Alan's Old House

This A-Frame is right next door to our place, and used to belong to Alan Pringle. (Yep, Alan sold it last year to move to downtown Ciudad Colón, where he is much more mobile and connected with the town's community.) This was the first house we built here. The Pringles were living in Panama while we were working on the house. Later we moved into it for about 6 months until Alan was able to retire from his work as tour guide at the Panama Canal.

Now the new owner, Stephan Brunner, a Costa Rican of German decent, is really making some serious changes.

A-frames are not very practical, I can tell you from this experience. They supposedly combine the roof and walls, but it results in a narrow space, especially toward the top peak. There is a real need for dormers on the upper floor so that light can enter and one can feel more space. (We did build a dormer for the upstairs bathroom, but it's on the opposite side of the house.) That's what Stephan is doing. The shots below show the new addition. (Our house is just down the hill from this side.)