Garden Cottage

This garden cottage is more playhouse than greenhouse for its Central California owner. The avid gardener raises seedlings and overwinters orchids here. Comfort was a major factor: The shed is designed to let in plenty of daylight while minimizing prolonged exposure to direct sun during the Central Valley’s very hot summers. It is oriented slightly off a direct east-west axis and its most westerly wall is solid. Prefab siding covers the wood frame; asphalt tiles cloak the roof. A ‘Cecile Brunner’ climbing rose adds an appropriately floral touch.