This North end Boise bungalow was once a simple house blending into the plain neigborhood that surrounds it. But after eight years of restoration/remodel it is anything but ordinary. The house was purchased in 1988 and the major remodel began in 2000. The house itself was completely renovated with new flooring, roofing, and siding and took one year to complete.
The house, front yard, and back yard all underwent major changes. The front yard was once bare, nothing growing but weeds, but now takes on a complete new look. The bungalow was transformed into a Buddhist/Oriental themed craftsman style house with a dense, rainforest like yard. The bare cedar wood beams jetting from the roofline while also provideing the main structural integrity, is a key feature of this craftsman style house. Other key elements of a craftsman style house is that it has wooden paneling, low pitched roof, many windows, and an open floor plan.
The house is seperated into two main sections, the main body and an arm that extends from it, surrounding the heavily foliated back yard. Throughout the history of Boise there have been few houses to challenge the structural “norm” of Boise, which greatly vary from Queen Anne to Post-Modern styles.
The house is only 1800 square feet but it packs a punch for its small size. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two patios, a fire pit, koi pond, and a tree house. On the inside of the house, the kitchen, living room, and living area are all encompassed in the same room, and this is a key feature of the craftsman style. In the small .168 acres of property there are 200 trees encasing the property giving a canopy effect to all of the house and yard. But towering above the lush greenery of the back yard and the koi pond is a tree house that overlooks the whole property.
Between the hundreds of trees there are wooden walls that encase over 150 stained glass windows, and other Buddhist themed decor. The house is designed as a vacation house all year round, and the exotic design of the structrues conveys a relxing aura. The owner and designer of the house says it is “the window into my life” and a “retreat” from everyday life.