A Towering Achievement
With glass for the view and space for the family, this house rises to all occasions
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 BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES The open main floor and angled glass walls take full advantage of the spectacular city view. The tactile quality of the Pennsylvania bluestone fireplace and patterning of the Brazilian tiger wood floors soften the expanses of glass.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES The broad, low steps of the landing could have been custom designed for Sofia and Olivia Zinsmeyer's afternoon tea parties.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES The Zinsmeyer house in Magnolia, remodeled from a 1954 rambler, is the most vertical house architect Bernie Baker has designed. Its vast window wall is turned away from the street for privacy.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES The warm-toned color palette of carpet, stone and wood is continued throughout the house, including the free-standing gas fireplace wall in the master bedroom.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Sandra and baby Lucia look on while Olivia and Sofia enjoy a snack at the kitchen counter. While Dan's office boasts a bird's-eye view at the top of the house, Sandra's wedge of an office is conveniently located right off the kitchen.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Architect Bernie Baker designed the woven metal screens that let light through, add Craftsman-like detail and texture while giving safe passage for three small children.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES No hardware mars the smooth egg of a bathtub in the master suite; the little girls love how the water pours cleanly out of the ceiling to fill the tub.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Dan and daughter Lucia, the baby of the family, take time out for a little play in his tower office at the very top of the house. |
How did architect Bernie Baker and the Zinsmeyer family make a sleek, contemporary home so family friendly?
• Warm-toned woods gleam throughout, with cherry kitchen cabinets and tiger-wood floors in rich golden brown.
• Kitchen counters are golden-colored granite.
• The upstairs is carpeted in nubby camel wall-to-wall.
• Even the metal panels on the stairs are richly textural rather than shiny and stark.
• The Pennsylvania bluestone of the fireplace is laced with tones of bronze and rust.
• A fireplace in the master bedroom never hurts, either.
It was only when Dan Zinsmeyer climbed up on the roof of his house during its inspection that he realized how big his view really was. In the foreground, train tracks, rows of yellow school buses, ferries and cruise ships gliding in and out of the harbor. From the rooftop, he could see the Space Needle, the city skyline and all the way south to Mount Rainier. Eleven years, marriage and three daughters later, that wow of a wide-open Magnolia view is right outside the new kitchen's window wall.
Architect Bernie Baker designed the extensive renovation that took the 1954 house down to the studs. The new house that rose from the enlarged footprint is strikingly vertical, with expansive glass walls and a tower on top to take full advantage of the outlook.
Dan wanted a home that was modern but not cold. Sandra Zinsmeyer prefers a more traditional look, although being from California she's comfortable with high ceilings and an open floor plan. "I realized because it's a city house and because of the views it would need to be more modern," says Sandra.
"The aesthetic, what we'd both like, was a little mysterious to me," says Dan. Which freed Baker to "sit down, be creative, get the house to a point that I'm in love with it . . . I don't tinker with the design, but put all my effort into one idea and then show it to my clients."
How did architect Bernie Baker and the Zinsmeyer family make a sleek, contemporary home so family friendly?
• Warm-toned woods gleam throughout, with cherry kitchen cabinets and tiger-wood floors in rich golden brown.
• Kitchen counters are golden-colored granite.
• The upstairs is carpeted in nubby camel wall-to-wall.
• Even the metal panels on the stairs are richly textural rather than shiny and stark.
• The Pennsylvania bluestone of the fireplace is laced with tones of bronze and rust.
• A fireplace in the master bedroom never hurts, either.
"Bernie spoiled us with the first sketches," say Dan and Sandra of their 4,200 square feet of warm wood and windows. Baker didn't just design a "pop-up" like so many other remodels in the neighborhood, but rather a three-dimensional sculpture of a house that is quietly and graciously contemporary in feel. The Pennsylvania bluestone fireplace is itself a sculptural element, giving the impression that it alone supports the floor above. Hefty and asymmetrical, the fireplace defines the living-room seating area while grounding the open main floor of the home. "Our old house was so much more compartmentalized," says Sandra. "Now we can easily see and hear the kids."
Despite the aura of sleek modernity, the home is filled with Craftsman-like detailing, or as Baker puts it, "Nothing came out of the box." The house was built by Landmark Construction, which did a masterful job on such Baker-designed features as built-in bookshelves and metal panels on the staircase.
Then there's the surprise of a tightly wound spiral staircase leading to a deck and tower at the very pinnacle of the house. "I used to work in Nantucket, so I saw lots of cupolas," says Dan of the inspiration for his tower office with its 360-degree view.
Planning ahead to prevent any possibility of view obstruction, the Zinsmeyers purchased the house in front of them, which at its present height stands well below their outlook. "We're here to stay," says Dan. "My kids' kids get to decide who gets the house eventually."
Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "A Pattern Garden." Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.
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