The 2022 Seattle Modern Home Tour

October 8th, 2022

Contractor/Builder: DLH Inc 
Interior Design: Holly McKinley 
Landscape Architect/Design: Pacific Landscape 
Photography: Will Austin / Drone shots by LWA 

On the south slope of Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill, this home captures the city skyline and lights from every room, on three levels. Primary living spaces occupy the top level, with an extensive outdoor deck area. The middle floor has the garage, entry, laundry and primary bedroom suite, with the lower floor comprised of guest room, office, and accessory dwelling unit. A glass elevator connects all levels.  

• The pneumatic elevator is a unique feature we haven’t seen in many other projects.  
• The project is situated where it is and quite vertical in order to keep an existing dogwood tree near the driveway while also respecting the challenging site conditions.  
• A power pole blocked the driveway for much of construction but was eventually removed, and the wood from the pole was milled and used for a coat rack in the mudroom. The hooks on the coat rack are the old steel rungs from the power pole.  
• The screen on the outdoor deck provides privacy while also allowing for cross ventilation. 

Photography: James Leasure / MA+DS

Description Coming Soon!

This project will showcase the main living floor and it’s beautiful indoor/outdoor space connection.

The house, located on a hill, had a full sun backyard with a narrow, flat area next to the house and terraced retaining walls beyond.  

The scope of this project included a patio with fire pit, a low-maintenance water feature with Mexican pebble, shallow polished-basalt pool and a lawn area with steppingstone path, concrete retaining walls and terraced planting beds. 

The design challenge was to create a place for their young children to play, while creating a garden that complimented the sophisticated clean-lined architecture: 

• The backyard reflection pond is truly the showboat of this garden. Water shimmers over a 5′ tall jade colored stone vessel which seems to float in the shallow, rectangular, black-bottom pond. The entire space has a meditative, yet playful, vibe. The stone edge of the reflection pond, although not intended as such, has become a balance beam that tests the skills of the children as they tip toe and teeter around the pond. 
• The family relocated from their prior Bellevue residence, which also had a dynamic modern garden designed by KRLA. 
• The house is quite tall with peak a boo views of Lake Washington. All of the trees and boulders were hand-picked and strategically located by the landscape architect and client. 
• Native materials were required on the front hillside in order to meet City of Bellevue code requirements. The vegetation on the property transitions from mountain hemlocks, native currents and granite boulders to pastoral carpet roses, flowering perennials, Japanese maples and ornamental grasses, Asian jasmine, and evergreen magnolias. Songbirds flit among the leaves of the Serviceberry and Dogwood trees in the backyard.  
• A curved lawn space at the top of the driveway has been engineered to function as parking.  
• Blueberries are speckled into the landscape for the kids to nibble on. Rocks were placed just the right distance for little legs to hop from one boulder to the next. And the curb of the reflection pond, although not intended as such, has become a balance beam. 
• The backyard has a unique custom horizontal board cedar fence and a fire pit. 
• Sliding nano doors graciously open the home to meet the back garden and patio  
• The front patio is a large, covered space complete with a gas fireplace. This is a property in which the indoor spaces flow seamlessly to the outside. 
• This project has been written up on Houzz for the strong inside out connections from the patio areas to the kitchen and family room and its unique fence. 

Photography: Rafael Soldi

The Oak and Alder are two townhomes comprised of rusted Corten exterior steel, grand windows, and a dynamic pitched roofline. The project drew inspiration from a nearby red brick high school and neighboring craftsman homes. Oak & Alder provides an intriguing solution to urban infill by allowing existing owners to contribute to the development process. In splitting a large single-family lot Hybrid created two townhomes with three parking spots to support each homeowner. The first unit is a three-bed / two-bath while the corner unit is a two-bed / two-bath. The project creates community-focused development increasing density in the city without sacrificing quality.

Landscape Architect/Design: Cramer Design
Photography: HD Estates

A fresh and inspiring modern farmhouse crafted for contemporary living. The goal was to create a retreat for a family to relax, indulge, be productive and entertain in, and this home has spaces to accomplish all of it.

In the foyer, you are welcomed by a grand, nearly 30’ hallway and ceilings adorned with stained wood beams, such a beautiful touch, and a breathtaking entrance to dazzle your guests. Just off the foyer, there is a private study with glass-inset French doors and a dining room featuring beautiful millwork accents that connects to the kitchen via the convenient service area.  

The foyer leads straight to an open, airy great room with many windows to flood the space with natural light and a beautifully tiled fireplace tower with built-ins flanking each side. The impressive kitchen has everything you need to showcase your culinary talents with professional-grade appliances and a large center island for entertaining and gathering with friends and family.  

Upstairs, you will find a sumptuous primary suite perfect for escaping the pressures of the day. The lavishly tiled ensuite spa bath features a deep, freestanding soaking tub and oversized shower with a custom bench.  

On the nights you want to cozy up for a movie, the large bonus room is a great space to wind down with the whole family to enjoy your favorite flick, complete with snacks and drinks from the built-in bar area.  

Throughout the home, you’ll find luxurious finishes, excellent craftsmanship, and a beautifully layered color palette, with wood and millwork accents that make the home feel warm and inviting.

Contractor/Builder: Dan Wozniak DKWozniak Design | Build LLC
Interior Design: Terra Misner Artist Touch Painting
Landscape Architect/Design: Crane Stavig Greencliff Landscape Co.
Images: TJ Simon/Creative Collective

Located on a hidden waterfront site in the West of Market neighborhood of Kirkland, WA, the Kipp House presents a low-profile façade upon first approach, only to quickly expand upon entry into a 25′ tall living space with a west facing wall of glass designed to frame the dynamic beauty of the lake and landscape beyond.

The subject site is a narrow interior lot at the end of a private access road, with topography that steps down quickly to the Lake Washington Shoreline. The front façade is a single-level composed of a four-car garage and promenade to the massive wood, iron, and glass entry door. Upon entry, a grand custom staircase with organic-form railing leads you down to the living room and spectacular views. Those views through a glass wall are structurally possible thanks to a complicated steel moment frame craned onto site in multiple pieces and protected from excessive heat gain by automatic shades pocketed into the exterior façade.

Continue on this 2nd level to the gourmet kitchen and dining room of custom cabinetry and woodwork; walk past the pizza oven into a secret “renaissance room” lounge, bar, and theatre; or pass through the 10′ tall-lift slide doors onto a sprawling 2nd level deck, and down the custom steel spiral staircase to the yard and dock below. The primary and secondary bedroom suites are located on the 3rd floor via cat-walk that looks down into the living room, and up to the truly “barrel”-vaulted ceiling with expressed steel structure ribbing. At the ground/1st level, 2 bedrooms, a hidden office, a lake-life-oriented bath with changing rooms, lockers, and sauna; a sunken workout/golf space, and an all-season bar with hydraulic indoor-outdoor countertop door

While the total square footage makes for a large home, the collection of public and private spaces foster intimate family moments just as well as large social gatherings. Natural light is abundant from all directions, while window placement strategically frame views and provide filtered privacy from neighbors. An energy efficient envelope of outboard insulation, thermal window bucks, thermal isolation clips, and solar panel roof design was inherent in the design. Exterior Cladding includes Swisspearl, Neolith, Stonewood, Dizal, and natural Stone Veneer.