The House that Patience Built

This home's humble beginnings started in 1944 as a single-story rectangle on a lot that would become a Seatac Airport runway. Fast forward four years and the house is barged to a low bank waterfront lot. A poorly constructed two-story addition and garage were added in 1973. The house desperately needed a seismic retrofit.

The homeowner's loved the water view but were dissatisfied with the 7'-6" ceilings, awkward kitchen layout and the dark chopped up spaces throughout the house. Their initial request was for vaulted ceilings on the first floor, new doors and windows (winter winds blew out candles on the dining table), siding, a metal roof, and a cosmetic remodel of the kitchen and two first floor bathrooms. Shortly after construction started, it was discovered that the original house had been set on fill dirt from a nearby landslide in 1947 and that a large decommissioned underground fuel tank had leaked for the better part of several decades under the foundation. The net result was 75% of the home was demolition, 500 cubic yards of contaminated soil were removed, leaving the homeowners with the freedom to incorporate many desired amenities into their remodel project, that the original structure could not support, provided the original footprint was not exceeded.

A redesign of the first floor layout provided many unobstructed views of the water and mountains along with opportunities for moving the foyer, creating an additional bedroom and powder room, moving the kitchen to a more spacious location with a better connection to the dining room, backyard and BBQ, installation of a HRV (helping preserve the indoor air quality during the recent fire season), hydronic heating, a 4'+ high rat slab for the space efficient location of mechanicals (carefully sized for tidal surges), multi-port ductless mini-splits, hydronic heating, improved insulation and ventilation throughout the house, and a front entry that not only welcomed guest in but did justice to the fabulous water and mountain views. The first-floor home office, living room, foyer, laundry room and garage received updates as did the second-floor master suite (new finishes for the staircase, plumbing fixtures and finishes for the master bath including in-floor heat and heated towel bar, lighting, flooring, doors, windows, ventilation, and tubular skylights). The high durability and low maintenance materials on both the interior and exterior of the home were on the top of the homeowner's wish list to ensure many years of relaxed and easy living.

The remodel transformed this house into a stunning and energy efficient home that brings joy to the homeowners every day and a harmonious family life.