New Aeroplane Bungalow Built with Salvage & Craftsmanship

By the time they got to work on their new dream house, Rich and Shelly Collins had been studying, envisioning, planning, and collecting for two decades.

“I have never had a project anything like this,” says architect Todd Mather. “Most clients don’t know what they want. But Rich had been chewing on this for 20 years and knew exactly what he wanted. This house is his and Shelly’s design and their collected salvaged materials; I was just the technician who made it happen.”

Rich Collins is a farmer. For years, he grew all the Belgian endive sold in the USA. Today, he produces hybrid asparagus seed. After he and Shelly, a registered nurse, bought 90 acres of farmland, in 2006, their family lived in a mobile home while Rich concentrated on the crops. But they were paying attention to old houses in the Pacific Northwest—and collecting salvaged house parts.

“I travelled a lot for the endive business,” Rich says. “In California and Oregon, wherever I was, one particular kind of house caught my eye.” He was smitten by what he calls “the aeroplane bungalow,” preferring to use the British or archaic spelling. Featuring a bungalow’s low-pitched gable roofs with prominent eaves and exposed rafter tails, this Arts & Crafts-era sub-type is distinguished by a stepped-back second floor with windows, often referred to as the cockpit. The space usually functioned as a summer bedroom. Aeroplane bungalows are more common in the West. “The style has nice proportions, it’s not just a monolithic box,” Rich says.

When the Collins family moved to this farm, Rich built a barn out of materials from a big mill building torn down in Mount Shasta, California. The barn also stored salvaged materials, passionately collected over a lifetime. When an area high school tore down its stadium, for instance, Rich bought the Douglas fir bleachers and put them in the barn. They became the staircase.

The couple found Todd Mather through a relative, in 2020, and brought him their sketches and pictures. Requirements were clear: the house had to blend with the existing property, especially the barn that sits 50 yards away. It was to incorporate all their salvaged materials, including a pile of clinker bricks salvaged from the foundation of an 1885 barn. They wanted at least a partial cellar, an unusual feature in this part of the country. So they asked that the house be elevated. They hoped to use all the furnishings they’d collected: a farmhouse-style apron-front sink, an antique kitchen range, and original Arts & Crafts furniture. 

Mather specializes in residential architecture. “Our interior designers usually finish a project,” Todd Mather says. “In this case, Rich and Shelly did that.” He adds, “Rich and Shelly were adamant: they wanted their house to be as small as possible.”

“Cozy rooms are the best,” Rich says. “We love quaint, comfortable spaces.” 

In the 2,400-square-foot house, the step-back second floor offers two small bedrooms and a bath. The primary suite is on the first floor. A mudroom, half bath, pantry, and laundry are near the entry. The brick partial cellar has ceiling beams that came out of a railroad station.

The house designed by Todd Mather with Rich and Shelly Collins has elevated brick patios on three sides. These outdoor rooms are semi-enclosed and shaded by open pergola-roofs patterned after those popular in the early 20th century. 

“I am a pergola snob,” Rich says. “I think modern ones are disasters.” Mather explains, “The concept was Rich’s; my part was to detail the sizing and spacing of components. The design challenge was how to attach it to the house. We ended up tying it into the head trim of windows and doors.” “Part of what makes it look right is that the rafters are notched into the joists, not just laid on top,” Rich adds. “I love the play of shadows.”

The rafters, fashioned from red cedar, are stained and oiled, not painted. Their fancy-cut tails (ends) are gracefully shaped to echo hundred-year-old originals, fitting for this new house inspired by period bungalows.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Location: Davis, California
Designer: Todd Gordon Mather, Tahoe City, Cal.: tgmarchitect.com
Program Build a new house in the bungalow tradition, incorporating salvaged materials collected by the clients.