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. Read More.
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. Read More.