Nestled in a heavily treed residential area of Kirkland, Washington, this new home gracefully replaces a modest single-story dwelling on an expansive 9,500 SF lot. Designed to offer over 4,600 SF of luxurious living space with an oversized three-car garage, this custom-built home parallels the northern boundary of the site, ensuring the primary living areas are bathed in southern light.

A striking entry space with custom stairs elegantly separates the front arrival from the rear autocourt. The main level connects seamlessly to an upper lawn area, creating a harmonious indoor-outdoor flow. Emphasizing sustainable design, all viable trees were preserved, with only one non-viable tree removed. Inside, the main level features a front-facing office and open living, dining, and kitchen areas that extend to the generous covered patio with outdoor heaters. The upper level boasts four bedrooms, including a versatile room at the top of the stairs, ideal for TV, guests, play, or homework. The primary bedroom offers serene privacy at the rear, complete with a spacious bathroom and custom closet system.

 

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Located just blocks away from Capitol Hill’s picturesque Volunteer Park, this triplex blends new and old to fit into its historical context. Originally on the site was a dilapidated rental with a failing foundation. The property has been thoughtfully reimagined to optimize the LR-2 zoning while honoring the charm of its early 1900s neighboring homes. Positioned between two single-family houses, we minimized the building’s scale by employing a steeper front roof pitch, creating a harmonious blend with the surrounding structures even though the building is a full story taller. The building features a 3 bedroom 2.25 bath owner’s unit occupying the top two floors, a 2 bedroom 2 bath rental unit occupying the ground level, and a 1 bedroom 1 bath occupying the daylight basement. An elevator connects the owner’s 1 car garage to the upper floors. The design of each unit enjoys its own private outdoor space. Collaborating with Francine Day, we designed the landscape to meet Seattle’s Green Factor requirements, incorporating drought-tolerant plantings for sustainable urban living. On the interior, large windows and window bays, and carefully designed spaces make the most of the narrow site. Constructed to Built Green 4 and 5 star standards, the triplex not only features green materials, but efficient mechanical systems and superior insulation, along with a host of other green features.

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This house in Madrona was an exercise in maximizing the potential of a small lot.  With only 2,400 SF of area and substantial elevation change, the envelope was constrained, but the steep slope and corner location provided beautiful views of Lake Washington and Bellevue beyond.  The house bends in the middle, both to capture these views and fit on the irregular lot, with a lightwell and stair at the elbow distributing light from skylights above.  The roof of the house repeats this bend, tilting up at the East to allow for expansive glazing but continuing down on the West side, helping the scale of the house and providing area for solar panels. We used a reverse plan, with an open great room and roof deck on the highest level offering vaulted ceilings and sweeping views.  A buried garage connects to the house on the lower level, with a dumbwaiter used to help move groceries to the kitchen.

 

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This project for a developer in Kenmore created a modern farmhouse with plenty of connection to outdoor space. We worked around the existing large trees onsite, both one at the front yard which became the focal point of the curved driveway access and several behind the house which provide a beautiful backdrop to the double height living space and immediately adjacent covered outdoor patio. An open plan concept for the great room at the back of the house flows into the backyard outdoor space and provides a spacious feeling. Above the attached garage, this project also includes an attached accessory dwelling unit with a separate access allowing it to be used flexibly, either rented out, or as an addition to the main house.

 

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This 1911 craftsman home in Fremont underwent a basement remodel, blending practical solutions with a dash of funkiness. Initially challenged by low ceilings, our design strategically utilized space between the joists to create an illusion of higher ceilings. Tackling the obstacles of existing pipes, ducts, and wires, we installed T&G between rafters at varying heights. Painting the entire ceiling white helped lighten and unify the space. The owner is an audiophile and loves a great sound system. He had specific requirements for the media room’s performance, which we balanced with fixtures and finishes to enhance the aesthetic, highlighted by a dramatic ombre wall. Functionality was key, adding a custom sliding door to separate the office and living spaces, a new laundry room, storage room, and transforming the garage into a workshop space. This remodel gracefully marries practicality with creative and quirky flair that is perfect for the neighborhood and this particular owner.

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This project re-imagined a house in the Mt. Baker neighborhood of Seattle, completely transforming the look and connection to the site. In a three-story, 1300 SF addition, we added an attached garage, a new living space with floor-to-ceiling windows with views of Lake Washington, and an expansive primary suite upstairs. The backyard was completely re-done, adding a patio with a fire pit and basketball court, in addition to a new stairs connecting the outdoor space with the living spaces above. We detailed the house exterior, completely refreshing and modernizing the look and adding an entry steel and glass awning and wood veneer panels. The project added windows throughout provide views and connection to the site. Completely re-done lighting, both inside the house and in the new backyard, tied everything together and added to the feeling of the finished product as a brand new house.

 

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This project upgraded a very typical ranch-style home with a second story primary suite addition, as well as a gut renovation of the existing ground level. We were able to create an open great room space the entire depth of the house, as well as a new backyard patio adjacent expanding this living area. The second story addition of a primary suite, whose bedroom was also focused toward the expansive backyard, was placed above the great room, allowing us to preserve some of the existing roofline, as well as the existing foundations while completely transforming the look and function of the house.

 

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This house in Magnolia for a developer maximized flexibility by creating the potential to separate off the basement into its own 2 bedroom unit. Upstairs, both the wide open great room and primary bedroom are arranged at the back of the house to take advantage of the views available down the hill. A very tall garage space provides even more living space as a roof deck accessed off the Kitchen.

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This 5,500 square foot (including attached garage) developer home was designed for a neighborhood which has seen a number of large houses built recently. We were tasked with delivering a tasteful design which would be a cut above some of the developer homes sprouting up nearby.

In order to best capture views of Lake Washington, we designed a “reverse plan” home with a large open kitchen, dining, and living spaces all together on the top floor, as well as a generous master suite. The middle level accommodated children’s and guest rooms, as well as a large family room and an office close to the entry. Most of the bottom level was taken up by the large garage, which accommodates 5 cars, as well as one extra-long bay to allow for storing a boat or trailer. Also on the lowest level is an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) with its own exterior access.

Much of west side of this home supports a large roof deck with wonderful 180° views of Lake Washington. There are also large covered exterior decks on the south sides of the middle and upper levels to allow interior-exterior living year-round.

This home includes an elevator to allow for the owners the opportunity to age in-place. Having the living and master suite spaces (along with the views!) all together on one floor reduces the need to use the stairs somewhat, but having an elevator in the house provides the most flexible solution going forward. It also makes carting groceries from your car to the kitchen much more convenient, regardless of the owners abilities.

 

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Our client asked us to design a 3,500 SF home while keeping the roof as low as possible in order to not block views from the homes he was also building across the street. The sloping site permitted us to design the new home with the main living spaces and master suite on the main level, with two kids bedrooms, family room and laundry on the lower level. We designed the roof of the house to result in a vaulted great room space where transom windows, and skylights flood the interior with natural light. The master suite is located on the same level, as well as a den facing the front of the house. A spacious pantry contains a dishwasher for extra clean up space after parties.

On the lower level, two oversized kids bedrooms open onto a family room space. The lower level also incorporates a laundry room, extra storage space, and a workshop tucked into the hillside (with a convenient exterior door).

 

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