Outerbridge Horsey Associates, PLLC

This two-story garden house replaced an earlier one-story garage on a residential property in northwest Washington, DC. The stucco building serves as a focal point at the end of the garden, framing the pool and creating a dialogue with the early 20th century stone and brick house.

An exterior stair leads to the second story apartment, where a full height living space faces south, overlooking the garden and the servant spaces, kitchen and bathroom with mechanical equipment above arranged along the public alley to the rear. The ground floor contains a greenhouse facing the garden on the south side, as well as a garage facing the alley.

The height of the building is restricted to 20 feet for this type of structure. Thus the roof overhang and profiled outriggers were developed to both provide for some shading from the summer sun, and to give definition to the flat roof to allow it to act as a counterweight to the vertical emphasis of the building. The copper façade of the greenhouse was moved from the very narrow side yard of the existing house where it had once served as a garden entry prior to subdivision of the property in the mid 20th century. The new fenestration is designed to integrate with this façade and the stucco paneling provides continuity around the four sides of the structure.