Mercer Island, Wa Estate
Here's one of our most recent projects that was completed in 2011. This client had just finished a major remodel of their house in 2008 and were about to enjoy Christmas in their new home. At the time, Seattle was buried under several inches of snow (a rarity for us) and the entire region was paralyzed for a few days waiting for the thaw. Our client decided to take advantage of this opportunity and was in his driveway sledding when his neighbor rushed down the drive yelling that his house was on fire. Unfortunately, the house was already engulfed in flames. Equally unfortunate was that snowstorm and the delay it caused the fire department getting to the site. By the time they arrived, the house and contents were a total loss of more than $2.2 million. Our role in this reconstruction of this home was two-fold. The first year of our involvement was spent working a team of forensic contractors gutting the house, cleansing the house of all particulate matter, and helping our client negotiate his insurance settlement. Once we got over these hurdles, the design work and reconstruction started. Maintaining the exisiting shell, we reworked the interior room arrangement to create classic great room house with a contemporary twist. Both levels of the home we opened up to take advantage of the waterfront views and flood the interiors with natural light. On the lower level, rearrangment of the walls more than tripled the size of the family room while creating an additional sitting/game room. The upper level was arranged with living spaces bookended by the Master Bedroom at one end the kitchen at the other. The open Great Room and wrap around deck create a relaxed and sophisticated living and entertainment space that is accentuated by a high level of trim and tile detail on the interior and by custom metal railings and light fixtures on the exterior.
