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Sunday, May 4, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

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Northwest Living

A little space goes a long way on the water

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Quantum glass doors open the dining area to the water. "When we have those doors open the exterior also becomes part of the interior," Enrico Pozzo says. The couple's 30-foot sailboat, Bravo, nestles up to the dock.

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The cabinets, flooring and ceiling in the loft and hallway are all sustainable and durable bamboo from Bamboo Hardwoods. The table is from Urban Hardwoods. "I'm a big cook, and we wanted to be sure it was functional as well as having the look," Yumiko Fujimori says. "There was a lot of teamwork with Bamboo Hardwoods to make sure we had the right layout and details, to make the cabinets look more like a piece of furniture because the kitchen is not hidden."

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

This loft is Fujimori's place to get away by herself. "In the design we really tried to use every square inch twice," Pozzo says. The loft window that can be opened to bring in the breeze is from Velux.

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

This ladder in Pozzo's office leads to the loft. Straight ahead is the kitchen. Skylights in the loft and kitchen flood the home with light.

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

"We have an extremely stringent height restriction on our dock, 16 feet," Fujimori says. "So our houses are the smaller, more traditional houseboats. That's really why we couldn't change the perimeter of the house. We created a new shape with the skylights in the loft to maximize the natural light and ventilation and a view toward the University Bridge. It's almost like a glass box we added."

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The dock at dusk offers the classic, romantic view of life on a houseboat. The popped-out windows of Fujimori's loft glow against a navy sky.

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BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The wooden shoes were a gift from friends, in honor of The Netherlands, where Pozzo is from. Fujimori loves plants but doesn't drive, so the majority of their charming garden arrived home by bus.

A marriage made in houseboat heaven

Enrico Pozzo and Yumiko Fujimori, who both have degrees in architecture, met years ago when they worked at NBBJ. They lived together in a Queen Anne apartment, about 1,500 square feet, before moving to the houseboat. During the houseboat remodel they moved to a 485-square-foot studio to further test their skills at living small.

"I worked in London, so I had only two suitcases full of stuff," Fujimori says.

"It took 3,000 years of culture to whip me into shape," Pozzo says, "but after three months we couldn't even remember what we had given away."

What they gave up in things, they gained in friendships.

"We have an extended family here," Fujimori says. The neighbor across the dock has been known to walk in, borrow a pot and leave without so much as a word. He delights them. "My family is in Japan, and Enrico's is in The Netherlands. So this is our family.

"We got married here."

"It was a dock marriage in every sense of the word," Pozzo says. "Our minister lives here, (author) Robert Fulghum."

"My friend who lived here designed my wedding dress," Fujimori says. "We had been painting the house right up until the wedding. I had primer in my hair on my wedding day."

Enrico Pozzo and Yumiko Fujimori's home is sleek and spare. Black and white. Bare walls. Fir front door with five narrow bands for windows. Furniture from ligne roset and Urban Hardwoods. Very contemporary. Very cool.

But this is not a shiny new Belltown condo or some flat-roofed, bluff-view wonder. This is a little houseboat. One of those can't-help-but-be-adorable floating homes tethered to Seattle. The little houses that seem to bounce with joy. All dolled up in festive paints and twinkling lights — festooned with as many artsy trinkets and potted plants as their decks will hold.

This is one of those.

It's a new day in the neighborhood.

"As architects, we wanted a brand new box. But no matter what you do you block somebody's view. People get used to your roofline," Fujimori says, explaining why they held their new 807-square-foot home to a remodel. As she speaks, a seaplane touches down not 50 feet away. Their sailboat, Bravo, is lashed to the dock.

"The big question for us was how could we be contemporary and maintain the feel of the houseboat community."

They have done it by blending the contemporary with charm in the floating box they bought in 2003.

They lived there for four years before the transformation, Fujimori squinting at walls and imagining windows — big windows, more of them aimed at Lake Union and fewer pointed at the neighbor across the dock. She looked up, imagining light and space, and a private loft just for her. Bamboo floors and cabinets, both the look and the smell of the wood recalling her childhood in Japan. And a big soaking tub for the same reason. An office for her husband. A kitchen to cook every day in. A live-edge walnut table, with actual walnuts embedded into the benches. All of this they designed on a budget, finishing everything, including tax and furniture, foundation work and releveling, for $240,000. By day, Fujimori designs larger public structures for SRG Partnership. Mike Easter of Easter Construction began work in summer 2006, and the couple moved in by June 2007.

As a real-estate agent specializing in condominiums and floating homes, Pozzo knows the value of each and every square foot a home has to offer.

"There are only 482 houseboats in this city, and maybe 20 to 24 come up for sale every year," he says. "But now it's even less than that because people are holding onto them as investments. On average people hold onto these for 20 years. Houses sell on average every 10 years."

As the couple says, their contemporary home is still very much a houseboat. And as such, its wraparound deck is peppered with potted plants, more than 50. Little Japanese maples and bamboo and coleuses and dahlias and grasses and variegated ivy. Even an apple tree, bowed with fruit.

"Almost all of these plants came by backpack," Pozzo says.

"I don't drive," Fujimori adds. "Sometimes I call my husband and say, 'I have a big Japanese maple. Can you come pick us up?' "

Rebecca Teagarden is assistant editor of Pacific Northwest magazine. Benjamin Benschneider is a magazine staff photographer.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

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