A home grows to make room for fun and Forest

Jane and Sonny Woodward are in and out of houses all day long. They've seen them all: starter homes, vacation homes, forest views and waterfront. Contemporary and cottage. Shacks and mansions. The life of real-estate agents.

So when they go home after selling homes, to their little corner of Indianola, it had better be special.

It is.

"It's like the way it was before, only way different," Jane Woodward says laughing as she describes the vast remodel. Jane laughs a lot. She's all for fun and entertaining, and their home reflects that, right down to the zebra-print rug in the living room. "It's the same house except for the roof, the heat pump and Forest."

Ahh, Forest. Things are no longer the same at all. Little Forest, age 2, is Jane and Sonny's first grandson. Therefore, he is the most special child in their universe — deserving of his own suite of rooms.

"I had to have a space for him," Jane says with a grandma's-gotta-do-what-a-grandma's-gotta-do shrug.

And this explains how a 2,400-square-foot home the couple built in 1987 became 3,000 square feet of updated contemporary in 2006. How a $200,000 remodel blossomed into a $500,000 transformation. And why there are three Mercedes parked in the driveway: one for Jane, one for Sonny and, of course, one small, plastic model just right for Forest.

"This is what it's all about," she says, by way of introduction to the upstairs suite. There before her is a living room, bedroom, kitchenette and bath. Forest has it good. His bathroom has a green granite countertop, called (of course) Forest. The rooms are decorated in rich browns, from dark to creams, Asian touches under a contemporary umbrella.

"My children are pretty amazing," she says of her son and her daughter, mother of the heralded grandbaby. "When they come here it's so nice for them to have their own space. And if something happened to us, we could move in here."

The entire house benefited from the birth. Interior designer Kristen Morley of Kristen Morley Interiors in Poulsbo guided the Woodwards with difficult decisions, crafting interiors in contemporary Northwest neutrals. Contractor Jeff Brewbaker and D-J Construction in Poulsbo did the heavy lifting.

Half-wall stair railings were removed for blackened-steel cable, which brings both the waterfront view and light upstairs. New windows are strategically placed throughout to give every room a view of Miller Bay just outside.

In the master, the water view wraps around the bedroom. Multiple stacked windows offer multiple views. Others frame Mount Rainier like it was painted on the glass.

A Steven Hensel-designed table was added in an upstairs sitting area. The white oak flooring in the living room carries through in the adjacent dining room. Surfaces were updated, spaces refigured.

Outside? It's like being on vacation. There's a little beach and docks and all kinds of cheerful boats tied up down the way.

The Woodwards grew up in Kingston; been here their whole lives. And this little spot, down the road a piece from the Indianola Country Store, is special.

"It's such a fabulous spot, and we get all the sun," she says. "Believe it or not, we never shut a curtain. Ever. It's a phenomenal place to live. Phenomenal."

The Woodwards live in the one house they know they will never sell.

Rebecca Teagarden is assistant editor of Pacific Northwest magazine. Mike Siegel is a Seattle Times staff photographer.