Originally published Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 12:00 AM
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Fall Home Design 2008
How a 1920s cottage cast a spell and found salvation
by Lawrence Kreisman photographed by Benjamin Benschneider STORYBOOK HOUSES — quaint, medieval-like English cottages with stucco walls...
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Previous owners opened up the main entrance hall by breaking through the ceiling to the roof line. Arched multi-paned French doors lead into the living room. Furnishings here and throughout the house are a mix of antique, vintage and modern.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The street appeal of this 1922 English cottage is all about the bent-shingle roof that wraps around the eaves and embraces the dormers and stucco facade with its leaded-glass windows.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The couple's greyhound, Morgan, lounges in front of the living-room windows. The pair of large display letters are from Europe.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The living room and an adjacent sunroom take up one side of the house. Bands of leaded-glass windows flood the room with light.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The inviting garden patio replaces a small above-ground children's pool and a hot tub fallen into disrepair. The fountain was made by Nick Agoff using a salvaged ceramic form.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The master bedroom was small, with low, sloped ceilings and a little triangular window facing west. The ceiling was raised, and the space has been expanded with access to a small deck. The French doors take their cues from the arched originals on the main floor. The iron railing was designed by Jean-François Godbout.
The roof was a tall order
Restoring the storybook home's distinctive roof was quite a task for Quality Plus Roofing. An artisan-roofer and a crew of three worked a compressed 40-hour week in 3 ½ days for 14 weeks from June into October with occasional help from others who brought materials, hauled the debris and cleaned up.
Using grade A cedar from Canada, the crew built scaffolding around the house and brought in huge buckets and propane tanks to boil water for steaming the shingles. They assembled a press for bending the shingles, cut the edges in distinctive curves, pre-drilled holes for nails and assembled each piece to fit.
Storybook houses — quaint, medieval-like English cottages with stucco walls, pseudo-thatched roofs and rolled eaves — were popularized in the 1920s by silent-film stage sets. They were also the choice of designers looking for building ideas grounded in centuries-old tradition for new streetcar neighborhoods trying to keep up with rapid population growth.
While a number of designers in Vancouver, B.C., and in Portland showed a particular interest in this type of house, Seattle has very few. One of the best local examples, designed by Gardner Gwinn in 1922 for Howell and Pearl Tatum, is in the Mount Baker neighborhood, and it has recently been renovated by a couple who fell under the spell of its innate charms.
Nick Agoff and Jean-François Godbout purchased the property early in 2005, attracted to it largely by the bent-shingle roof forms. Despite its visual interest, the last round of cedar-shingle work had not held up well. But the couple found no one in the Seattle area who would take on the project. Agoff ended up calling Historic Seattle, which pointed him to the Architectural Heritage Center in Portland.
Their luck turned when they spoke with Portlander Charlie Remington, general manager for Quality Plus Roofing. The company took on this ultimate custom job, and the finished product is a work of art.
While the roof presented a major challenge, the altered interiors also needed attention. Built in 1922, the home had changed hands twice before, once in 1926 and then in 1968. The previous owner opened up the entrance-hall ceiling to the roof. She eventually turned the main and basement floors into a Montessori school. Godbout recalls, "When we bought the house, there were three kitchens, one on the main floor and two in the basement. There were eight toilets and 11 sinks." The main floor also had four classrooms (now the entrance hall, dining room, media room and living room) and an office (now sunroom).
Agoff and Godbout applied a light touch to original materials, such as the leaded-glass windows, doors, wood and tile, while doing a lot of selective removal and updating the interior spaces. Most notably, the toilets and kitchens installed for the school were removed and the stairs to the upper floor moved from the southwest corner of the home to the front entry.
They also removed closets and doors to create a more generous main-floor bathroom and a wet bar adjoining the living room. In his forays to salvage houses, Godbout bought paneling from Earthwise that came from a demolished Seattle church. It lines the back hall, TV room (formerly a bedroom) and the upstairs hall. Faced with a shortage for the second-floor project, Godbout made panels himself to match.
The Kirkland firm of Gelotte-Hommas was hired for two major upgrades: a courtyard and an expansion of the master bedroom. Over the years, an above-ground pool and spa had been installed in the side courtyard with access from the living room through a new doorway. They removed the pool and spa and added a driveway, making the door a back entry. However, the new entrance lacked interest and shelter from the elements because it had not been part of the original house. The architect designed a new entry using the vocabulary of the shingled eaves of the home.
The master bedroom, tucked into the attic, had very few useful areas with its low ceiling. The new design expanded the room and elevated the ceiling to bring in both light and a view of Lake Washington. The addition allowed for French doors and a patio. As Godbout so aptly put it when the work was finished, "The home is finally happy again."
Lawrence Kreisman is program director of Historic Seattle and author of "The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest." Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
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