With the exception of the changed second-floor porch railing, the exterior of this Leschi house looks almost identical to its street appearance in 1909.

IAN TAYLOR AND Madzy Besselaar live in a stately, four-square residence that surely outshone neighboring houses in Leschi when it was completed in 1909. Spurred on by curiosity, Taylor spent a year searching King County records to unearth its history, and found descendents of the original builders who gave him treasured photographs. One shows the homesteaders and their children early in the 20th century in front of their first house, a simple frame building that still stands to the east. Another shows off the palatial new house nearing completion, an unpaved street in the foreground. Taylor and Besselaar assume that newfound wealth — likely from the Yukon Gold Rush years — allowed them the luxury of this substantial house.

A painted buffet is in the same spot in the dining room where one would have been originally. The new owners chose not to strip painted fir woodwork and ceiling beams. They did have plate-glass windows replaced with mullioned windows (from Cherry Creek) that were more appropriate to the age and character of the house.

Born in 1860 in or near Chicago, Seward Nash and his older brother, Wilbur, answered the Yukon call in the 1890s and established the Nome Trading Co. They must have done well for themselves — well enough for Seward to purchase an entire block of already-platted property. Nash short-platted the lots as Seward W. Nash's Replat and settled into the northwest corner of the block where the view of Lake Washington, Mount Rainier and the Cascade Mountains was extraordinary — and still is. While his building lots weren't immediately snapped up for housing, his investments in this section of Leschi would certainly have benefited when a streetcar line was established from downtown along South Jackson Street to 31st Avenue South and then south to the Mount Baker neighborhood.

One of the drawbacks to the house was a lack of storage space. The Taylors solved this by adding window seats and bookcases in the entrance hall, as well as a storage cabinet adjacent to the stairs.

The house, with its subtle classical vocabulary, is the work of prolific local architect Victor Voorhees. A nearly identical home was built in the Madrona neighborhood. Early photographs reveal only a few exterior alterations since its construction, such as the solid paneled railing that once framed the second-floor porch. But the front façade's diamond-glazed windows and French doors are the originals, as are the squared columns with decorative corbels. The house had three dormers on the third floor. The couple have added a matching one on the south side. Inside, various owners painted the original fir beams and woodwork, removed original built-ins and room-dividing columns, and replaced the original fireplace. The couple has decided to live with these changes.

The kitchen and breakfast seating area reflect the work of the previous owner with architect Laurie Carron and contractor John Kranjcevich of J.T.K. Construction.

Taylor and Besselaar moved from an 850-square-foot houseboat that coincidentally had been built on "land" in Leschi in 1905. When, in 1915, the owners couldn't afford the land rights anymore, they floated it to a Portage Bay moorage. Since they upsized to the historic home two years ago, the couple, who have two children and four cats, have taken on remodeling projects that carry on the work started by the previous owner. Because architect Laurie Carron and contractor John Kranjcevich of J.T.K. Construction had done the kitchen and already had the plumbing and electrical knowledge, Taylor and Besselaar hired them back — liking what they'd done. This time, every floor received attention.

Sewer and water lines were replaced in the unfinished basement. Now, windows on outer walls let light into a nanny's room with a separate entry and a den with access to the yard.

French doors open to the original second-floor deck from the master bedroom.

In the main-floor stair hall, a closet, window seats and bookcases open up much needed storage. It matches the design of new window seats in the dining-room bay. In the stairwell itself, a framed-in ceiling was pulled out to reveal the original high one.

The couple decided to revamp one of the four bedrooms on the second floor to make a master bathroom and dressing room, and to build a deck off the south bedrooms that complements the original deck on the north and east side of the house, where views of the lake and mountains are unobstructed. The couple also preserved the diamond-paned windows and French doors on the front of the house — the only façade treated with these elaborate windows.

The hilly topography preserves unobstructed views of Lake Washington and the mountains from the decks that wrap around the second floor.

Finally, they enlarged the attic rooms to gain more headroom. New fir floors and the new south dormer make a place for Besselaar's home office and a guest room. While renovating the attic, she and Taylor unearthed a Valentine's Day card hidden away since 1911. It spoke of a "secret love" that would remain unspoken out of respect for another man's wife.

After the death of Eva, then Seward Nash, the house stood vacant for some time in the late '40s before a series of new owners moved in. Taylor and Besselaar expect to be here a long time, having bonded quickly with the neighborhood.

Taylor says, "It is a classic mixed urban community that has great views, great amenities and great location but not a feeling of stuffiness. There's a sense of community here." For Besselaar, that is particularly important. "Coming from a houseboat community, which is so tight, that's something that I didn't want to leave. I was happy to find it here more and more as we get to meeting people."

Lawrence Kreisman is program director for Historic Seattle and author of "Made to Last: Historic Preservation in Seattle and King County." Barry Wong is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.