Classic Laurelhurst View Home

The interior floor plan required careful attention. Rather than erasing the cottage’s original detailing, our approach was to work with what was already there and build upon it thoughtfully, honoring the home’s past while allowing it to grow into something more.

Before the remodel, the first floor offered plenty of space but lacked a sense of direction. Circulation moved through the home without landing anywhere meaningful, leaving rooms feeling disconnected from one another.

Our space planning efforts resolved this by establishing a clear heart to the home. The dining room, repositioned to sit at the center of the floor plan, now anchors the first floor and organizes the surrounding rooms with intention.

The kitchen moved to the brighter and more purposeful space at the back of the home with a direct connection to the outdoors and the deck. Now, the first floor feels cohesive and connected, with each room leading naturally into the next.

Throughout the main floor, original squared openings were refined and elevated with parabolic arches. Finding the right profile took careful consideration, exploring which arch best suited the homeowner’s aesthetic vision. The final result lends the home’s interiors a softness and sophistication that feels both architectural and enduring.

The original entry was one of the first things we addressed. The low-sloping roofline made the home feel closed off and unwelcoming before visitors even stepped inside. Arguably the most transformative element of the project, the new entry addition opens the home up, both physically and in atmosphere.

Staying contextual to the Laurelhurst neighborhood was a clear priority throughout the design process. The homeowners wanted to honor the cottage’s scale and character, not erase it. To that end, the new addition signals warmth and arrival in the way a front door should, giving it the presence and openness it had been missing, while keeping the spirit of the home’s modest form.

In the reimagined entry, open railings, and a vaulted ceiling further expand the sense of space. Open and airy, locations for built-ins were designed to provide needed storage while grounding the entry in its historic style.

Upstairs, the original layout placed a modest primary bedroom alongside a few narrow rooms and a sewing space that happened to claim the best view in the house. A straightforward but meaningful solution solved this conundrum. We relocated the primary bedroom to take advantage of the view and adjusted the wall between the remaining bedrooms so that each felt more generous and equally considered.

The primary suite was designed with efficiency and comfort in mind, with a thoughtfully configured bathroom and closet that give the homeowners the storage and functionality they had been missing. And in one of our favorite examples of practical problem-solving, a laundry chute carefully designed to work within the existing structure now makes daily life a little more effortless.

What makes this project particularly rewarding is how much the architecture itself does the work. Every room that flows effortlessly into the next, every view framed with intention, every detail that feels as though it was always meant to be there: all of it is grounded in architectural decisions that help this classic Laurelhurst cottage become more fully itself.