This family home is located in the View Ridge neighborhood, on a steep, city lot overlooking Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountains. The site offers big, easterly views, but compromised day-lighting due to the close proximity of other houses and the road. The vertical drop from the road to the rear yard is over twenty four feet.

This 3000 square foot building is designed to accommodate a growing family, with ample access to outdoor living space, the street and yard. Given the view opportunities and light constraints, creating a ‘balanced’ quality of daylight in the interior spaces – without compromising privacy – was imperative. Our clients also wanted to keep an eye toward ‘aging-in-place’, by setting the lower level up to function as a future rental unit.

The building is set close to the road to mitigate the steepness of the site, and to ease access. A car-court and entry deck are located between the road and the building. One enters the house on a stage-like perch, a few feet above the main level. The street facade is decidedly understated, in part to avoid impeding the uphill neighbors views, as well as to create a counterpoint to the spatially dynamic building envelope and floor plan. A dramatic outdoor deck, partially covered by the upper level roofs, dominates the view side of the great room. West-facing clearstory windows flood the room in afternoon light. An indoor and outdoor stair descend to the lower level suite, which opens to a wide terrace and includes a family room, two bedrooms and a bath. An upper level master suite floats above the main level, framing views and offering a dramatic overlook of the lake basin.

Photography by Paul Warchol

Built by Cambridge Custom Homes

FEATURED IN:

Seattle Magazine – AIA Home of Distinction

Dwell Magazine