A concrete bulkhead has stabilized the steep hillside below the house. The new cabana borrows elements from the house, including the curving walls and classical columns.

At least one couple has had the good luck to find middle ground with a historic home in Laurelhurst. Because it had been updated, they could both find something to like.

The house that won this couple over was built in 1909 and is one of the early homes on Webster Point. Columns with carved capitals are one of several classical features that distinguish the outside. Other distinguishing features are its curving bay and covered veranda, which are pictured in a small book prepared by Christine Barrett for the Laurelhurst Community Club, "A History of Laurelhurst." A later photograph shows the impact that construction of the Ship Canal had on the shoreline, lowering the level of the lake significantly. Now it takes 66 steps to get to and from the dock below.

Jack Moore of North Carolina had the house built for himself and his wife, Alma. Neighbors familiar with the house think the verandas and classical columns might have been his way of recalling his Southern upbringing. Moore may have come to the Pacific Northwest to work as a mining engineer, but by the 1920s he had risen to president of Watson Moore Co., brokers in stocks and bonds. The family kept the house for nearly 40 years.

Another family lived in the house for more than 30 years before selling to Colin and Martha Moseley. During their five years there, the couple did an impressive amount of work to upgrade the aging structure with new wiring and plumbing. With architect Rex Hohlbein, they were responsible for tasteful period-appropriate improvements to the kitchen and bathrooms, using a simple vocabulary of paneled painted cabinetry and white tile that convinced the latest owners they wouldn't have to devote their time to these basics.
 

COURTESY OF A. QUIGLEY
A circa-1915 photograph of the house from the lake in "A History of Laurelhurst" shows its distinctive curved bay and covered veranda.

That said, they managed to find a number of things that needed attention once they bought the house in 1998. They were hoping it would take a couple of months to complete the work so they could move in during the summer to enjoy the lake, but they barely made it before school opened in September.

The oak flooring on the main floor needed refinishing, but they couldn't re-sand anymore, so they replaced it. They added a structural beam under the living-room fireplace because the floors were sagging. They pulled the much-painted radiators, and sandblasted and powder-coated them so they look practically like pieces of art themselves, and they even found additional radiators at salvage shops in town. In the kitchen, they replaced hardwood with tile and added radiant heat because there was no insulation under the eating area. There was a nanny's quarters downstairs, but the rest of the basement was unfinished when they moved in. Two tree stumps imbedded in the ground were removed and the foundation shored up on that side of the house. The work freed up space for a media room.

Considering the age of the building and the remodels, the layout of the rooms is, for the most part, original. The classical columns outside are echoed inside by simpler Tuscan columns that act as dividers between the entrance hall and living room.

There have been some changes. The front entrance, which originally was a porte-cochere with a semicircular driveway, was modified to make way for a carport (now a garage). The bedroom centered above the entrance originally had diamond-paned French doors, but windows replaced these. The doors live in the garage, awaiting installation somewhere else. Reproduction Classical- and Arts & Crafts-period mantels and surrounds are hard to distinguish from authentic ones.
 

	A breakfast nook fills space originally occupied by an open covered porch.

The original open wrap-around porch has lost some of its length to a breakfast nook and a sunroom on either side of the house. And an attic office was built above the crown of the rounded bay, giving the rear a pronounced wedding-cake form.

Considering the drafts created by harsh winter weather on the lake, it was just good fortune that the house had not lost most of its original windows. Storm windows with pull-down screens were installed and dampers inserted in fireplaces to cut off breezes that blew through the house and up the flues.

A stairwell off the porch is getting a makeover to create a safer, more elegant way down to the dock, and a new cabana picks up on the curve of the home's lakeside faÁade. It even incorporates new columns with replica capitals.

Through it all, the home's history has been honored, and a couple has found contentment.

Tuscan columns divide the entrance hall from the living room. A curve of windows opens this room to panoramic lake views.

The modesty of this home's street facade belies its expansive lakeside bays and verandas.

The remodeled kitchen uses paneled, painted cabinetry, nickel-plated hinges and pulls, and black soapstone counters — a vocabulary that fits well into the 1909 house.

Former owners redid the library with paneled fir cabinetry and bookcases, which have been painted in the latest remodel.