When developing a guesthouse, the golden rule applies: Create a space where you’d love to spend some time yourself. “This homeowner loves to return into the pavilion with a glass of wine and a book,” says architect Heather Young. “The distance only draws people to it.” Beneath a stunning vaulted ceiling, a toasty outdoor fireplace and comfortable furniture create an inviting open space where the owner and her guests can enjoy the outside California lifestyle nearly every day of the year.

Pavilion at a Glance
Location: Palo Alto, California
Architect: Heather Young, FGY Architects
Interior design: Selby House Fine Interiors
Size: 303 square feet (pavilion); the guest cottage is 267 square feet

FGY Architects

The guest cottage was part of a comprehensive overhaul of the house, which included carrying the main house down to the studs and renovating the garage. This is actually the view from a terrace right off the main home.

“There’s a very strong visual relationship between the cottage and the main home,” Young says. “The homeowner gets a view of it as she heads down the staircase in the main house each morning”

FGY Architects

The house and outbuildings are motivated by English cottages, with Craftsman details like a pediment on the pavilion.

Siding: stucco; roof: wood shingles

FGY Architects

The cottage has a bedroom and a bathroom interior; its living and dining rooms are out. The roof shades the patio in summer, and the fireplace warms chilly nights. In temperate Palo Alto, the pavilion could be used almost every day of the year.

The her guests normally meet up in the main house’s kitchen under the pavilion for dishes.

FGY Architects

French doors with sidelights and transom windows make the wall between the cottage and the pavilion nearly dissolve. The double doors open 180 degrees to create a free flow between indoors and outside.

Wood Casement Windows and Swinging French Doors, both by Marvin

FGY Architects

Bluestone slate flooring proceeds between the cottage and the pavilion, strengthening the connection between both. The bedroom features a vaulted and coffered ceiling like the pavilion’s.

FGY Architects

Windows and doors attract the lighting and views of the garden indoors. The window seat can double as a kid’s bed.

FGY Architects

“Steel splines are doing magic on this ceiling,” Young says. Wood covers in keeping with the cottage aesthetic, the metal beams.

FGY Architects

FGY Architects

Together with 303 square feet, there’s plenty of room to get a living room area and a huge dining room table. When she entertains, the homeowner adds tables into the backyard off the pavilion.

FGY Architects

The fireplace is crafted with brick from Old Carolina Brick; it has a hand-carved bluestone mantel plus a matching bluestone hearth. Notice the herringbone pattern detail inside the fireplace.

FGY Architects

Lit up at night, the outside room recommends a trip throughout the garden from the main house.

FGY Architects

“In Palo Alto with an outdoor space is a must,” Young says.

General contractor: Pete Moffat Construction
Structural engineer: Morris Engineering & Associates
Landscape design: Katsy Swan

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