual effect that draws the eye downward and reduces the emphasis on the house’s height, I designed a “bump out” section in a different color. This section, which houses the stairs is painted white, contrasting with the overall dark grey of the house. The dark grey helps make the structure appear smaller, while the white garage door and “bump out” provides balance to the design.  Overall, the look of the house was never my priority in designing the home.  I’m sure there are architects out there that would do it differently but designing a home for your own family within budget and size constraints puts “how the house looks from the road” way lower on the list.

After encountering unforeseen issues that caused delays in our ability to move in, and with the sale of the house we lived in coming quickly, I kept asking if we could finish the apartment and move in there. I kept getting no as an answer from the builder. I went direct to the building department, and they decided to come take a look. I had to take the risk and spend the money to finish the space without knowing if we could live there or not and risk the whole house taking longer as now adding on 1,000 sq ft with a full bath and kitchen to finish in the mix. 

The risk was worth it and the result is a separate apartment with kitchen, living area, full bathroom with marble surround deep tub/shower and 2 bedrooms.  One bedroom is on the 2nd floor along with the great room and bathroom, the other “bedroom” is really a huge open room on the 3rd floor with space for 3 queen beds but really having one and the other as couch/living/working space with amazing views of the ocean.  I planned the kitchen layout and bought in-stock appliances, cabinets, and countertops.  It has central A/C, heat and no electrical bills due to our solar panels.

Photo Credits: Danielle Robertson Photography