ORCAS ISLAND RETIREMENT HOUSE- PRELIM. MODEL

A couple from California hired me to help them with their Retirement House on Orcas Island. The caveat was that I had to work with a retired building designer who hand drew all of his plans, elevations and sections in PENCIL. When I finally got his drawings, besides being very hard to read- (scans of pencil drawings-yikes), I could not get the big sloping roof to work from the 2nd floor down to the 1st floor as one slope. If I shortened up the 2nd floor, then I could get it to work.

Well, one thing led to another and I wound up doing a little re-design. He had the Master Bedroom on the 2nd floor and I think that all that I’ve read on “Aging in Place”, that the Master Bedroom has got to be on the FIRST FLOOR. SO I moved the Master Bedroom downstairs and put the 2 bedrooms upstairs.

Then the other issue was the Laundry room was tucked under a staircase landing with 7’ headroom and room for just stacking washer/dryers. No layout area, no linen storage. I flipped the laundry to the front porch with its own side door for their dogs, linen storage, side by side washer/dryer, sink & counter.. None of these changes went over well, so I wound up calling it quits. They held firm to the design that did not work, the roof that did not work, with no collaboration .

I could not put his design on my stamp, that was the bottom line. I have standards and that was that- had to fire the clients. This is very rare for me to have to do and I do it with a heavy heart. But it would have been a great house- let me know if you have a lot to build it on? 3 bedroom, 3 baths, really nice laundry off covered porch. Great covered outdoor seating area outdoor fireplace! Aging in Place! Passive Solar!

This is my favorite shot illustrating “Passive Solar Design” with a big South Facing bank of windows that form the window bench for the Dining Room. My re-design basically took the best elements of the other guys design and added Passive Solar- because this site is in a Forest, so it gets very little light. I was trying to capture that Southern Light for those cold winter months when every more bit of light is so much appreciated.

BLUE STOVE ALERT- It's all about the cooking altar!

The original CornuFé range, this 43" range is the center of a new kitchen that I designed for 2 artists in Anacortes. The “Periwinkle Blue” really pops out against the Rift Cut Oak cabinets- the floor is still masked off- more photos of when it is complete to follow!!!

The original CornuFé range, this 43" range is your first La Cornue love. It’s available in sixteen colors and

3 trim accent choices of Polished Brass, Satin Chrome and Polished Chrome. The CornuFé 110 features two

electric convection ovens, one of which is a seven mode multifunction oven, the other an electric convection

oven, five powerful gas burners and one large storage drawer.

Can’t wait to see it all done!

DEMO HAPPENING- BELLINGHAM

One end of the house has been removed- it will be re-built in the same footprint. The problem was that there was a huge masonry fireplace that took up up the whole middle of the house on 2 levels, that was supporting the roof….cheaper to re-build from scratch. Sometimes the things that you have to do….

Here was the old masonry fireplace in the middle of the room.

This was the exterior of the house before.

Here is how the new rebuilt end of the house will look. New entry and stairs, habitable space downstairs for a big den. New kitchen and great room upstairs. See previous Blog post on June 8th with model shots.

BLACK ON BLACK ON BLACK ON ORCAS

From the water, a black house with black roof and black windows really blends into the landscape!

Here it is from the side showing the cedar soffits and posts for nice accents. This house is still under construction and the owner is hoping to move at the end of August 2022!

The cedar soffit is very yacht like in the front porch with a satin finish stain.

Here is a detail of the side.

The Living Room Trusses turned out really nicely- Timber Scissor Trusses.

San Juan Island Addition survives Covid!

Oh my, what a journey this project has been! 1st of all, getting materials to an island is hard….then material prices went crazy with supply chain delays. Plywood went from $25/sheet to $125/sheet in a year. Much appreciation to my clients for sticking through it thick and thin, and figuring out a way to keep the project going. Kathleen is a designer in her own right, and has a fantastic eye for detail and color! The blackened columns on the front entry were executed by local wood working legend Joe Romano. Construction by Ivan Plaza.

The front of the house used to have an old rotted exterior stair, and the client wanted to have an enclosed interior stair that united with floors of the existing house;

Partially a 2 story space, partially a cantilevered space, the addition adds an elegant way to access the main living space which is on the 2nd floor.

The new steel railings and wood treads blend in with the Zen Esthetic throughout.

Th new Powder Room features a wall of mirror with a floating LED circle light suspended delicately in front to light the whole room.

The Master Bathroom sink features a cool sliding up Robern Medicine Cabinet, that has a hidden LED strip below to light the counter- a built in night light for the whole bathroom. LED lights also frame and highlight an antique stained glass window that the clients have saved from another house.

The Master Bedroom features a cool window Bench that will eventually look out onto a nicely landscaped garden- still in progress.

A cedar wood paneled feature stripe runs across the ceiling of the Master Bedroom from the Window bench across to the opposite wall, to create an accent feature that focuses the room down the walls on both sides.

Master Bath has a lot os hidden storage.

Kathleen loves the Japanese soaking tub and says that the jets are more powerful then her hot tub outside! It is only 48” long!!!

MODEL TO "IN PROGRESS" SHOTS ON GUEMES ISLAND

“Modern Farmhouse” is coming along! This is the roadside view. So exciting to see it becoming a reality!!!!

Another Roadside view

FIDALGO MAGAZINE WRITES ABOUT ME!

February 2018 issue features Island Architecture under their Business Profile.

3D MODEL OF HOUSE ON SAN JUAN ISLAND

This is a model of a house that overhangs a slope with a deck  on 2 levels

This is a working model, so many things are still being worked on.

There is a roadway to the right of the house, so  I am trying to screen the decks with full height wall extensions with circular cut outs.

This is a bird's eye view looking at the South side of the building.

This is a working model of a house that is going to be made of SIP panels (Structural Insulated Panels). There is a covered outdoor fireplace off the living room and it shares a flue. The upper deck is for the Master Bedroom on the second floor. The Lower deck is off of the Living Room..