The Cottage Atrium evolved from the Atrium 2 house plan by Ms. Coleman, which we also sell. Like all of Ms. Coleman's designs, Cottage Atrium was originally designed for a client who wanted an energy–efficient, passive solar home. You can build this house facing in whatever direction suits your needs, but if you're interested in building it as a passive solar home, please read the section below titled Passive Solar Info for specific information on orientation.

First Floor
The central staircase of the home is full of light from the atrium, which also aids in natural cooling. During the day, light from the atrium spills into the living area and the kitchen. The south sunroom will be very cozy in winter with the wood stove. Open the French doors of the sunroom to heat the rest of the house, and close off the room in summer on hot days to keep the rest of the house cooler. The master bedroom is close to the main living area, yet still has acoustical privacy. The deck on the west will be warm in winter and convenient for summer cookouts being next to the screened porch. The northwest porch is ideal for summer sunset viewing. The great room, sunroom, and dining room each have vaulted ceilings (rising from 8' at the exterior walls to nearly 19' at the edge of the atrium), making each room feel open and spacious.

Second Floor Loft
At the top of the stairs there is a small study with sliding French doors. To the right is a small bedroom with a walk–in closet that leads to eave storage, and to the left is a full bath that also provides access to eave storage. These storage areas are conditioned, to keep your seasonal items in good shape year round.

Garage Option
The detached garage can house two vehicles and a workshop space, or it can be modified for a third car or tractor. It could even be attached via the laundry room if the layout of the land allowed, and if the master closet window could be sacrificed.

Passive Solar Info
To maximize its passive solar design, the back corner sunroom is designed to face due south with the front of the house facing northwest. The 35 pages of specifications that come with these plans (see Please Note below) will give your builder precise details on all the passive solar issues pertinent to the construction of this house.

Construction Info
The first floor has 8' ceilings. They can be raised by your builder, but an additional foot in height will require adding two risers (stairs), which will reduce the cabinets in the living area by 10".

The plans for this house call for 2x6 stud exterior walls. However, they can easily be changed to 2x4 stud walls by your builder, or to SIPs walls by a dealer in your area. If you plan to change the walls, we recommend that you purchase the plans in CAD format.

Modification Ideas
Place a large second floor bath in the study area and turn the bath area into a study overlooking the great room and atrium.

Foundation Info
This house was originally designed to have a slab foundation. You can of course change it to a full or partial basement, or to a crawlspace, but you will need the help of a local builder or designer, and the new foundation plans should be reviewed by a structural engineer prior to construction.

Similiar Versions Available
There are seven similar versions of this plan – Adirondack Atrium, Adirondack Atrium 2, Atrium, Atrium 2, Atrium Breeze 3, Garden Atrium, and Mountain Atrium – available on this site. For easy access to these other versions, click on the Architects button on the left side of any page in our website, and scroll down until you see Ms. Coleman's name and photo. Red links to each of her plans appear below her bio, in alphabetical order.

Please Note
Ms. Coleman's plans include 35 - 8.5"x11" pages of specifications to help your builder construct this house as it was designed. These technical specifications are organized to follow the CSI (Construction Specifications Institute) format, and apply to the various aspects of the home. They also include detailed information on numerous passive solar and energy–efficient aspects of home construction.