Tiny Cottages Make Use Of Found Objects

Can you spot the tomato sauce cans used in the construction of these cottages? How about the flour sacks? Or the vent hoods? If not, it's because the found objects used to craft these 364-square foot cottages blend so nicely with the more traditional materials used by their Craftsman neighbors. Incredible inspiration from two builders with unusual salvage below the jump!

11-25-08 cottage 2.jpg

Located in Portland, the Garden Cottages of Upper Albina feature built-in bookshelves, cedar-shake siding, decorative brick foundations and the traditional gabled roof. Each cottage is fully-furnished and can be rented for a one-month minimum for about $1,000.

But the spaces are most notable for the way builders Jeffrey Gantert and Brad Bloom incorporated the "reduce, reuse, recycle" philosophy in truly imaginative ways.

According to The Oregonian, the brick foundations were salvaged from old chimneys; olive oil cans were recycled as rain chains; old kitchen vent hoods became window boxes; and two Dairy Queen benches are used as porch swings. Inside, flour sacks from local bakeries make for unusual kitchen wallpaper.

More photos of the cottages are available for inspiration, though the quality is lacking. See exteriors here and interiors here.

Via: The Oregonian

Comments (6)

I like those. Rent's not half bad either.

Emily

posted by Emily Sneds on November 25th 2008 at 7:29pm
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Unique and beautiful. "A , would rent again!!"

posted by kuroneko on November 25th 2008 at 8:07pm
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Well, that didn't work. It should read, "A plus plus, would rent again!!"

posted by kuroneko on November 25th 2008 at 8:08pm
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I've walked by these cottages many times, and have wanted to know more about them. I've even photographed their rain chains in the hope of duplicating them as a DIY at my house

They are about a block from the ReBuilding Center which, as "the nation’s largest non-profit reuse center for salvaged construction and remodeling materials." is a wonderful resource here in Portland. My home is full of window trim and other projects, including my backyard chicken coop, that are all made from re-used materials

posted by fjorlief on November 25th 2008 at 8:50pm
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next ... life.
must ... be ... architect.
these get my vote.

posted by l u c c a on November 25th 2008 at 10:24pm
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I SO love these houses! I didn't know you could rent them!

posted by RobinParker on November 26th 2008 at 1:22pm
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