When most folks have guests come to stay, they direct them to a spare bedroom. Not so with Bill and Dianna Markham. To give visitors a special space to rest and relax, the hospitable homeowners took a “more is more” approach and built a cozy cottage in the woods to accommodate their revolving guest list of family and friends. With only two bedrooms in their main house — located on an idyllic, forested plot on Yosemite’s Merced River — hosting large groups often resulted in cramped quarters. A fortuitous turn of events came when a storm forced two trees down onto a 1920s-era cabin the couple owned nearby.
“The insurance company said we could build wherever we wanted, so it was an obvious choice,” Dianna says. It was equally clear that the guesthouse had to be something special; no plain-jane structure would do. Around that time, the couple’s daughter, who was studying architectural design in college, brought home photos of English-style cottages. Dianna was instantly sold. “We wanted the home to feel comfortable, and the English countryside style is so cozy,” she says.
To create an authentic-looking building, the Markhams enlisted the help of Dave Lawson of Lawson Construction, Inc. “We gave him an idea of what we were looking for, and he took it from there,” Dianna says. Lawson brought local designer Jeannie Bartholomew of Yosemite Drafting & Design on board to help during the planning phase.
What they came up with was a charming structure with all the expected architectural features of an English-style cottage but with a functional, up-to-date design. Outside, the home looks as though it were plucked straight from a storybook. A sharply pitched roof covered in slate shingles sits atop stone walls created from eight tractor-loads of limestone shipped in from Oklahoma.
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“We literally picked through tons of rocks to get the right look,” Dave says. An arched front doorway below a copper-topped overhang — a fitting complement to other copper accents on the home’s exterior — further evokes the European style, as do the abundance of multi-paned, custom-etched windows. (They were made to mimic the look of leaded glass without obscuring the views.) But of all the cottage-style elements, Dianna says none are so captivating as the exposed timbers provided by New York-based New Energy Works Timberframers. “They absolutely make the house,” she says of the dark-stained Douglas Fir beams woven throughout the home’s design.
On the back porch, a network of timbers seemingly melt into the canopy of fir and pine trees surrounding the home. Inside, heavy, rough-sawn beams span across the living area — an open layout designed with modern-day living in mind. “We wanted the home to function more like a primary residence than a guest house,” Jeanie says, citing the large living areas and full-size kitchen, “But it retains a lot of intimacy and character which keeps the cottage feel.”
Comfortable furnishings, a handful of well-placed antiques and a hushed palette of neutral colors come together to create a cozy, rest-easy environment — just right for snuggling up next to the stone fireplace with a cup of cocoa. “More than anything, we wanted people to feel at home when they came for a visit,” Dianna says. “And, from what we hear from our guests, I’d like to think we accomplished that.”
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Home Details
Builder: Lawson Construction
Timber Provider: New Energy Works Timberframers
Builder: Yosemite Drafting & Design
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