Past Forward

Alluding to history and memory, a modern home honors its place

ARCHITECTS STEPHEN Day and Nancy Josephson live with their two daughters in a house steeped in history, even though it's less than two years old. It incorporates stylistic references to Seattle's early street grid, Italian hill towns and a 1909 Manhattan apartment building the couple once lived in, yet its straightforward functionality accommodates the needs of a modern family.

Josephson and Day met in Rome as students in the University of Washington architecture program and became teaching assistants to a professor who amplified their appreciation of historic linkages.

"Here, there is a kind of layering of history," Day says of their house in Seattle's Madrona district. "The house is set on this particular lot that was platted out shortly after the first plat in downtown Seattle. Early platting basically came straight across to the lake and was set by the old military standard — cardinal points, north, south, east and west." They oriented their house to the grid and can trace the sun's path through it as the seasons turn.

Their site was like many bare in-city lots available today, nearly vertical. The three-bedroom, 2 ½-bath house is about 4,000 square feet but appears smaller because it follows the slope down on four levels.

In this, the first house they have built for themselves, they wanted to incorporate some of the construction elements commonly seen in the area (stucco, stone and so forth) but with a modern palette. "We rediscovered why some of the vernacular existed — because the forms work," Day says. "Our design is more traditional than we might have thought it would be."

They drew a number of plans, Josephson says. "The tendency was to put everything you've wanted to do into one design." A strict budget encouraged simplification.

The loft-like main floor at street level is simplicity itself. A ceiling beam subtly divides the living room, dining area and kitchen, all of which is open so the family can be together. Practical stone-tile flooring also helps define the kitchen; other floors are poplar. In emulation of their vintage New York apartment, the kitchen has no upper cabinets, a no-nonsense freestanding baker's table and a commercial sink. A partition disguises a combination pantry and office, where their daughters, who are 9 and 16, can work on school projects.

The living room has a fireplace and a deck with an unobstructed view of Lake Washington. "The house itself becomes an observation device, depending on which way you are looking," Day says. A number of 1920s-era photos of Madrona residences, displayed near windows, "are almost windows themselves. Several of these houses are still here and are visible, or would be, if not obscured by trees."

Upstairs, a large studio space under exposed beams is fit for projects of all kinds. Light and air circulation are enhanced here and on the other floors by glass-paned doors that open on balconets — railings that give the effect of a balcony.

"A door is less expensive than a window, and they hang fast," Day says. When a balconet door is open, the hall floor seems to continue and creates the sense of extending space, similar to the effect of an infinity-edge pool.

Three bedrooms are on the floor below the main living areas. Each faces east for view, privacy and morning light, and has a terrace, which is covered in concrete pavers that sit on little pedestals; a membrane below sheds water. The slope moves rainwater back to the house and into a stainless metal gutter. The master bedroom includes a small, off-the-shelf fireplace and a bathing area with soaking tub open to the room and lake view.

The bottom floor is essentially a large party room for the girls, and could serve as a mother-in-law apartment.

The couple chose not to use expensive molding in the house. Instead, metal sheathing separates wood door frames from the drywall for a clean look. "It was a learning curve for the drywall guys and finish workers," Day says, but they ended up liking the idea.

The family moved in to the new house in February 2004 and completed the last phase (the basement) this past March.

From foundation to finish, the project took about nine months and cost a bit over their budget, which was $100 a square foot — a markedly low figure for a high-quality custom house in this region. The couple accomplished this by buying locally fabricated products — including windows, doors and metalwork — and by seeking out people in the building trades who could honor deadlines and innovate, when necessary.

Perhaps more importantly, they acted as their own contractors and did some of the time-eating work themselves, including scrubbing foundation concrete with wire brushes to get an exposed-aggregate look.

"We also spent an awful lot of time talking to people and looking for materials," Josephson says, tasks they're both familiar with.

After earning their Master of Architecture degrees at Columbia University in 1987, the couple lived in Manhattan for years before returning to Seattle.

Josephson is the coordinator of planning and design for the Northshore School District. Day is both architect and lawyer, a partner in Real Property Law Group, his niche being the development of historic properties. Most recently, he and other investors bought the landmark Arctic Building from the city of Seattle, and he's design coordinator for its restoration.

Reflecting on the history behind their own house, Josephson says, "Being in a compressed space that goes up is like being in a hill town, in a way — you really do feel that. It makes a nice perch. I often think of it as the best campground in heaven."

Dean Stahl is a Seattle freelance writer. Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.