darling, hot, he extensive makeover of Britt and Donna Starling’s Edgewater
home provided enough leftovers to assemble a potting shed in
their backyard.
“Thirteen is our lucky number,” Donna says, “so it’s 13 feet wide.”
Between 22 to 23 feet long, she says, “This house built itself.”
T
Constructed with 17 salvaged double hung windows, their old front door and
some leftover lumber and sheet metal roofing, the Starlings’ tiny house is part
party place for Donna and her friends. It’s also a private retreat, where she and
her hubby come in the
evenings to talk about
the affairs of the day and
make plans for the week.
“Britt and I kind of
break away — from the
kids, the computers, the
TV — and unplug,” she
says.
Arranged over a bed
of crushed oyster shells,
the tiny hot, green
house is furnished with
a feathered chandy, a
distressed wood table
and chairs, her children’s
play table, a silver framed
mirror, pillared candlesticks,
an old mantel, a
cast iron Tiffany-style sea
shell lamp, and a black
wicker settee. She says
everything was plucked
from the recyclable pile
or was gifted.
With their three
children, and toy French
poodle, Snowflake, the
Starlings cozy up around
the relic coal-burning,
pot bellied stove in cooler
weather.
“My grandmother
always had one in
her home in Boston,”
Donna says.
Beneath recycled roof and cross beams, a shabby
chic feathered chandy hangs above a gently used
black wicker settee.
A 100-year-old pot-bellied stove warms the Starlings’
hot, green backyard house.
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WBM september 2013