Construction Schedule – 2020

Kamiak Cottages is scheduled to begin construction in Fall of 2020 and be completed by Summer of 2021.

The Wintz Company has built over 200 homes over the past 30 years including two projects for which they have received the Gold Nugget Award from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference for “Best Small Home Project”

Cottage Scale and Individuality

Kamiak Cottages is connected visually to the larger neighborhood by way of its prominent entry point yet is also designed to provide a “Cottage” scale that is smaller and more intimate. The one-story floor plans lessen the impact that 2 story houses would have when grouped closely together. Each home within the neighborhood is unique yet together; stylistically they harmonize with each other. The individuality of each home fosters a bond and identity that each home owner enjoys as a participant in the community.

Cars

In order to reduce the amount of surface area dedicated to cars and make the setting possible we placed the auto parking and circulation near the entrance. Each resident will have one 12’ x 22’ detached and enclosed garage space. Additionally, there will be 12 unassigned spaces that are designated for residents and five designated guest spaces. Garages belonging to residents along the west side will have direct access into their respective rear yards. Other residents will enter through the “commons” to their front doors.

Public to Private

A small neighborhood with a central Commons like this project offer layers of privacy and personal space that are often absent in a more “typical” subdivision. A resident arriving home or a guest coming to visit enters the garden path leading to the center commons, then along a sidewalk that borders the commons, through the garden landscape and gate that leads to their porch and then front door. Within the cottages the privacy layers continue with active spaces in the front toward the Commons, private spaces in the back and active and passive sides to each house so that residents can get as much out of a small space as possible and maximize privacy.

Eyes on the Commons

The first line of defense for personal security is a strong network of neighbors who know and care for one another. Although we enjoy a very safe city here in Pullman, when kitchens, dining and living room areas look onto the shared common areas, a stranger is noticed and neighbors can be easily called in an emergency. Inclusion of a covered front porch with each home creates another space in the home to enjoy and brings people in closer touch with each other.

Nested houses

To provide greater privacy between cottages, the homes “nest” together: the “open” or active side of one house faces the “closed” or passive side of the next. The open side has large windows facing its side yard whereas the closed side has obscured or high windows, if any. This arrangement allows another measure of privacy. Along with this active/passive planning goes Use Easements that allow the active side of one house to include the narrow and unusable side yard of the neighbor. This consolidation makes one useful 10’+ side-yard out of two five-foot side yards with a fence dividing them. The Use Easement is granted for landscaping and general yard use (nothing can be built in it) and the Grantor has the right to enter the Easement in order to maintain his house. A clear description of what a Grantee can and cannot do in the Use Easement will be detailed in the neighborhood Covenants.

The Commons

As you approach the project from Kamiak Court there will be no mistaking the entry. A broad tree-lined walk extends out to the parking area and leads the residents and visitors past an entry kiosk on the right side of the walkway where mail is delivered and community messages can be left. Next you approach the “village green”, an open shared grass area surrounded by a walk. This “green” is the centerpiece of the neighborhood, onto which each house faces and each path leads.

At the south end of the green is the Commons Building, a focal of the Commons including indoor space and adjacent outdoor space where residents can gather for potlucks, meetings or family reunions and get-togethers that don’t comfortably fit in the house. The Commons Building opens onto a courtyard terrace with café tables. Inside, there is space for about two dozen people to sit with a gas fired stove in the corner to provide radiant heat. A storage room on the side provides room for a lawn mower and some garden tools to be used maintaining the Common areas within the project should the residents choose to accomplish those tasks instead of letting the work out to a contractor.

Home Owners Association

The Kamiak Cottages Home Owners Association shall be formed according to Washington State laws for the maintenance of the Common Area. The HOA will be responsible for maintaining everything in the Common Area including: landscape, the entry alley and parking court, the exterior of the garages, the Community Building and shed, walkways, the fencing along the South face of the project that connects the garages, snow removal and any other items identified by the HOA as maintenance of the Common Areas.