Seattle family preserves a home and a lifestyle

photographed by Benjamin Benschneider

LAURY BRYANT describes the life that her family leads as "bifurcated" — split into two parts. And it's all because of a house. It's likely that many people share their situation, people who love their houses wherever they may be, don't want to part with them, and make choices to accommodate that.

In 1996, Bill and Laury Bryant moved from Fremont to a Seattle landmark on Queen Anne Hill. At the same time, they started looking for schools for their four children and fell in love with the school and church community at St. Joseph's on north Capitol Hill. That was the start of the bifurcated life, Laury says. "We live here — this is our neighborhood. We love the gestalt of Queen Anne." So she does "the crosstown shuffle" along Mercer Street, some days making as many as five round trips as her children's shuttle service.

In 2005, the couple put the house on the market and started the hunt for a more convenient house on Capitol Hill. After two months of trying to ready the house off-and-on for showings with four children and their myriad levels of neatness, Bill and Laury decided they were best off to accept the daily travel hassle. Their house was a rare Arts and Crafts gem, impossible to replace, and more than worth the inconvenience.

The home had been built for the family of lumberman John Stuart Brace (1861-1918). In 1888, J.S. became manager of the Western Mill with owner David Denny on South Lake Union. After the financial panic in 1893, he partnered with Frank Hergert and, by 1899, had purchased the mill.

Naturally, Brace's mill provided the fir to construct his 2 ½-story Mission-style home in 1904. In form, the house is what is commonly referred to as a Classic Box, with a central entrance and projecting corner window bays. It also has a central bay and a stepped gable at the roofline. The building's most outstanding exterior feature is a recessed veranda extending the full length of the south facade, enhanced by seven semi-round arched openings.

Inside, the rooms showcase the beauty and simplicity that are the hallmarks of the Arts and Crafts movement. First-growth fir was used for wainscot, pocket doors, curved seating in the hall inglenook, columns between hall and living room, built-in bookcases in living room and study, and a built-in buffet in the dining room. The living-room fireplace features tree tiles in matte glaze by the Boston firm of William Grueby, one of America's foremost art-pottery companies.

The house has had some change over time with a series of owners. On the second floor, for example, the Bryants added a master bathroom that replaces a bedroom adjoining a new master bedroom. Jennifer Moriarty, daughter-in-law of former homeowners, designed these spaces.

Apart from a recent kitchen upgrade, the main floor is largely intact and a fitting reminder of the generous, unpretentious spaces in which people lived and entertained in the first decades of the century. Laury reflects, "You don't have to do a lot to this house. It exists on its own with all its architectural beauty."

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 staff photographer.