#CROWN TRICK EDGE ADJACENT CODE#

We wanted it to support our dreams and needs as we unfold into our elder years.” They also had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to create: a place that felt like a cabin and lived like a house that would serve them the rest of their lives. When married, they wanted to live in an “ours” place. Retired from his tech career and recently off his second South American Peace Corps tour (the first, to Honduras, was in the early 1980s) Wheatley and his wife Yudis, whom he met in Panama during the design of the house, don’t plan to move again.

It’s equipped with triple-paned windows, solar panels, two heat pumps, two, 350-gallon cisterns to collect rainwater, and a heat recovery and air filtration system. “This one” is a 1,448-square-foot structure built with 12-inch-thick Faswall blocks on an insulated concrete slab, wrapped like a baby in a rainstorm, covered by a simple, south-facing-only shed roof, and then clad in pigmented stucco (no painting required). “All the repairs for that house drove decisions for this one.” Over the 20 or so years he lived there with his family, he dealt with expensive repairs that included water damage- thanks to a complex roof design and poor waterproofing- moss on the north-facing roof, and rats in the crawl space, where uninsulated pipes contributed to inefficient energy use. In 1997, Mark Wheatley moved into a brand-new house near Lake Whatcom. “I couldn’t have asked for better girls.” While she doesn’t have the pool or the view of her cherry orchards she treasured in Wenatchee, Irene does have windows, peekaboo views to the sound and most importantly: Alecia. At the time, she was a Dutch junior champion gymnast, and she went on to become a Western Canadian champion in the early 1960s.Īll those gymnastics have led to some mobility challenges later in life, which the design addresses with an open, stair-free floor plan that is easy to navigate, as well as features like a zero-threshold shower and custom tub design that allows easy access and use. Irene emigrated to Calgary from Holland with her parents and six siblings at age 17. “They all mean something,” she explains, pointing to the Delft pottery in an antique hutch, “Charlie and Mary,” the Dutch figurines in the corner, paintings on the wall, plates on the rail that A1 designed into the living room at her request. So, while the exterior design complements the modern forms and utilitarian materials of Alecia and Toby’s house, inside offers a backdrop suitable for Irene’s traditional style and belongings, many of which reflect her Dutch heritage.

Whatcom County ADU rules, which are enforced on Lummi property, require design continuity with the property’s primary dwelling (and garage).

#CROWN TRICK EDGE ADJACENT CODE#

The result is a light-filled, 1,238 -square-foot accessory dwelling unit (ADU) attached to Alecia’s garage and built to suit Irene’s needs and tastes - while beating the energy code by 25%. “It’s not right for her, and not right for me.” And I had to be on my own.” She didn’t want to share living space with Alecia and Toby. When the idea of joining Alecia on her new property arose, she knew two things: Recovering from a stroke and approaching her 80th year, Irene Modahl knew she had to think about leaving her longtime home in Wenatchee, where she’d raised twin daughters while owning and operating two restaurants in the area. When Alecia Modahl, along with her partner Toby, bought their home in Neptune Beach, which is on Lummi property near Ferndale, she didn’t know where her mom Irene would be living, but they moved in “with the intention that we’d figure it out.”

Crown trick edge adjacent