Yanno - I would love love love love LOVE to do something like this...I mean; I've already turned my dining room INTO a bike room (I live in a townhouse that unfortunately I'm upside down in and thus, have to stay in just a bit longer).
But something tells me that I could probably do this for a LOT LESS than what these people paid for...
Still though - if I had that much money to spare...
Oh who am i kidding..I would easily just go and travel to places WITH my bikes instead of spending that kind of money to accomodate.
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.smaller Larger By NANCY KEATES
Portland, Ore.
Avid bicyclists who race nationally and internationally, Tim and Sue Butler began their new-home search looking for a place with a garage to store their bikes.
They ended up spending over a million dollars building a dramatic three-story wood-and-glass contemporary with a roof deck far above neighboring roofs, giving them a 360-degree view of the city. A separate 600-square-foot "garage" houses their 22 bikes plus many other extras a bike enthusiast might want, from a hot-water washing station for muddy bikes to a sauna, fitness room and fix-it station.
An avid bicyclist couple who race nationally and internationally began their new-home journey looking for a place to store their bikes and ended up building a new, three-story wood and glass contemporary house. Nancy Keates explains on Lunch Break.
."We realized we wanted something different, said Mr. Butler, 45, a financial analyst and master's-level bike racer. "But when we said different we never imagined this," added Ms. Butler, 40, a pro racer who has raced on the U.S. team in the Cyclo-cross World Championships.
Tall and narrow, reflecting the limitations of a skinny lot, the 2,800-square-foot two-bedroom, 2½-bathroom house looks like a mini, modern, wood-clad version of a high rise. Horizontal wood slats compensate for its verticalness, and a cedar wall that rings the house and garage creates the look of a compound. Exterior wood louvers slide across the windows to act as sun screens.
Interior materials are sturdy and simple. A white-oak-paneled kitchen opens to a dining room with a long, white-oak table with two benches (Mr. Butler's father calls it a "picnic table") that sit under 20-foot-high ceilings. There are radiant-heated concrete floors, concrete countertops, plaster walls that echo the look of the stucco outside and a central concrete column-shaped chimney that goes up through the middle of the house, serving fireplaces on all three floors.
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John Clark for The Wall Street Journal
The bike garage
.Floating wood stairs, suspended by stainless-steel rods, lead to a second floor, where a sparsely furnished living room and media room overlook the dining room below. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows make the small space feel larger. A second set of floating stairs under a narrow, 20-foot-long skylight go up to the loft-like third floor, where built-in shelves separate the office from the master bedroom. A sliding glass door opens to a covered sleeping porch.
It all began on a bike ride. Mr. Butler confessed to Corey Martin, a friend and designer, then at Path Architecture, that he and his wife were tired of lugging their bikes up to their third-story condo and keeping them in the dining room. Mr. Martin suggested the Butlers build their own space. Their desire to stay in their inner Southeast neighborhood—a middle-class area of one-story ranch houses and cottages that's a good bike commuting distance to Mr. Butler's office—limited their options. They ended up buying a narrow, 44-foot-wide, 100-foot-deep lot for $220,000 in 2008.
Mr. Martin expected the Butlers to reject his first sketch: a tall, skinny home much more ambitious in design, disproportionate in scale and costly to build than the surrounding homes in the area. To his surprise, they wanted him to go even further, requesting more costly sustainable materials. They hired a forklift to make sure they'd get good views by going up to the peak of the neighborhood's limit.
"Usually I go for the maximum and people end up cutting it in half. These guys went beyond the maximum," said Mr. Martin, now a principal at Portland-based THA Architecture. The entire project ended up costing about $1.5 million. A four-bedroom, one-story 1940s cottage a few blocks away is for sale for $429,000.
When they moved in, the Butlers had an open house "so that the neighbors wouldn't be so angry there was such a big house on their street," Ms. Butler said. Joann Henkel, who lives across the street, called the house "absolutely gorgeous," though her husband likes to joke that he needs to add a story to block their view.
As much as they're enjoying their new home, the Butlers' favorite feature is across their bluestone courtyard. Their three-room bicycle garage is made of the same materials, and has floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors in the fitness room that open to the same courtyard as the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors in the main house's dining room. In addition to the hot-water station and sauna for after cold-weather rides, there's a washer and dryer and clothing cabinets for all their cycling gear.
One room resembles a bike shop. That's where the couple keeps their road, mountain, fixed gear and cyclo-cross bikes, a workbench and bins for a host of accessories. A fitness room has a rack of dumbbells, a trainer cycle and a large piece of equipment for squats, chin-ups and leg presses. The bathroom has a large glass shower.
"Officially it's called an 'accessory dwelling unit,' but actually the house is really the accessory," joked Mr. Butler.
Oh how we love June! The rain starts its low recession and lush summertime relaxation is on the horizon. Bike events abound and there's no shortage of fun to be had on two wheels.
