Much like the legendary story of the cobbler’s kids going without shoes, the architect’s house had a bathroom suffering from deferred maintenance. A growing house now with five made the desire to upgrade and provide for appropriate storage and better quality fixtures a priority.

The existing layout was typical: tub against an outside wall and a sink and toilet in line against a perpendicular wall. The existing layout was not favored and an adjacent bedroom closet had unusable space that could be recaptured for a portion of the new layout. The interior rehabilitation took all surfaces down to the original construction and allowed for new floor structuring and exterior insulation to name two.

Conceptually the project elevates the worker cottage original bathroom and its materials to speak more to the interests of the architect and the house’s other four inhabitants as well as the quality of the neighborhood the small house was built has become.

The original bathroom was about 42 square feet and the new bathroom is 48 square feet; much has been squeezed into a small space including a full height cabinet that occupies the space of a former masonry flue. Each family member has their own “locker” and drawer as well as common storage space. The children in the house are learning about water conservation with among other features a dual flush toilet.