Guest Cottage in my BackYard

Although my skill level is not on Par with many of the members, I was encouraged by another member to share this project.

I admit this is a little difficult to describe so I will share just one part of the project to keep it short.

Background: Over the last two years, I built a 2 Bd, 2 Bath 756 SqFt guest cottage in my backyard intending to rent it out occaisionally to travelers for extra income… sort of B&B style. While the entire inside is styled in a western rustic motif, using barnwood, rusted tin metal ceilings I took from an abandoned barn in the nearby pasture, granite, etc… , I will concentrate on one part of the project for this pass through… ”Room to Room re-circulation Fan”

I vaulted all of the ceilings in the rooms to create a spaceous feeling and allowed me to use only one A/C-Heating unit for both the main living area as well as the bedroom/bath which has a low wall seperating them. I designed a simulated wood barrel effect throught the wall between the main living space and the bedroom to allow air circulation between the two. This allows heated air in the winter to rise to the ceiling and then be moved into the bedroom then causing the cooling air to fall to the floor and move back through/under the bedroom door into the main area again. Because the wall between the bedroom and and bath is only eight feet, air entering is well mixed in both rooms. The fan direction is reversed in the summertime. It works great!

I used a small 22” variable speed ceiling fan, discarded most of the assembly except the fan and base. I side mounted it on an electrical box using two 1/2” galvanized pipes attached with two more electrical junction boxes screwed directly to the wall studs. The wiring is hidden in the pipes.

I cut 2 pieces of CDX plywood 30” x 36” to fit the area shown (both sides of a 2” X 4” wall). I cut approx 26” circle in the center, sized to allow for all of the clearances I needed after all trim was added and still have just 3/4”” of clearance for the blades of the fan when installed. I then placed one on each side of the wall. I cut and nailed 3-1/2” pieces of 2” x 4” all the way around the inside edges of the circular opening as nailing surfaces for the barrel strips. I cut the barrel strips from exterior rough sawn 1” x 10” cedar board I scavanged from a tear down near my home. These pieces are 1-3/4” x 21” in length. These strips were stapled in place, side by side, all the way around the opening. The remainder of the cedar trim was finshed as shown, using varying angles and widths for effect. I added a real rusted metal barrel band I took from a real half barrel in the back yard.

You might notice a few other things going on from the photos so if anyone is interested I can share more of what I did in this place, cupola, window trim, lighting … Hope you enjoyed it.

Mr. Vee