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In our first entry of the “Every Building Tells a Story” series, we’re featuring a project Warren completed a few years ago in Seattle.

Setting: A quiet neighborhood set on a hillside in North Seattle with endless views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains beyond. The neighborhood is home to an eclectic mix of beach shacks and luxury homes.

Clients: A newly married couple with 2 kids, ages 9 and 12. The husband is a filmmaker and the wife is a sales rep for a sweater and sustainable clothing line.

Background: Shortly after their marriage, Rick and Julie began searching for a suitable home for their family of 4. After an unproductive afternoon of visiting open houses, they asked Warren to meet them at a little cottage that Rick owned in Richmond Beach to explore the possibility of remodeling. Would it be worth pursuing? The house, originally built in 1935, was located on a high-bank waterfront piece of property. Rick had owned the house for several years and stayed there when he was in town–a place suitable for a single man, but needing some serious attention to accommodate a family.

 

Above: A few before photos of the house under consideration

Possibilities: This view alone from the backyard was a compelling reason to move forward with a remodel:

Challenges:

City zoning ordinances presented the first challenge. If they completely removed the structure, current zoning ordinances would apply that would reduce the building footprint. By preserving street-side portions of the beach house, the original footprint of the house could be renovated.

The house was dark, even on a sunny day and there were structural and subsurface water problems.

 

Solutions:

By thinking of the home as a day-lit farmhouse, Warren designed large windows and light wells between the main and upper story, flooding the home with natural light and capturing views of Puget Sound.

 

Opening up the floor plan to the view with an engineered post-and-beam frame and large windows created welcoming spaces. The second story is an open floor plan with privacy created largely by moveable screens rather than walls and doors.

The openness of the floor plan works well for day-to-day living and for entertaining. The long galley table with an even longer flanking window seat creates flexibility for the family.

 

End Notes: Julie says, “Everything I like to do can be done in the main room/kitchen space: cooking, eating, being with friends, working on projects on the long table–even big messy ones. We can seat 26 people down for dinner, gather around a fireplace, play a grand piano and the whole time you are virtually surrounded by windows that make it look as if the whole house is floating out to sea.”