who we are

Ahouse is an architecture and design studio, working in Seattle since 2018. We were friends and colleagues for years before that, and we’ve been designing small buildings together ever since: backyard cottages, tiny houses, A-frames, and off-grid cabins.

It all comes down to making the most with what you’ve got. Fitting everything a household needs into a modest footprint takes careful planning, and in a small home anything that isn’t working for you stands out right away. We imagine how a day will really unfold, and we choreograph each space, tucking things in where we can and leaving room to breathe where it matters. If an inch isn’t working for you, it shouldn’t be there.

A good plan also has to be one you can afford to build. We bring in builders and engineers early, so the design matches the bid and the budget from the start, without losing the quality, charm, and character of the design. Smaller usually costs less, but only up to a point. Past it, tight dimensions and awkward details get more expensive. Our years at design-build firms taught us where that point is, and where each dollar does the most.

Our team brings 45 years of combined professional experience, and our previous work on small, efficient apartments has shaped how we design at every scale.

We’ve also lived and worked in Portugal, Chile, Denmark, Germany, and China. When you live somewhere new, everything is a little different: the door handles, the light switches, the materials, the size of a bed or bathroom layout, the way a kitchen, dining room, and living room fit together. Each difference makes you question an assumption, and shows you what’s possible and which versions work better. It’s how we learned to notice what makes a home really work: how well it’s laid out and proportioned, where the light lands, where the bags go when you walk in, how a room holds up when more people arrive. And our own growing families test those lessons every day.

What you want from a home usually takes less space than you’d think. We help you see how.

what we offer

Our standard plans come as ready-to-permit drawing sets, and we’re happy to help you through permitting. Not sure a plan will fit your lot? We offer feasibility studies to find out, and we can connect you with builders.

If you’d like to adjust a design, or want something of your own, we also do custom work, including construction documents, signature details, and outline specifications. Get in touch and we’ll send you a price estimate.

Here’s what’s in each set:

permit sets include:

cover sheet

site plan

floor plans

exterior elevations

building sections

building assemblies

window and door schedules