Standing Tall
Top to bottom, a high standard of style and sustainability is met
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 BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES "This is where we swing over to David and his desire for casual comfort," interior designer Teresa Slye says of the living room, right. "How do we work in the TV but not lose the formality of that room? The fireplace was the ideal place to put it. The sofa has that curve that is comfortable, but it doesn't have loose pillows that would give it a rumpled family-room look. The neutral palette allows the fireplace to be the showcase, along with, of course, the view."
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES "The theme of the house was a place to come and relax from the stresses of the day. Comfort was really the key," Slye says. So this small room on the second floor became a place to sit and read and decompress. The shoji screen used to be in the master suite. The butterscotch leather chairs came with the couple.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES "This second-floor family room is a more-private space. The chartreuse chairs came with the couple. They were recovered in a panne velvet that brings the pop to the room," Slye says. She calls them "the mermaid chairs" because they are so glimmery and luxe. The throw pillows, done in Osborne & Little fabrics, are traditional brocades using contemporary colors.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES This reading area sits just inside the front door. The daybed is by Kravet, the Le Corbusier chairs came with the couple, the mirrored tables are from Beacon Hill and the Coco chandelier is by Stonegate. The two retro-styled chairs in the living-room area beyond unite the areas with a touch of formality, playing off the comfortable couch.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES "There was a Plexiglas enclosure over the cable railings, which we took off to open it up. And it really did. It's floating versus being an enclosed hallway," Slye says. Architect Jim Burton created the center stairwell as kind of a solar chimney.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES "The previous owners were looking for two things in the remodel: The house was kind of a modern box, but gray and drabby; they wanted to keep it modern but make it beautiful. And they wanted to make the house a showcase for sustainability. That's why the solar panels are so visible from the outside," says architect Jim Burton. The exterior is HardiePanel and cedar. The door is stainless steel.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Red in the dining room adds an air of formality, Slye says. "That whole space is so open that the wall color defines that whole room." The couple already had the antique chairs and the Keith Fritz table. |
David Dunkin and Leigh Anne Winters went all out for their Harry Wardman row house in Washington, D.C., because this was it. This was the house; they had finally found it. Did it up right. Spared no expense. They were not moving again. Ever.
Two years later, here they are — in Washington, no D.C.
"We bought a lot of our stuff in D.C. thinking we weren't going to move," says Dunkin, a 41-year-old "recovering entrepreneur" who had sold his software company. "And we had a D.C. designer with champagne tastes. Take the dining-room table, it's a Keith Fritz."
The couple, originally from Oklahoma, first settled into a Bellevue apartment when Winters, 31, went to work as a computer forensics engineer at Microsoft. This allowed them to check out the neighborhoods.
He loves contemporary and high-tech. She wanted a big yard and a minimal commute. Three months later they were somewhat surprised to have purchased a tall, contemporary, sustainable house on the north end of Capitol Hill.
From D.C. chic to Northwest eco in record time.
"I think our realtor put it on the list as a lark. But I was caught by the vertical design. And the roof terrace; it's cool. I knew this was it within 24 hours, and I was shocked that I liked it so much."
The 1910 house received a remodel in the 1980s and then again a few years ago by Jim Burton of blip design. But the original owners lived in it somewhat unfinished. That job was left to Dunkin and Winters.
Burton had opened up the stairs and moved them to the center of the house, allowing natural ventilation throughout. Framework atop the penthouse holds photo-voltaic panels and solar hot-water collectors. The home also has wastewater heat-recovery, rainwater harvesting to flush toilets and for irrigation, hydronic radiant floor heat, a super-insulated envelope and rain-screen siding. In 2005 it received a Built Green Award in the remodel category from the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. The lower floor in the 3,500-square-foot home will become Dunkin's media room. The main floor holds the kitchen, living and dining rooms. Upstairs is the family room, master suite, guest room and what they call the "Zen room," a quiet, darkened place with two soft chairs. Above that, the views-forever rooftop deck, where the couple will host can't-help-but-be-awed family and friends at their wedding-rehearsal dinner in August.
The perfect blend
Bringing the Dunkin-Winters home into full blossom required blending East and West Coast — Northwest light and sustainable features with the couple's D.C. furniture, both traditional and antique.
They went with a more neutral palette, a little more classic but contemporary, says Teresa Slye of Cushing Terrell Architecture & Interiors.
She pulled the red from tiny dots in the otherwise creamy-white fabric of the dining-room chairs for the wall color there. Slye used off-white, red and black with a hint of gray-green on the main floor. Only the Kravet daybed speaks loudly (but cheerfully) in grass green accented with a hot-pink pillow.
For the more-private upstairs it's a richer, relaxing mocha purple on the family-room wall with plush velvets in chartreuse, turquoise and sandy browns.
And the green elements? A bonus.
"The sustainable elements are one of the great things about this house. We're not the kind of people who would want that, but it is done so well there is absolutely no sacrifice — and we get the benefits. I can tell you that I see the electric meter running backwards on a sunny day. And I lovvve the radiant floor heat."
And what did Winters get? Besides a bird's-eye view of Lake Washington, the roof terrace offers full use of all the outdoor space the lot has to offer. She also got a remodel that truly makes the home their own.
The couple called in Teresa Slye of Cushing Terrell Architecture & Interiors, who, in consultation with the architect, finished out the house the way Burton's plans intended. For instance, three years after his remodel, the home still had the job-site plywood front door used during construction. Now it's stainless clad. Slye also oversaw a new kitchen (reconfiguring it into a usable U) and reworked the master bathroom, turning separate spaces into a true suite.
"It's always nice to dress it, but I really like the construction — to get the bones right," Slye says. "This is the kind of a house where everything isn't apparent at once. It's like a flower how it opens up. I've enjoyed that.
"As the finishes came in, we had conversations about should we keep them at a very earthwise level? But it's been easy to work them in."
Rebecca Teagarden is assistant editor of Pacific Northwest magazine. Benjamin Benschneider is a magazine staff photographer.
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