Future First -- Two Forward-Thinking Housing Projects Win Top Honors From A Panel Of Local Architects

In the many years The Seattle Times and the American Institute of Architects have sponsored a Home of the Month competition, there have been few submissions like the one featured last April:

Three 3-story, single-family homes that look like a condominium project but aren't, that could have been plain, boxy and devoid of character, but aren't.

The project, called the Fairview Lofts, broke the Home of the Month rules by being not a custom home but "spec housing" built by a developer with no particular client in mind.

Although there was no one, save the developer and architect, to say it had to do any more than pencil out profitwise, the project did do more. For that reason, the Lake Union project recently was chosen to share Home of the Year honors with another structure, a cost-conscious Mercer Island home the judges singled out for the same reason.

Both, in their own way, are forward thinking.

The Seattle Times/AIA Homes of the Month that run in the Home/Real Estate section section of this newspaper are selected by a group of local architects and are profiled here. They represent new, architect-designed homes or remodels that have something to teach the public about the current direction of residential design.

The annual competition was juried by three local architects, all multiple award winners. They are Dave Miller, a principal in Miller/Hull Partnership; L. Jane Hastings of The Hastings Group; and Douglas Kelbaugh, a University of Washington architecture and urban-design professor. Kelbaugh also is a principal in Kelbaugh, Calthorpe & Associates and author of the forthcoming book, "Common Place: Neighborhood and Regional Design in Seattle."

During the judging, done solely from photographs supplied by the architects, these three scratched their cumulative heads over a design detail here or there. In reviewing photos of the Fairview Lofts, however, they immediately understood - and praised - the intent of architects Philip Christofides and Margo Arellano, partners in the four-year-old firm of Arellano/Christofides Architects. Besides homes, the pair have designed several noted Seattle restaurants, including Flying Fish and El Gaucho.

Miller voted for the lofts, as well as the Mercer Island home, because they were more than just good architecture. "These two stood out as really good models," he says, "inventive and a direction we could go in the future."

Miller says the lofts project sets "an excellent example for how to do small multi-family projects in Seattle that increase residential density in the downtown area - and still manages to give a sense of individual homes."

Working with developer Peter Erickson, Christofides and Arellano came up not with one megahouse for the lot, but three skinny "fee-simple houses," which means a property line runs the length of the common walls, and homeowners own their land.

Christofides says fee-simple housing, which is fairly new in Seattle, "is a way of combining the concept of single-family housing with the reality of the need for multi-family housing. You can point to it and say, `I own that,' and you don't have to talk to your neighbors if you want to put in a shrub or fence."

Each attached home features three bedrooms, three baths, two decks, a garage, a private garden patio, and a top-floor, 18-by-40-foot living/dining/kitchen area with panoramic views of Lake Union and Queen Anne. Total square footage of each: 2,425.

They also are primed for fiber-optic wiring, have fireplaces that will burn either gas or wood and have surround-sound pre-wiring in the living rooms.

They also have hybrid hot-water/forced-air heating systems that heat hot water for the house, then use the hot water to heat the air. Christofides says the system is more expensive initially but over time saves money and energy.

All three homes were sold soon after construction for $430,000 to $450,000.

ON MERCER ISLAND, Kamma Scott is getting used to comments about her new home. Because of its bright accent colors, some have called it the "Crayola house" or the "rainbow home." A few neighbors called it a mistake when they noticed that some of the tall, grid-style windows appeared to be installed upside down and none of them exactly matched; all that was planned, actually, to evoke a sense of the artist Piet Mondrian.

Kamma and her husband, Allen, nicknamed it "Rancho Scott" because its 10-foot ceilings and bright colors evoke the sunny, wide-open feeling of Allen's native Texas. One judge, Kelbaugh, decided it's "almost like a Tuscan farmhouse in modern materials."

And its architect, Geoffrey Prentiss of the nine-year-old residential-design firm Geoffrey Prentiss Architects, describes it as "a house of maximization."

"We maximized the dollars, maximized the land, maximized the rectangular shape of the house," he says. "What made this work were clients who were flexible." For that they were rewarded with a three-story, 3,235-square-foot home that cost just $81 a square foot to build.

To keep costs down, the home is basic 20-by-50-foot rectangle. Its roof is a simple scissors-truss gable, its exterior unpainted 4-by-8 panels of a fiber-reinforced cement board caulked in dark gray.

Angled to the rear, across a courtyard, is a detached two-car garage with two-bedroom apartment above it; that was designed for visits by Kamma Scott's parents.

Kamma Scott says Prentiss strived to give her and her husband the home they wanted - despite a budget so limited that Prentiss only half jokingly says "Rancho Scott" is the lowest-cost custom home on Mercer Island.

"I'm surprised we got what we got," Kamma Scott confides. "We fit a lot into a small space . . . the floor plan is very smart . . . I credit him with that."

In particular, she says, Prentiss was clever in angling the house on the 90-by-90-foot lot, providing an unanticipated view of Lake Washington and a cozy courtyard area between the house and garage.

Actually, the courtyard was an area she and her husband were unsure of. "We worried the space would seem closed in," she says, "but here it is winter and it's never once seemed gloomy or dark."

To cut costs, the home's main floor has only partial walls; they separate and define the areas: the "lounge" or living room with its fireplace and built-in shelving, the dining area, the sitting area and the kitchen.

Upstairs are four bedrooms, a computer station, master sitting room and deck. Although the children's rooms are small, they seem large because of tall windows and angled ceilings that follow the roof line.

The bottom floor has a large playroom for the couple's sons, Ryan, 6, and Parker, 3. Besides built-in bookshelves and a sink for art projects, it also has a small patio and stairs that create a natural amphitheatre. Kamma Scott's plan is to use the playroom for a licensed child-care center for preschoolers whose at-home mothers would like a day off.

One of the AIA judges was impressed with the way Prentiss had delivered, inexpensively, a home with both a two-bedroom accessory dwelling and space for a child-care facility. "The accessory unit is a wonderful way to quietly and almost imperceptibly increase the density of suburbia, and the possibilities of using the basement for a small day-care center is also a good use of suburban housing," Kelbaugh says.

Both he and Miller praised the relation of the home to the courtyard. And they loved the home's use of color, which was Kamma Scott's doing. Echoing the hues of Mexican folk art, she chose turquoise, orange, bright pink, primary yellow, red and blue, then used them judiciously to enliven an otherwise gray palate.

"I thought the interiors, for a modest budget, were really well done," Miller says. "They weren't overdesigned. The inexpensive materials demonstrate what you can do with a tight budget, and that's a good lesson for all of us as well."

And that's what the Home of the Year program is all about: lessons everyone can use.

Elizabeth Rhodes is a reporter for the Home/Real Estate Section of The Seattle Times. Benjamin Benschneider is a Times news photographer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- This rambling Redmond home moves the fireplace outside

Architect: Lane Williams of Lane Williams Architects

Builder: Jed Construction

Intent: For their forested five-acre parcel, Laura and Keith Logan told Williams they wanted a unique home that connected strongly to the outdoors, used natural materials, was low-maintenance, practical and comfortable. The resulting 4,200 square-foot, $670,000 home is, in Williams' words, "a series of simple gable-roofed components linked with two low, flat-roofed structures which separate the garage/guest, living/dining and sleeping/bathing zones. The tumbling form of the house is akin to fallen trees found on the site." The main living area, 32 by 36 feet, floored in stone, its ceiling wood, is zoned into kitchen, dining, conversation and media areas. Adjacent is a glass-walled tea room. The bedroom wing offers three bedrooms, plus a raised library off the master suite, and a large bath with a concrete Japanese soaking tub bordered by shoji screens that open to the outdoors. Rather than an indoor fireplace, which the Logans didn't want, Williams designed an outdoor one. "It's so nice to have a fire and sit outside," says Laura Logan, joking, "it's like camping, but you get to go in and sleep in your own bed."

Judges: They singled out for praise the soaking tub, patio/fireplace area, and especially the tea room. "It has a lot of poise, and the scale and level of detail fit the space," Kelbaugh says. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A three-story Craftsman on Queen Anne

Architect: Ben Trogdon of Ben Trogdon Architects.

Builder: JCC Potter Co.

Intent: Originally the owners had planned to remodel the existing home, but it was deemed too worn to be worth the effort. Thus Trogdon's challenge became to replace it with a neoCraftsman home that would suit its older neighborhood, have a contemporary interior and also capture more of the view. The owners, who have grown children, wanted private spaces plus a large, flowing area for entertaining. The result is a 2,570-square-foot, three-story structure with a one-story main-floor extension to rear. That's the stairstepped kitchen-dining-living area, glass walled on one side to connect to the brick patio. "You don't see too many three-story Craftsmen," Trogdon says, "so it really becomes a challenge to design it that way." Up the skylit three-story stairwell are a guest bedroom and study on the second floor and a spacious master suite on the third. Various woods, including cherry and maple, are used throughout. Some costs, including demolishing the old house, pouring a new foundation and adding large basement-area workshop and garage were unavailable. Otherwise, owners spent roughly $115 a square foot for above-ground construction.

Judges: They liked the staircase with its view landings between floors. They liked the living area, particularly its relation to the terrace. They were less positive toward the mixed use of interior woods, and it bothered one that the best seating in the living room (an inglenook next to the fireplace) was turned away from the view. Still, Kelbaugh praised the home as a great space for entertaining. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A new shingle-style home in Fremont

Architects: Peter Stoner and Paul Crowther of Peter Stoner Architects.

Builder: William Ferman Construction.

Intent: The owners, a couple with two children, are informal people, who, in Stoner's words "didn't want any kind of pretentious statement." Instead, they chose to build a 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom home whose heart is a large kitchen and family room with plenty of windows (and a window seat), built-in desk, beadboard wainscoting and 9-foot beamed ceiling. It opens onto a large, terraced yard, which was designed by landscape designer Susan Miller to link indoor spaces and outdoor spaces. The exterior, with its echoes of Ellsworth Storey-designed early Seattle homes, was planned with special attention to how it masses on its sloping lot, Crowther explains. "We wanted to make sure it fit in the neighborhood." Construction cost was $273,500.

Judges: "It gets a lot out of a small plan; the kitchen is particularly well executed," Miller says. Kelbaugh calls the home "comfortable and contextual," but says he was bothered by the traffic flow and proportions of some main-floor rooms, particularly the small living room, which can be entered only through the dining room. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A cabin on the waterfront in Bremerton

Architect: James Rozanski of Rozanski Architects

Builder: Bill Mathers Construction

Intent: Ginny and John Price told their architect "we don't want a ranchburger," Rozanski recalls them saying. "We want a fun, funky, budget-conscious house that maximizes the view potential and is as maintenance-free as possible." The home, which sits on a wide expanse of waterfront overlooking Mount Rainier, is purposely budget-conscious. Built for only $150,000 (or $75 a square foot), it features vinyl windows, painted plywood siding, storage-grade bathroom cabinets and a compact floor plan that manages to seem larger than it is because of the two-story vaulted ceiling in the living room. Besides the living room, the main house features a dining area, kitchen, bedroom and bath. On the second floor is a master bedroom that overlooks the living room, plus a bath. An adjacent two-story garage offers a 600-square-foot sleeping loft designed with the grandchildren in mind.

Judges: Miller praises the house for its simple, compact plan, and says the architect used "innovative materials and has done a lot of interesting things." The judges question, however, whether the house is effectively as passive solar as it was designed to be.

----------------------------------------------------------------- A two-story houseboat on Portage Bay

Architect: Gene Morris of Lagerquist & Morris

Builder: Bob Haines of Bee Jay Construction

Intent: The owners, James Weyand and his wife, Marilyn Robertson, have lived on this houseboat for more than a decade. Originally one story, at least 75 years old, "it wasn't very well built, like a lot of houseboats," Robertson says. Still, the couple loved the location, and after smaller previous upgrades, hired Morris to do a full-scale Craftsman-flavored remodel that would add a second-story master bed and bath, home office, roof deck and finally, enough closet space. In taking the square footage from 691 to 1,282, Morris's challenges were many. First, "you're stuck with a cube; you can't add a wing on to get space like you can on a house." Second, an 18-foot height limit (from the waterline) curtails design possibilities upward. Finally, serious structural problems necessitated the near total tear-down of the original structure and helped bring the final construction cost to $182,000. On the main floor are living, dining and kitchen areas plus a guest room and bath. Touches: maple floors, gas cast-iron fireplace stove and, on the outside, wood knee braces for a Craftsman touch.

Judges: The home was praised for its sensitivity to its neighborhood. "It fits Seattle," Miller observes. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A bright and airy family home on Bainbridge Island

Architect: David Sircoloumb of Mithun Partners

General contractor: David Sircoloumb

Intent: To build, with modest expense but much imagination, a family home for his wife and two young children. Thus Sircoloumb's "straightforward, linear design" provides 1,860 feet of living space on one floor, with unfinished workshop space underneath. Construction cost was $160,000, in addition to the cost of two forested, gently sloping acres on the west side of Bainbridge. The home features three bedrooms, two baths and a combination kitchen/great room adjoining a large deck. Bright and airy, the great room provides a water view through the trees.

Judges: The architect's photos were not submitted in time for the home to be judged for the annual award. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A contemporary remodel in Shoreline

Architect: William Rutledge of Rutledge Maul Architects.

Builder: Pacific Rim Construction & Development.

Intent: The owners, a professional couple with grown children, were contemplating a remodel of another house when they came upon a near-waterfront bluff home with an unobstructed Puget Sound view. Although it was 40 years old, dark and dated, they immediately recognized its remodel potential, bought it and called in Rutledge. "The primary goal was to capture the maximum view possible from literally every room," he notes. Besides the obvious reason, a subtler one was to provide light, an antidote to the Seasonal Affective Disorder experienced by one of the owners. Thus Rutledge designed sun zones - from a glassed-in breakfast room to huge skylights near the bedroom - that provide maximum light throughout the day. Other items realized from the owners' wish list: a music area, art-display spaces, an indoor greenhouse, workshop, combination study/master suite. And, thinking toward possible future needs, the home is handicap accessible. The finished size, with four bedrooms, measures 5,600 square feet. Construction cost: $597,000.

Judges: Amazed this home was a remodel, they singled out for praise the spaces designed for art, particularly the main hallway. The home also got points for being handicap accessible. Hastings, in particular, praised the home for successfully meeting the clients' needs. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A renewed 1900s Craftsman looks west to Elliott Bay

Architect: William Charles Shugart, along with Shannon Murphy Shugart, ASID, both of Tecnikos Design Collaborative.

Builder: Chandler Construction.

Intent: To strip away parts of previous remodels and orient the home's focus away from the street and toward the sweeping view of Elliott Bay. Previously, the bay could be admired only from the laundry room. For a construction cost of $275,000 the home's size was doubled to 2,800 square feet. Added were a large living room with pillars, coffered ceiling and patterned wood floor, and a top-floor master suite with an angled "floating" wall that allows the owner to move the bed to take advantage of seasonal changes in light and view. The owner, who's lived there 26 years, says, "I didn't want a pretentious house, but I wanted lots of light" plus an exterior that "fit into the neighborhood, and I think it does."

Judges: "There's a great economy here," says Kelbaugh. "It's a radically transformed house, but they didn't spend that much." Hastings called the remodel "very nice in its context with the rest of the houses in the neighborhood." ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1997 AIA Home of the Year Judges - Dave Miller, a principal in Miller/Hull Partnership - L. Jane Hastings of The Hastings Group - Douglas Kelbaugh, a University of Washington architecture and urban design professor.