About
What is a Backyard Cottage? It’s a small house in your backyard that can be used many ways – rental income property, guest house, home office, aging-in-place, elderly family member, kids after college, you name it – it’s highly flexible and can perform any or all of these functions over time. And the best part is, you already own the land so that makes it affordable.
Backyard Box is also a very popular solution for those looking for a modern prefab modular summer home, retirement home, beach cabin and other uses. It can even be readily converted into a commercial or retail space, another benefit of the accessible bathrooms and larger doorways.
For many, selling a home is no longer cost effective with lagging real estate values and transaction costs. Also, Seattle just passed the Backyard Cottage Ordinance so we felt now is the time to offer custom architect designed pre-fab backyard cottages.
Founder Sloan Ritchie launched Backyard Box in response to the cultural shifts taking place today where consumers find themselves in need of a little extra space for a home office or studio, aging parents or boomerang kids, income via a new rental property, or a mix of these over time. Having developed his own backyard into a single family home, Sloan saw an incredible opportunity to help other local homeowners make the most of their home investment and living choices. And today, adoption of backyard cottage ordinances makes it much easier.
Sloan has been at the forefront of green and sustainable building in the Seattle area for several years, building some of Seattle’s first LEED certified homes. He and his experienced design team are dedicated to pushing the envelope in sustainability & energy efficiency, environmentally appropriate material selection, and innovative development practices – at affordable prices. Backyard Box homes reflect a personal commitment and passion for sustainable, quality living.
BLIP Design – Architect Jim Burton, AIA, LEED A.P., has 18 years of experience in residential, institutional, office, and other project types. He is a Certified Passive House Consultant, member of the US Green Building Council, Cascadia Chapter GBC, Built-Green, Solar Washington, Passive House Northwest, and the NW Eco-Building Guild. He is currently serving as the President of the Central Puget Sound (Seattle) Chapter of the NW Eco-Building Guild.
All Backyard Boxes are designed to meet Passive House standards, the most advanced energy efficiency practices anywhere in the world. That yields a 90% reduction in heating and cooling energy versus typical construction.
Love your home but need more space – backyard box has the solution.
