Noteworthy Outbuildings: An Architectural Cabin on a Budget

Photography by Will Scott, courtesy of De Rosee Sa

De Rosee Sa are a hands-on London architecture and design practice. Led by husband-and-wife duo, Max De Rosee and Claire Sa, they recently completed a lakeside cabin for De Rosee’s parents that the team not only designed but also built themselves. Total budget: £25,000 ($36,281)—it pays to have an architect in the family.

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The design replaced a dilapidated building on the property.

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The live-edge cladding is shiplapped spruce treated with the firm’s secret formula: “It was blackened and sealed with recycled tractor oil donated by a local farmer.”

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Members of the firm took many weekend trips to Belgium to work on the construction.

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The cabin has glazed doors on three sides and double windows on the fourth.

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The western elevation has a cleverly integrated pocket porch.

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The porch is used as an outdoor mudroom.

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Thanks to the soaring ceiling, the 35-square-meter (approximately 376-square-foot) interior feels surprisingly spacious; it’s heated by a wood stove.

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