Favorite Spaces: Small Lot, Big Impact
City planner Jeff Speck was told it was impossible to build a home on a very small sliver of land. He rose to the challenge.
By
Mary Clare Fleury
Published Monday, September 01, 2008
To maximize square footage, Speck designed his triangular house with rectangular spaces that jut out from two floors. Photograph by Jay Westcott.
When Jeff and Alice Speck began building their home, passersby would stop and stare. The house sits on a sliver of land at Tenth Street and Florida Avenue in Northwest DC. “They’d say there was no way to fit a house on that lot,” says Jeff. A city planner and former design director for the National Endowment for the Arts, Speck chose the site because it’s the tip of the original L’Enfant Plan. “I wanted to find a lot that demonstrates what makes DC’s layout different,” he says. In L’Enfant’s plan, diagonal avenues cut through the city’s street grid, creating lots of small triangular plots. Zoning restrictions make building on them hard; it took Speck more than a year to get all the permits. Co-author of Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, Speck is an advocate of urban living—and feels cities should take advantage of all usable space. Speck, who has a master’s in architecture, designed the house himself. To fit 2,000 square feet of space onto the 500-square-foot lot, he inserted a rectangle into the top two floors of the four-level, triangular house. The jagged, modern design seems to change shape from different angles. One tip of the triangle houses the wood-burning stove and chimney, another the spiral staircase that had to be lowered in by crane. Inside, it’s easy to forget you’re in a triangle—especially on the third floor, where the rectangular living room has glass on three sides. Transforming the “little forlorn corner” into a home wasn’t easy, but Speck welcomed the challenge: “I wasn’t going to make the biggest investment of my life and not have it be a design opportunity.” This article first appeared in the September 2008 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles like it, click here.
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Comments
creative application and strategies as this confirm that OKC can be exploited purposefully. i tremendously value your work.
Posted by: cameron epley, Aug 13, 2009 09:11:31 AM
creative application and strategies as this confirm that OKC can be exploited purposefully. i tremendously value your work.
Posted by: cameron epley, Aug 13, 2009 09:11:05 AM
You are an inspiration! I remember when you this was a dream of yours. Congrats on making it come true!
Posted by: Liz R.T., Mar 09, 2009 02:18:35 AM
Hi Jeff!
Its amazing! can you post some more photos of interiors?
Posted by: Satish, Dec 17, 2008 12:12:34 PM
Where is Jeff now?
Can’t find his current firm.
Posted by: rick lesaar, Nov 13, 2008 02:48:01 PM
Hey way to go Jeff! Congratulations to all the new additions in your life. Great looking house!
Posted by: Stephen P., Oct 12, 2008 06:54:08 PM
Nice going Jeff & Alice, we all hope to see more of your designs!
Posted by: Larry D, Oct 10, 2008 08:32:23 AM
That’s my niece and nephew! I am one proud aunt! The house is amazing!
Posted by: Aunt Amber, Oct 02, 2008 05:18:48 AM
Amazing house! What were the nature of the zoning difficulties?
Posted by: Rahul, Oct 01, 2008 03:46:23 PM
Very nice Alice & Jeff. Looks great!
Tiff
Posted by: The Muzzys, Sep 29, 2008 12:58:54 PM
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