Nestled into the hillside of an established neighborhood, this home was built on a 20,000 square foot lot adjacent to the owners’ home. The lot formerly served as a garden oasis filled with Northwest native plants and granite outcroppings. Forced to part from the lot, the owners decided to self-develop a spec home that capitalized on panoramic views of downtown Seattle, Lake Washington, the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier while preserving views from their own home.
The resultant architecture is a 6,700 square foot, three-story home that slides and steps to capture and protect views.
Resting below the view corridor from the owners’ home and screened from the street by a cedar clad wall and steel trellis, a one-story living and dining pavilion extends into the landscape. A two-story cedar mass is carefully set back from the pavilion to not impede the owners’ views. Layered, low-slope roofs further preserve views by reducing the verticality of the home.
Pennsylvania Bluestone, a remnant from the owners’ own home construction, and expansive glazed corners provide seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Cedar siding nods to the vernacular and further emphasizes the home’s horizontality. Granite boulders salvaged from the garden retain slopes, contrasting the crisp architectural concrete walls of the basement and car court. Inside, fossil-filled limestone field tile and thick white oak flooring and stair treads bring natural qualities to the space. Walnut cabinetry warms the kitchen and master bathroom. Walnut, paired with blackened steel, is also used at the custom entry door, alluding to the experience that is yet to come.
The rich materials, strong horizontal lines and thoughtful massing not only create a sensitive and unifying expression for the home, they also respond to the owners’ own home, implying to future owners that these two structures are somehow related.
