Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 3/22/2007

Question
We own a cinderblock cottage on a beautiful span of beach on one of the great lakes in Michigan.  Currently we only use in summer and winterize it and shut it down rest of the year.  It just has one heating unit in the main room and a shallow well that produces pretty rusty/dirty water.  I would like something with a bigger living/kitchen area, an extra master bedroom and bath and either a screened porch or camp porch for dining.  The house is on four different slabs (main cottage, old porch now part of main cottage, breezeway, 2-car garage) that are connected at various floor levels (ie..inches different between floor levels in different areas).  I am assuming these additions were done as part of past multiple attempts to increase living space.  Anyways, I also want to put in a deep well, water softner and washer/dryer which would require a utility area (currently do not have, just shallow well outside).  We have been debating whether it is worth it to try to remodel or if the cheapest course of action would be to knock down and rebuild.  We have room to put an detached garage on an extra lot behind and have thought about using garage space as living, but none of the utilities go there.  Without a crawl space  and with cinderblock construction would it even be worth looking at remodelling? We really don't have $300k to blow on a total rebuild.  I would like it to be comfortable enough for occasional winter use.  We paid about $200K for it two years ago, which is essentially what the lot is worth.  The second lot is wooded behind the house and we had thought about a detached garage with a studio apt above it for guests.  One option I guess would be do nothing to the cottage and just add the garage/apt and use that for showering/laundry etc.... since the biggest pet peeve with current setup is tiny bathroom with rusty, smelly water.

Answer
Wendy - thanks for your question!

Location is everything.  There's a limited amount of beautiful beachfront property in the world.  I would think that a "perfect" cottage is second to a perfect location.

Without seeing the building I can't tell you if it makes sense to remodel, but from your description it's obvious you're not happy with it!

For a summer cottage, you don't need separate rooms for all the things you mentioned.  I would think you could build a new cottage for far less than $300k, as long as you are realistic about what you need in it and don't nickel and dime yourself to death adding this and that.

A nice cozy cottage with a big fireplace, beamed ceiling, a sleeping loft, small kitchenette, and shared bath could be built cheaply - and leave plenty for a new well.

House costs get out of control because clients lose track of their goals.  Make a list of the very least you can live with and start designing a cottage with that.

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
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