No. 01 at dusk

Private study · not a listing

No. 01 — the $800k house

One bar, 26 by 73 feet, under one shed roof that rises from a low service wall at the back to a tall glazed face at the front. Slab on grade, carport not garage. Every decision downstream of one number: $420 a square foot.

17 of 39 studies rendered · Kelowna 2026

The number first

1,900 sfsingle storey, slab on grade
$420/sfKelowna 2026 hard cost
$798,000hard cost estimate, ±8%

Excludes land, soft costs and GST. It is an estimate, not a quote. The point of the number is that it came first — the plan was drawn to fit it rather than priced after the fact.

The program

the rooms, and what each one costs in floor area

ZoneRoomssf
Arrivalcovered entry, mudroom with dog wash, gear cubbies, laundry210
Cookkitchen with island, working scullery behind260
Livegreat room — dining + living as one volume, sunken lounge, board-formed hearth520
Quietglass-block reading nook / office flex150
Spineoak-slat hall, powder, mechanical, storage185
Sleepprimary + walk-through dressing + glass-block ensuite340
Sleeptwo bedrooms + shared green-mosaic bath235
Total conditioned1,900

Outside and not counted: carport, covered outdoor room with a hearth, a narrow lap pool along the glazed face, terraced Okanagan planting.

Five moves that keep it cheap

  1. 1. One rectangle, one roof plane

    A 26 × 73 ft bar under a single shed that rises from 9 ft at the service spine to 14 ft at the glass. All the drama comes from that slope and it costs nothing. No double-height volume, no dormers, no jogs.

  2. 2. Slab on grade, polished

    It is the floor in the service half. Travertine only in the entry and great room, where you actually see it.

  3. 3. Glazing on ONE elevation

    The long view face gets the slim bronze lift-and-slide. Everything else is small punched openings.

  4. 4. Glass block instead of bathroom windows

    Cheaper than a window with privacy glazing, needs no covering, and it is the strongest image in the set.

  5. 5. Carport, not garage

    The cheapest good-looking square foot there is.

The one splurge: a 16-foot oak-slat pivot entry door and the continuous stained-oak slat ceiling that runs from the entry, over the great room and straight out over the overhang without a break. One material doing the whole job of character. Everything else is stucco and slab.

One house, any lot

the bar rotated, mirrored and pushed to a different edge — never redrawn

hillside benchsloping walkoutflat suburbancorner 33 ft skinny infilllakefrontorchard edgecul-de-sac pie

The studies

17 rendered · 22 still to run

Dusk. The corner slid open, the hearth lit, the pool running the length of the terrace.
Dusk. The corner slid open, the hearth lit, the pool running the length of the terrace.
The long glazed face, golden hour. One bar, one shed roof.
The long glazed face, golden hour. One bar, one shed roof.
The same bar cut into a hillside bench, stucco retaining walls stepping down below it.
The same bar cut into a hillside bench, stucco retaining walls stepping down below it.
The covered outdoor room, hearth lit.
The covered outdoor room, hearth lit.
Past the pivot door. The oak slat ceiling lifts away, two paper lanterns, travertine holding the glazing.
Past the pivot door. The oak slat ceiling lifts away, two paper lanterns, travertine holding the glazing.
Kitchen, dining and living as one volume. Board-formed concrete hearth left, glass to the lake right.
Kitchen, dining and living as one volume. Board-formed concrete hearth left, glass to the lake right.
The sunken lounge. Tufted mohair, chrome tube, brown marble.
The sunken lounge. Tufted mohair, chrome tube, brown marble.
The same room at night, fire lit, everything else dark.
The same room at night, fire lit, everything else dark.
Walnut slab table, rope-back chairs, concrete behind.
Walnut slab table, rope-back chairs, concrete behind.
Warm oak, no visible hardware, brown marble to the ceiling. The island is the only object in the room.
Warm oak, no visible hardware, brown marble to the ceiling. The island is the only object in the room.
The working scullery behind the kitchen.
The working scullery behind the kitchen.
The bedroom hall as a wooden tube.
The bedroom hall as a wooden tube.
The reading nook. A whole wall of glass block, milky light.
The reading nook. A whole wall of glass block, milky light.
The nook again, wider. The glass block wall doing all the lighting.
The nook again, wider. The glass block wall doing all the lighting.
The primary, oak ceiling coming down low.
The primary, oak ceiling coming down low.
The ensuite split by a wall of hollow glass block in a dark oak frame. Sand zellige behind it.
The ensuite split by a wall of hollow glass block in a dark oak frame. Sand zellige behind it.
The kids bath. Deep green 2x2 mosaic floor to ceiling, oak vanity, green marble, one brass tap.
The kids bath. Deep green 2x2 mosaic floor to ceiling, oak vanity, green marble, one brass tap.