"When are you building the studio?" was the question that inspired a full body nervous twitch these past six months. Sorting out the design proved challenging as the city permit office failed to offer consistent answers to my questions. Depending on which person I spoke to, I received a different definition of what was considered living space, what was a garage, and what was needed to meet setback and seismic requirements. After too many months of wrangling, including a healthy dose of frustrated procrastination on my part, the paperwork for the largest hurdle, a setback adjustment, has been turned in. These final drawings aren't too dissimilar from what I originally drew up, but only because I'd come back full circle after too many interim drawings. The approval of this variance takes eight to ten weeks (longer than I was first told). We should be pouring the slab in early to mid May and have the bulk of the work done not long afterwards.

It's a modest structure of 450 square feet, of which roughly 2/3rds will be painting space. Its design fits our neighborhood of homes built between 1900 and 1930 (ours was built in 1906). The final colors of the building will be chosen after construction.The view south from the garden.

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The view west from the street. Please forgive the clumsy rendering of the bamboo that will mask the eave oddly cropped to meet setback requirements.

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The simplified floor plan.

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The site plan.

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Despite how long this process has already taken, I am extremely excited about the building of this studio. With this new space, I'll be able to stretch out and work in ways that haven't been possible in years.

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