a new detached laneway house is going up on east 19th avenue. i ran across this listing and it looks quite intriguing. actually located on a lot with a duplex, this laneway house is considered the 3rd unit in a 3 unit townhouse development on a single lot. from the street the laneway house is invisible (blocked by the main house fronting the street). the main house architecturally is completely different from the laneway house and i cannot explain why, expect the possibility that the city asked for a streetscape that ‘blends’ in with  the surrounding houses.

the total floor area comes to 1726 square feet. for a laneway house that is truly impressive, and is due to the fact that it is 3 storeys (1 basement, ground floor and upper floor), which is another deviation from the typical 500-600 sq.ft. laneway houses that are popping up all over rs1 and rs5 zoned properties throughout the city. priced at $948,800 ($550/sq.ft.) is decent and a good value for a new house and it is located in a nice quiet street and neighborhood.

check out the realtor’s listing here.

extremely efficient floorplan with the living spaces on the top floor opening  up to the laneway (south-side) balcony.

here are some photos of the laneway house in the current construction stage :

looking west towards the laneway house, the canted walls are a nice touch. a flat roof over the east side of the house looks great and keeps the massing to a minimum helping reduce shadowing onto neighboring lots. of course having a flat roof over the ground floor allows for a deck at the second floor.

looking at the laneway house from the west, a different roof form appears. i think it would have looked better had the flat roof connected to the sloped roof rather than having a 2′ wide apron piece cut along the end like that. when in doubt, keep it simple. Less is more. Now we just have more roof to wall connections and more fussy details to construct.

the entry of the laneway house is on the left side of the image above. from this side it has quite a commanding presence. well done. not to nitpick, but i would have loved to see these windows without the wood trims, something like on the image below:

photo of 1555 east 20th avenue.