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AIA
Open House
Converting
a 'big shoebox' into a 'pavilion in the woods'
By Elizabeth
Rhodes
Seattle
Times staff reporter
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| Northwest and
Japanese influences are combined to create harmony in this remodel of a
Bellevue, '60s-style rambler. |
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The house: As originally built, this house can be seen all over
Seattle's suburbs: a spacious split-level rambler that looked wonderfully
modern 40 years ago, but now is both sadly dated and energy inefficient.
This particular home, in Bellevue's Bridle Trails neighborhood, sits on
a good-news/bad-news lot. More than an acre of secluded old-growth woods
plus ponds persuaded the owners to stay and remodel. But building regulations
resulting from the fairly large wetlands mandated that the home's footprint
could not be enlarged. Thus the challenge was to manipulate what was, in
the architects' words, "basically a big shoebox" into an exciting "Northwest
contemporary lodgehouse" without making major changes or additions.
The architects: Julia Campbell and Buzz Tenenbom of CTA Design
Builders. In an effort to, as Campbell explains, "open up the house and
have it read more like a pavilion in the woods," they reconfigured the
living, dining and kitchen areas, taking out a fireplace wall so the space
would flow better. They also made the dining area smaller by actually decreasing
the size of that corner of the house. That allowed for a small sheltered
area just outside it, creating a sense of engawa, which Campbell
said is a Japanese term for the space between the inside and outside —
in other words, a visual bridge.
The living room's massive beams were sanded and exposed, the vaulted
cedar ceiling rejuvenated. Glass window walls were added, as was a slate
fireplace and rough tree-trunk posts. The torchdown roof was replaced with
a raised metal one after several inches of insulation were added. The bedroom
wing saw the removal or reconfiguring of several walls, plus the addition
of new decks, skylights and windows in unexpected places. Future work will
remodel the spacious downstairs.
The owners: A professional couple, who've lived there several
years and appreciate contemporary Northwest architecture. "We wanted the
house to integrate very well with the environment," says he, "and we were
very keen to exploit the beams and also the views of the creek and old-growth
trees. And we wanted the house to blend inside and out so it didn't feel
jarring." Helping that along was an extensive landscape plan that removed
the lawn and took the site back to natural vegetation.
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| CTA
DESIGN BUILDERS |
| This is how the
split-level rambler looked before the remodeling project started. |
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The contractor: CTA Design Builders.
Judges' comments: "What is especially appealing about this remodel
was the transformation of a nondescript '60s-style rambler into a home
that not only was updated, but that was morphed into an artistic expression.
This expression is clearly Northwest with a Japanese sensibility. The result
is a delightful interplay of functional spaces that brings the outdoors
in and surprises with well-chosen materials and finishes."
The size: 3,211 square feet, with three bedrooms, two baths on
main floor (plus future guest suite on ground floor).
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