25 years ago, Jeffrey Frechette bought “the last $100,000 house in Seattle”, a tiny 1940s era war bungalow that he describes as “a shack, literally built on cinder blocks and phone books.” As a recent architecture school grad, he immediately began designing an addition, leaving the original structure in place for he and his wife to live in. After building more space for his growing family, he continued to build and was soon renting out an upstairs apartment. He didn’t stop designing and building and soon he had a Scandinavian-inspired backyard home a wood-burning sauna for rent.
Today, he can legally rent the two units, one as an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) and the other as an “extra room”. The entire compound is inspired by Japanese courtyard design with plants for natural privacy screening and planned views. Frechette feels fortunate that his passion has translated into passive income for the family, but he admits that “it’s a lot of house I’ve managed to piece together over 25 years”. He has a friend who jokes that he go to “Remodelers Anonymous”. “He’s like, ‘you just can’t stop’, but I mean I just love doing it. It is my favorite thing to do.”
Frechette does all of the work himself “the plumbing, electrical, hydronic heat system and a lot of furniture”. Much of his work is inspired by the materials he finds at salvage yards, like the huge round window that dominates the ADU living room or the shoji screens which cover the cheap, vinyl sliding door in the bedroom. The backyard unit sleeps 8 in just 800 square feet and Frechette took advantage of ideas like suspended sleeping lofts for space efficiency. The A-frame bedroom in the loft was inspired by his love for sailing.
On *faircompanies https://faircompanies.com/videos/turned-lousy-shed-into-3-dream-homes-around-zen-garden-spa/
Now THIS is inspiring.
'Really charming' but that house is long gone…
I feel he is so happy at home. He loves where he lives. He comes off as a very happy man. Fun living! Sociable! Again Fun!
Omgoodness Jeff is extremely handsome!
I never understand, how can 2 people…maybe more, do such bad job of filming. There’s no stability at what so ever
This was very reminiscent of the "owner, designer, builder" journey I took through the years of living in my first house. "Thanks, for the memories".🙂 (Oh, and I'm still doing it in my current retirement home/studio. 😄)
Wow. What great spaces.
"Cinderblocks and phone books"… Love that!
Fantastic use of space and materials! Genius!
Beautiful! Thank you ❤️
Such a genius builder! He puts passion to every detail and that every feature of his house has a story. Thanks for sharing.
Too rustic for me but Jeffrey Frechette's love of design and his enthusiasm is lovely to observe! Thanks!
✨✨👍👍✨✨
If anyone is building a none conventional house, it would be a great idea to visit for a weekend, and learn from the buildings and he himself. There’re so many themes and ideas implemented in one location. Almost like a “research building”. The buildings you find Kirsten.
what a talented man Jeffrey is. I am so impressed by his passion and visions. Thank you for another beautiful video.
Amazing story of this cozy, calm, big, little space that seems to have "just" appeared as Jeff was inspired to design it. Amazing use of space that works perfectly together without feeling cramped. The ability to see how to use small spaces as if on a boat really maximizes what is available.