Capitol Hill condo turned into shrine to Modern design

Corey Gutch has a thing for midcentury Modern design. If he finds something affordable from a designer he loves, whether it's furniture or a collectible, he snaps it up for his Capitol Hill condo.

Take, for example, the doorstop by Australian designer Marc Newson.

"I needed a doorstop," Gutch said. "Did I need a Marc Newson doorstop? No."

But Gutch can't help himself. That's what happens when you're gripped by a devotion to design.

Over the past 10 years, Gutch, 31, has collected chairs by American designers Charles and Ray Eames, lamps by artist and sculptor Isamu Noguchi and artist and architect Paul Mayen, and a coffee table by American designer Florence Knoll.

"Instead of spending money on something you dislike and replace, just save up and get the one you want," he said.

The shelves in his living room enshrine his passion, with books on Newson, photographer Juergen Teller and furniture manufacturer Herman Miller. A massive print of a painting by British artist Damien Hirst leans against the living-room wall. And a more delicate chair by French designer Pierre Guariche sits in an inconvenient corner to discourage guests from sitting on it. (Gutch has four broken Eames chairs in storage.)

But Gutch, who lives alone, tries not to be paranoid about a collection he has spent thousands on. He picked sturdier pieces for the main seating, such as two reissued chairs by Danish designer Jens Risom.

"I don't want people to feel uncomfortable, like they can't touch it or sit on it," Gutch said.

He rarely buys knockoffs, instead trolling the Internet for original and reissued finds.

But not everything in his home was designed by a name. Gutch's sofa is bookended by a red lamp with a cantilevered base and a second no-name gray mesh lamp. He bought his dark-green sofa at a yard sale for $50. His bed frame is from Ikea. But all are pieces that appeal to his design side.

He credits his grandfather's influence for his design sensibility.

His grandfather lived in a subdivision in California developed by Modernist homebuilder Joseph Eichler. While growing up, Gutch loved the open-beam ceilings, the kidney-shaped pool and the walls of glass in his grandfather's home.

"I just remember it being really interesting, and I've always had an affinity for designed objects," he said.

Gutch's 720-square-foot condo has similar clean elements, with a wall of glass that opens up onto a spacious balcony with a view of the Space Needle, Lake Union and downtown Seattle.

Gutch, who provides software support for Adobe Systems and plays guitar in the local indie pop band The Turn-ons, said some may think his look is too stark.

"Everyone has their own aesthetic," he said.

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com