Property of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Stamps | San Fernando Valley | Architect Allen McGill | Photos Robert C. Cleveland

We've heard of houses starting from all manner of odds and ends, from chicken coops to abandoned service stations, but, believe it or not, here's a house that started out as a tool shed! It was certainly a meager tool shed, indeed, that the Walter Stamps erected on their few acres of oranges in the San Fernando Valley some three years ago. It's size, 10' x 16', was hardly big enough to store the necessary tools preparatory to starting a five- year program of building. Yes, that was the time limit set by this intrepid family in its search for a home. Now in its third year, the plan has proceeded without a hitch, while the owners work busily on, hoping for their good luck to carry them through the next two important years to the final completion of the house.

When they took over the grove, there was nothing on it but the orange trees. A tool shed was a basic necessity because the family planned on doing most of the work themselves. It would afford a dual usefulness; the cool little interior would give welcome comfort while they ate their picnic lunches. However, small and simple as it seemed, the tool shed was the first building the Stamps had ever attempted. What had seemed easy in the planning stage took on major proportions under the hot summer sun. Besides, the orange grove needed attention, too! So the little shack proved a test case; experiments were attempted and a great deal of important information gained for the more ambitious later building program. A year after the tool shed was built, it became apparent to the Stamps family that the trip back and forth from town was an arduous one. The grove needed more and more attention, and these trips kept them constantly on the road. Therefore, it was decided to turn the tool shed into a living room with a couple of studio couches added to the collection of miscellaneous garden equipment. A tiny bath and kitchen were added, and the second year of the five-year plan was off to a good start.

Now in the third year, we find a garage and workshop added for good measure. At the moment, the ambitious project has come to a halt since building prices seem out of line for the restricted budget. Nevertheless, the Stamps already know where their large, new living room will go. There's to be another sleeping room and bath on the upper floor, too. But everyone is patient and con- siders the present tiny building, actually all of 480 square feet, so charming and homelike that the waiting years will be contented ones. The next steps forward will be logical ones since the owners sought professional advice soon after the tool shed was built. They know that each step in the five- year plan will add more beauty and comfort.

Architect Allen McGill shares credit for this ingenious program of expansion. Taken to the desolate piece of cleared land with its sad, small, lone structure, his imagination helped him to realize the possibilities of both property and the Stamps family's way of life. Mrs. Stamps admits quite frankly that she would have been the hap- piest person in the world had there been an old barn on the place. But pleasant old barns, painted red, are not easily found in California. As a com- promise, she requested the architect to make her a little barn house with plenty of rural character. The tool shed was revamped with a sturdy white-washed chimney; the bath, closet, tiny hall, and kitchen were added on so that the house became a simple rectangle. The central portion became two story-the barn she so wanted-and the loft became a temporary bedroom reached, in true rustic fashion, by a ladder from the hall.

When the final step takes place, the loft will be made into a spacious bedroom for guests, and the master bedroom will be placed over the new living room. The present tool shed then will be con- verted into a den. As it is, the Stamps can sleep two persons in their loft and two on the studio couches in the living-room tool shed. This is some sort of a record for such a tiny floor plan. When the garage was added last year, the architect tied it to the house with an attractive roofed breezeway, which serves as both entrance and sheltered patio. The little red barn turns its back on the road and opens largely to the orange grove, garden, and terrace side. A white rail fence encloses the property, and the rose vines have grown rapidly to give shelter from the road.

Once inside the gate, there's a spacious motor court and the "front door" is nothing more than an attractive whitewashed brick wall with red brick steps leading directly into the breezeway.