Bookcases in the new library are white oak. The woodwork on window and door frames is clear fir stained to match the oak. Honeysuckle, a wallpaper pattern reproduced from a late-19th-century design by William Morris & Co., is used in the entrance and stair halls. Upholstered chairs and ottomans are from Ethan Allen.

They knew that way back in its history, the house had character. "Neighbors told us that the owners chopped off all the overhangs and eaves — they just sawed them off," Kathryn recalls. "True, they were probably rotten. But they removed its exterior charm and modernized it into a box."

The couple talked for years about how to make it nicer on the outside. Beginning in 1999, they discussed ideas with remodeling experts Jeff and Teresa Santerre of Prestige Custom Builders and architect Jim Merrill of Merrill Design in Issaquah.

The couple wanted to rebuild as many of the Craftsman details as practical. Ultimately, that meant removing a number of poorly designed additions; building porches with tapered columns and brick foundations; adding fascia, soffits and wooden brackets where they had been removed; replacing some windows and installing new ones, as well as French doors; and resheathing the siding in stain-dipped, 10-inch cedar shingles. In places they could not alter, such as the boxy upstairs dormer, they at least were able to counter its scale by extending overhangs and replacing windows. The work began in June 2000 and took about seven months to complete.

At the Crandell/Yager house, the library functions as a home office, media room and comfortable reading area with lots of light. It has deep raspberry walls and a caramel-colored ceiling.

At the same time, the couple had the architect help them create a warm and inviting family library out of a front room that had lost any distinction it might have had originally. The den sat off the entrance hall. By the time they moved in, it had kitchen cabinet shelves with wood-grained Formica counters. There were no windows on the west wall. One large window with aluminum mullions filled the south wall and looked out on an unappealing view. "This room was depressing. We didn't use it," says Kathryn.

Merrill reviewed the family's wish list. "We wanted to have space for a computer and printer and a television," Kathryn remembers. "We wanted room for lots of books. It needed to be a nice big space to work, and also a space to relax."

For his design of oak bookcases, desk and workstation, Merrill took his cues from the white oak of the existing woodwork in the stair hall and an original pocket door separating this room and the living room. Window and doorframes are clear fir stained to match the oak. Darrell Westlake was production manager and Gary Tuthill was lead carpenter on the project.

Whose library is it? "We all use it," says Kathryn. "My daughter, who is 13, has her school books on shelves, and she does her homework in here. Jack works in here. We all work in here. When I first saw the desk, I thought it was way too big and we would never fill it. But it's great. It's a family work area."

Lawrence Kreisman is program director for Historic Seattle. He serves on the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board and is author of "Made to Last: Historic Preservation in Seattle and King County." Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.