"Umbrella House" design embraces Seattle gray

When developer Will Hicks and his family moved to Seattle, they couldn't find a home with living space that promoted family interaction.

"We had two young kids then," Hicks says. "We found it very challenging to find the configuration we wanted. We looked for almost nine months and finally found one that was three bedrooms down and one up. It was a significant effort."

About the same time, architect David Neiman was beginning to remodel his home with the same desire — to create a space that enabled the family to connect. He began thinking about a house that was built uniquely for Seattle's weather and families.

Not having a dream budget forced Neiman to steer away from boutique ideas, such as fancy finishes and solar-powered electricity. Instead, he meditated on the essential elements that made a house a home. From this came the initial plans for what he would later call the Umbrella House.

"The importance of various features became apparent," Neiman says. "They all had to do with how the house was adapted to Seattle's climate. We wanted to live well in a climate that is gray, wet, and sometimes very nice. We also wanted the house to weather and age well. That's when I realized there was a coherence to what I was designing."

Once Neiman's remodel was complete, he noticed that visiting friends had a visceral reaction to it: They loved it. The concept of the Umbrella House soon developed as a way for him to explain to friends what he had done.

More features of the Umbrella House

Decking: Rot-resistant pipe was used to reduce splinters and enhance the life of the deck. The wood, which is so dense that it sinks in water, has a fire rating equal to concrete. The brand used on the home (www.ironwoods.com) was plantation-grown and FSC-certified to be sustainably harvested.

Roof overhangs: One of the more distinctive features of the home are the broad overhangs designed to extend the life of the home by pushing rainwater as far away from it as possible.

Window space: Two to three times more windows allow for light to fill the home even on gray days. The high-performance glass is double glazed and argon filled. A low-e coating on the outside retains heat and rejects ultraviolet radiation, which means the house stays warm in winter and cool in summer. Windows are operable wherever possible to allow for natural ventilation and appreciation of the beautiful days that Seattle can offer.

Resilient floors: Durable and natural, sheet linoleum is the primary flooring material. Unlike vinyl floors, linoleum's color seeps all the way through it. Add this to the fact that linoleum hardens over time and it becomes attractive to families with growing kids who like to run and play throughout the house. The organic, waterproof material is also non-allergenic.

Wood floors: Solid bamboo floors are dent-resistant and can be refinished.

Insulation: Formaldehyde-free, fiberglass insulation from JM Home Insulation (www.jmhomeinsulation .com) is nonfriable, which means it can't be crumbled, pulverized or reduced to powder by hand pressure. The result is a significant reduction in the amount of loose fiber in the final product.

Tile: Large 18-inch-by-18-inch porcelain tiles were used instead of the more typical 8-inch-square glazed ceramic tiles. Porcelain is more durable, the color is integral throughout the tile, and the larger tile size means less grout to maintain.

Motivated by his difficult housing search, Hicks decided to build homes that he and his family would like to live in. Hearing of Neiman's Umbrella House, he approached with a request.

"I wanted a configuration of three bedrooms up, an open floor plan, a finished basement that served as a large media room or a romper room for the kids to play in," Hicks says. "I also wanted something that was designed well enough to where it could actually be smaller than new homes on the market today."

Neiman was immediately intrigued.

"You have my attention," he told Hicks.

The two experimented, remodeling a house in Magnolia to test their shared ideas. Hicks wasn't entirely happy with the project, partly because his plans and the lot didn't work well together.

The two decided to try again, this time starting from scratch on a lot that Hicks chose, one that most other builders would have passed up.

Works with climate

In the late 1920s and '30s, architect Frank Lloyd Wright wanted to create a home for every single American. He believed that well-designed, tasteful dwellings produced a happier, more enlightened society. He drafted plans for what would become known as the Usonian house, which was characterized by a sense of spaciousness and unique vistas.

Like the Usonian house, which was built to work with the land, the Umbrella House is built to work with the climate.

Although the pseudo-custom Umbrella House is not as expensive as one of Wright's signature pieces, the pricetag of $1 million plus is hardly designed to suit the average Seattleite.

Natural light pours into the house on Phinney Ridge on even the grayest of days, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows. A showpiece shower in the master bath features a netted glass tile and a rain showerhead under a skylight. Pocket doors in communal areas preserve space. Built-in cherry cabinets and dresser drawers throughout the home not only look good, they save space.

"Most people want a huge bedroom with walk-in closets when they remodel," Neiman says. "Once you realize a bedroom is just a room for a bed, you can get a lot more out of the space."

The dark-green exterior won't need to be painted because the color permeates the stucco — if you scrape at it, you'll only get more dark green — and it's covered with an acrylic topcoat to suppress cracking.

The deck is made of ipê, a hard, exotic wood that resists rot and decay, so it will last for years. Breathable building paper keeps interior walls from getting water damage and bubbling.

What makes the Umbrella House different?

It's in the details, many of which are unseen. Here are a few of the home's features and the reasons the architect and developer use them instead of standard building materials or practices.

Building paper: A breathable, waterproof polypropylene fabric was used instead of asphalt-saturated felt because it allows water vapor inside the wall cavity to escape.

Exterior siding: Traditional three-coat stucco was upgraded with a commercial-grade reinforcing membrane. An acrylic-based topcoat over the stucco means the house will never need to be repainted.

Windows and exterior doors: Instead of standard vinyl or painted fiberglass windows and doors, aluminum clad wood was used for durability and to add aesthetic appeal.

Interior doors: Instead of a hollow core, solid-core fir doors were used to add durability and soundproofing.

Hicks also makes it clear that the home is designed for a dual-income family who want to spend less time on their commute and more time with their family.

"Instead of moving out of Seattle to get more space, families can now move in," he says.

The developer and the architect wanted the design to enhance the quality of time spent with the family while at home.

"I personally find it appalling that a lot of kids in this country have a television in their own room," Hicks says. "We wanted to build a home that actually brought people together. The rooms are functional and allow for privacy, but there are certain places to do certain things."

This philosophy is reminiscent of architect Sarah Susanka's, the author of "The Not So Big House." Susanka thinks that people are naturally drawn to intimate spaces. She rejects the idea of colossal spreads measuring thousands of square feet, purporting that people should "build better, not bigger."

The Umbrella House is just over 1,500 square feet. What makes it different from the typical houses in the suburbs is how the space is used.

"We wanted to create a core for the house that's about family life," Neiman says. "That meant a big main floor, open elevation, the grouping together of both interior and exterior communal elements. The deck, the fireplace, the kitchen, the homework area — all these things are linked together to create a heart in the house."

Plan to put a television on the main floor? A media cabinet and television nook designed specifically for it is built in to the open-plan room adjacent to the front entryway. It fits in as naturally as one of the built-in tables in a Frank Lloyd Wright home. There is no other logical place for it.

The centerpiece fireplace prevents the big-screen plasma fans from putting the television in the spatial heart of the home — the family room that blends into the kitchen and outdoor deck. That TV will have to go in the basement.

Cozy basement

But when you're in the basement, you'll be cozy, thanks to the 2-inch-thick formaldehyde-free foam between all concrete surfaces and the soil.

Hicks calls his company Urban Infillers because he looks for city lots that are hard to build on. He does this, in part, because he can't afford to bid on the attractive, large lots that draw larger developers into bidding wars.

The Umbrella House is high enough to allow privacy despite the open floor plan and expansive window space. That's because the lot was originally high, narrow and uneven.

Hicks brought in a high-speed conveyor stretching from front door to back and brought in fill dirt to level the extension from the deck to the back garden. When warm weather comes and the family opens up the sliding glass door, they can step off the deck into a yard that otherwise would not have been there.

The house even offers a slightly green element because of its permanence.

"We're trying to create things that are built to last and that people will value because they see the inherent goodness in them," Neiman says.