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ThinkDwell Project Portfolio | Camp Jackelope

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Camp Jackelope
Andover, Maine

Renovation + Addition

Achievements:

More sleeping arrangements
Better roofing solution for snow and rainwater collection
More windows to help heat/light/bring fresh air into the house
Mudroom to organize winter and sporting gear
Semi-attached/private guest house with isolated heating system

Camp Jackelope is located in a small town in Maine that had close to 15 feet of snowfall in winter 2008. The clients love bringing family and friends to their small woodsy camp to relax, hike, fish, and snowmobile. They were in dire need of beds for their many visitors and were looking for a good roofing solution: the existing roof had to be shoveled off three times per year. A new metal standing-seam roof assures that snow drifts will slide easily off the roof. ThinkDwell designed the first floor to be an open living/dining/kitchen arrangement with a super-mudroom for all the family's sporting and winter gear. The kitchen was rearranged and a screen porch entry was moved to a better location. The bedrooms were moved to upstairs, and a small outdoor deck with a bridge to a guest house was added. The bridge also acts as the perfect perch for the clients' favorite pasttime: to watch wildlife, especially moose, deer, and coyotes. The existing screen porch was kept but a built-in bench offers more seating in a breezy, bug-free, summer space. Indoor lighting and air circulation was improved upon by installing large, thermally-efficient windows. We also designed better artificial lighting and renovated the exisitng bathroom to include a larger shower and storage for the washer/dryer and tankless water heater. The house sleeps a total of 10 people, and additional sleeping arrangements can be setup in the loft as needed.

click images to enlarge

The camp's footings were strengthened to handle the added load of the 2nd floor and loft addition. The bridge to the guest house, guest house stilts, and the screen porch have simple, ornamental brackets to help support the structure and add to the uniformity of the elevation. Since the clients park and enter the home around the screen porch, a shed roof was chosen to assure that the snow will shed to the rear of the home. With 15 feet of snow in the winter of 2008, snow drifts falling from the roof are a safety hazard in this northern climate. This type of roof also allowed us to design a simple rain-water collection system to use for irrigating the garden.

The front entry (shown at left) was bumped out to accomodate a mudroom on the first floor and a dressing/closet space for the master bedroom on the second floor.

ELIMINATE CLUTTER The new mudroom (left) incorporates both cubbies and lockers with a storage-bench. The bottom 'before' image shows the amount of clutter the family was dealing with (and the clients' son napping on the couch!). The mudroom allows them to keep all their winter and sporting gear neatly tucked away. Snow and mud are no longer trekked through the living room. The family enjoys watching movies and playing video games at night while they settle down from being outdoors all day. The livingroom was expanded into the existing bedrooms (top 'before' image) so the family and its many visitors have plenty of room to sit and watch movies or play games. The bedrooms were relocated to the second floor addition.

SECURITY The bridge to the guest house has two main functions: to provide safe access to the guest house and to act as a perch to view wildlife. The family's visitors are mostly city people. They don't like trekking through the woods at night, especially to a detached guest house that is off in the darkness. Instead, they access the guest house from an elevated bridge, giving them a heightened sense of security and allowing the path to the guest house to be easily cleared of snow in winter. The second use for the bridge is to enable the family to watch the many moose, deer, coyotes, birds, and other animals that they enjoy while in Maine. The bridge railing posts have cutout figures of a school of fish at one end, and a coyote howling at the moon through pines at the other. Keeping the guest house on a separate heating system helps to avoid heating this additional space when it is not occupied.

The second floor exterior wall is recessed where the bridge to the guest house connects to allow for an outdoor deck large enough for a table and four chairs. This also allows for another window to the stairwell at right. This also helps minimize the volume of the house as well as the energy needed to heat the space.

First floor plan.