A Tired Beach Cottage Gets Its Wake up Call with a New Upper Level Master Suite and Decks that Play up Waterfront Views

For years, when the weekend came, George Lowes shucked off the weekday rush and slipped into the relaxed vibes of Camano Island, where they own a beach house. The island is quite in contrast to bustling Seattle where they spent the rest of the week.

The house sits smack-dab on the waters of Puget Sound’s Utsalady Bay, and at high tide, kayakers and canoeists glide by the deck. Crabbing in the bay is fantastic. In summer, a holiday parade marches by on the street in front of the house.

The home has often served as a weekend and holiday gathering spot for family members. But as the George drew closer to retirement, they began to think about living in the home full time. The dated two bedroom ranch with tiny windows, cramped rooms, and no curb or waterfront presence, needed a mastersuite and more comfortable guest space. It also simply seemed unit for its remarkable setting.

Local architect who is familiar with the issues of building on the beach. Razing the house and starting from scratch wasn’t an option. Setback restrictions have changed since the home was built, keeping new construction from being so close to the water. The new design had to maintain the home’s original footprint and 30 percent of the walls and floor structure.

George’s first assignment was to shore up the home to prevent it from sinking into the bay. George’s crew added 50 pilings and poured concrete alongside existing footings to stabilize the house from almost any condition Mother Nature could dish out.

To shield the properly from the nearly road. George’s crew enclosed the tiny lawn with 6 foot privacy walls, creating a charming front courtyard. It now provides space for grilling and entertaining, as well as casual breakfasts.

Next George began devising a plan for rearranging main level living space and raising the roof to create and upper level addition. On the main level, George moved the front door, a charge that allowed the original porch to become a recessed entry and created space for a pantry near the kitchen. One of the two original main level bedrooms was eliminated, and interior walls came down between the kitchen and living room to create a large great room. Now the kitchen centerpiece is a copper-plated vent hood with an exhaust chute that stretches up nearly 20 feet to the newly vaulted ceiling.

The upper level addition increases the home’s living space by 730 square feet. Clad in shake shingles, the addition includes a master suite, as well as a loft over the great room. Outfitted with a gas fireplace and comfortable furnishings, the loft is used as a sitting room and doubles as an extra guest room when needed. A shed dormer with clerestory windows floods the loft and the great room below with light.

The new upper level also features two decks. A small deck with a hot tub is accessible from the master bedroom and overlooks the bay. The second deck, perched above the garage, abuts the master bedroom and the loft. “The homeowner didn’t have a place to garden on their lot, so we built the upper deck to support container gardens,” George says.

Finally, a new main level angled deck follows the waterfront. Clear, tempered glass panels secured to the metal railing block breezes from the bay yet keep the views open. An outdoor fireplace with a hunky stone hearth takes the chill out of the evening air.

Growing upward rather than outward was the only option the site allowed, but the addition created a home more purposeful and more appropriate to its surroundings than the original structure. It hardly seems like a limitation.

A Family Room Addition and an Unscrambled Kitchen Layout Bring Comfort to a Cramped Floor Plan

“Greater Seattle, a tableau of green and gray, often hunkers under low, damp clouds draped gently over a lush landscape, “says a Seattle Realtor, meaning the city receives a lot of rain. But even on chilly, wet days, the do-it-all kitchen or familyroom in Christopher Seattle - area hose stays warm and inviting. A glowing fireplace anchors the seating area. Amber hue cabinetry wraps most of the space, and walls drenched in golden yellow evoke the sunny Italian countryside.

The picture wasn’t always so nice. Built in 1938, the Corr’s two story. Colonial home didn’t come with a family room, and the original kitchen felt tiny, even though it sat in a bay window. A peninsula cut the kitchen in half and channeled traffic directly at the peninsula’s edge, and the oven was stashed in the adjoining breakfast nook.

Those were big problems for a household with two active children and the Corrs wewe eager to solve them. Tapping the advice of architect friends, they devised an expansion plan. They gutted the kitchen and sacrificed the charming bay window, making way for an 18x23 foot addition that houses both a casual dining area and a family room. Columns and a pair of half walls separate the rooms. French doors off the breakfast area open to a new bluestone patio, as well as a sport court, where the family plays tennis and basketball.

Designer Kimberly planned the kitchen layout and the matching maple cabinetry that stretches through the kitchen and dining area and into the family room. At 16x12 feet, the remodeled kitchen claimed only a silver of the new construction, but a more streamlined layout makes it feel twice as large as before. “It’s not huge’” Kimberly says, “But what’s really great about this space is how much we were able to incorporate into it.”

A center island separates the kitchen into two zones, an efficient work area uninterrupted by routine traffic and a gathering spot. The work space provides cook friendly amenities, such as a double oven, a six burner cook top, and a two drawer dishwasher. The gathering space, meanwhile, features comfortable seating space and a multipurpose wet bar, which wraps a corner and bridges old and new construction. “It’s for kids and adult alike,” Kimberly says about the bar. An under counter fridge near the patio doors allows athletes to grab juice between games on the sport court. The wet bar’s sink also is handy for water.

Along one wall, built-in cabinetry stretches in a nearly continuous line from the kitchen to the end of family room. The section need to the dining area serves as a sideboard. In the family room, an armoire hides the TV. Positioning the TV perpendicular to the fireplace solved the perennial problem of battling focal points, Kimberly says. Even with the TV exposed, the fireplace remains the area’s true centerpiece, visible from the breakfast area and the kitchen.

For continuity, all of the built-ins boast the same styling and a warm, lightly distressed finish dubbed Tuscan brown. The choice is no accident.  Limestone flooring in the kitchen and breakfast area enhances the effect, but for softness in the family room, Kimberly opted for lattice weave carpet in taupe, an elegant neutral that disguises dirt.

It’s only one of many family friendly choices that turned a too tight house into a cheery place, come rain or shine.