Introduction

Nearly five years into the Bethesda Tea House project and we have finally decided that we need to write a blog about it. This is probably one of the most unusual residential design and construction projects, so it really needs to be written about. While we still have hopes that it will be successful, we certainly have made a number of mistakes, as will soon be described.

The idea for the project really started in 2002 when we (Sara and Andy) started talking about what to do about the use of space in our backyard. We have always wanted a yard with a more courtyard type feeling, but in suburban Washington, D.C., zoning laws really won't allow for putting up a high wall around the yard. We realized that an alternative solution would be to put a small building at the back end of the yard to create a similar feeling. And our interest in Japanese tea houses had been on-going for some time. But we didn't really want a traditional Japanese design, but rather something very modern with perhaps just a suggestion of Japan. In the next few weeks, we will describe the details of each stage of the project.