Situated on a small meadow within a ten acre site on Maury Island, a fifteen minute ferry ride from Seattle, this 600 sf small cabin and attached garden shed serves as a weekend retreat for a couple and their two children. The cabin was designed to be joined by a larger full-time residence and will provide studio space for the family and guest quarters for visiting friends and relatives. The cabin, the residence and a third structure - a covered open air arbor- will form a string of buildings along the north_east edge of the meadow. All three structures will have access to south & west sunlight and views of the meadow with its two ponds. The clients have traveled in the far-east and were attracted to the simple gable forms and expressed structure of Japanese folk houses. The program was to design a practical, simple open plan that reflects the casual lifestyle of the family within a clearly articulated volume. The solution essentially creates one room for the communal functions of eating, gathering and sleeping, with a loft at each end of the main space for the children's sleeping and reading activities. Support spaces are lined up in a 30-60 service zone at the back of the structure. The main cabin space opens to the meadow through a large double set of tri-fold doors, converting the space to an outdoor room. (Completion Date: March 1998)