O'Connor Addition
The O’Connors loved their house but had outgrown it. The goal wasn’t to start over — it was to open things up. A new covered patio. More light. A connection between inside and out that didn’t exist before.
Currently under construction.
The question
Mike and Karen had a version of the question I hear most often: “We love this house, but…” The but was always the backyard. Beautiful yard, no way to get to it. The rear of the house was a wall of siding with a single sliding door that stuck half the time. Two kids, a dog, and nine months of mild-enough Oregon weather with no covered space to enjoy it.
What we didn’t do
I talked them out of the addition they came in asking for. They wanted 400 square feet of new heated space. What they actually needed was 200 square feet of heated space and 300 square feet of covered patio. In Eugene, a covered outdoor room is usable from March through November. That’s more living space than any heated room, at a third of the cost.
The design
The addition wraps the southwest corner of the house. Inside: a new family room with three walls of glass. Outside: a 16x18 covered patio with a built-in grill and enough depth to stay dry in sideways rain. The roofline matches the existing house — same pitch, same fascia profile — so it looks like it was always there. We opened the old kitchen wall to connect everything, so now the kitchen, family room, and patio flow as one continuous space.
Under construction
Motley Construction broke ground in spring 2025. Framing went fast — the design is straightforward on purpose. The most complex moment is where the new roof meets the old, and we detailed that carefully in drawings to avoid any field improvisation. The O’Connors are living in the house during construction, which means sequencing matters. We’re closing in the new space before opening the old wall.
200 sf heated + 300 sf covered patio
Opened existing kitchen wall
Matched existing pitch and materials
Built-in grill, counter, under cover
5 months construction
