Custom Residential
Before and After: Sound Landing
We gutted this 1960s home to the studs, opening up the floor plan to take advantage of sweeping views of Puget Sound. Check out the "Before & After" shots to see how this home transformed from "Harvest Gold" and dropped ceilings with wood paneling, into a light and bright home with classic details that will age gracefully.
December 12, 2016
Remodeling a house - even when the project goes exactly according to plan - is never a quick and easy process. We spend so many months focusing on the new design, and watching it come together during regular site visits, that it's easy to forget what the house looked like before work began. So, we get a special thrill looking back at the "before" photos we take at the beginning of each project. Shot when our team shows up to measure and document the home "as built," it's amazing to see just how far the house has come. We thought you might enjoy it, too.
Take a little trip down Memory Lane with us as we compare the before and after shots of the North Puget Sound project we call Sound Landing.
The 1960s house was well-maintained, but its appearance was stuck in the era when it was built. The aim of our design wasn't simply to update the house, but to give it a more timeless look. We added traditional details such as corbels (those little brackets that help support the upper floor's overhang) and divided-light windows, as well as a curved eyebrow roofline that follows the arch of the front door (and gives the house more personality). Although it's set on a rise opposite Puget Sound, the house's original design didn't make the most of its awesome position. To remedy that, we added a wrap-around deck to the Sound-facing side of the house. All the better for taking in those views.
Inside, we took the whole house back to its studs. The dated wood paneling and carpet in the entry were replaced with white wainscoting panels, hardwoods, and tile, and we replaced a wall at the top of the stairs with open banisters to bring in more light. We also added storage closets to take advantage of unused space under the stairs.
Heading upstairs, the house's new curved roofline is echoed in the barrel ceiling of the home office. Now, the area that was previously a nondescript dining room (you can see it just to the left of the kitchen in the "before" photo) has unique character and a lighter, brighter look, thanks to a gleaming white built-in desk, white wainscoting, and a large fanlight over the window.
Speaking of lighter and brighter, we also transformed the kitchen with new built-in cabinets, marbled quartz countertops, and a hand-glazed tile backsplash in muted blue tones that echo the water outside. The new, larger island was rotated to allow guests perched on the stools to see across to the dining area, as well as the kitchen. And, we opened the whole room up by removing the brick wall between the kitchen and living area to create a "Great Room."
Apologies for the blurriness of this shot - but then again, there isn't much to see here because of that big ol' brick wall (the back of a fireplace) blocking the view of The Sound. We took it out, uniting the kitchen, dining, and living areas; relocated the fireplace to the north wall; and added French doors out to the new deck. Now, light floods in, and stunning water views can be seen from across the Great Room.
"After" photos are by John G. Wilbanks, who had absolutely nothing to do with the dreadfully blurry before photos.
