Outdoor & additions / Carson Valley, NV
A backyard art studio built for daylight
An artist in the Benwell family needed a studio with real light and real walls, not a corner of the garage. Gary Wake poured a slab in the backyard and built a detached studio with a shingle roof, a white entry door, and a window placed for working light.
- Project
- 10 of 18
- Category
- Outdoor & additions
- Location
- Carson Valley, NV
- Scope highlights
- 6
- Photographs
- 4
Detached backyard studio
A monolithic slab, insulated walls, and wide window light for a family artist
Instead of squeezing an easel into a dark garage corner, the Benwell family asked Gary Wake to build a dedicated backyard art studio on its own concrete foundation with clean natural light and year-round comfort.
Detached accessory structure
From backyard lawn to a quiet, sunlit creative studio
Fitting a permanent, insulated studio neatly into an established yard
The yard was lawn and fence. The studio had to stand on its own foundation, stay warm in winter and cool in summer, carry dedicated circuits for lights and equipment, and look finished from the house.
Monolithic concrete slab, residential framing, and dedicated studio power
The crew poured a monolithic concrete slab with the anchor bolts set, framed the walls and roof, and closed it in with vertical siding and a new shingle roof. Insulation, drywall, dedicated electrical, a white entry door, and a wide window finished a bright room ready for easels and paint.
What went into the Benwell studio
6 highlights- 01Monolithic concrete slab foundation
- 02Wall and roof framing with new shingle roof
- 03Vertical siding and trim
- 04Window and entry door placed for working light
- 05Insulation and interior drywall
- 06Dedicated studio electrical circuits
From slab pour to finished studio
See the finished studio in the garden, then the slab foundation it stands on
Built with the same structural foundation, roofing, and insulation standards as a full custom home.
The completed art studio in the garden
Framed, roofed, insulated, and finished with vertical siding, crisp trim, and a wide window positioned for natural painting light.
Completed studio with wide daylight windowVertical siding, architectural shingle roof, and panel entry door
Foundation first: pouring the monolithic concrete slab
Excavating the corner of the yard, forming the perimeter, and pouring a steel-reinforced concrete slab with anchor bolts.
Squared concrete pad from the patio sideSmooth troweled slab ready for pressure-treated sill plates and wall framing 
Freshly poured studio slab & anchor boltsMonolithic concrete foundation curing cleanly along the backyard fence line
More projects
Explore all 18 projectsTalk with Gary Wake
Planning something similar?
Tell Gary about your house and what you are picturing for it. He explains the work in plain terms, puts every detail in a written contract, and responds within 2 business days.