A Green Home with Midcentury Cali Vibes
Fremont High-Performing Home
Built upon the existing home’s foundation, this green home features sustainable strategies both inside and out.
Having met in California, when these homeowners moved to Seattle, they hoped to bring the ease of indoor/outdoor California living with them to the Pacific Northwest.
After purchasing a modest, post-war home in which to put down their new Seattle roots, their original intent was to build up with a traditionally-styled second story addition. However, as we explored early design concepts, they realized a mid-century inspired design aesthetic suited them better.
As that and other major changes began to pile up — such as wanting to raise the ceiling height of the existing first floor by two feet — we realized, rather than a second story addition, the solution was to build a new home on the existing foundation.
Raised Main Floor
With the main floor of the home up a series of generous concrete steps, the floor below can be daylit. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Raised Main Floor
With the main floor of the home up a series of generous concrete steps, the floor below can be daylit. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
A New Home on an Existing Foundation
Designed to reuse the foundation of the original home, this home, though new from the foundation up, maintains a footprint in sync with the scale of the neighborhood. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
A New Home on an Existing Foundation
Designed to reuse the foundation of the original home, this home, though new from the foundation up, maintains a footprint in sync with the scale of the neighborhood. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Backyard Spaces
Double sliding glass doors open to a back deck right off the dining room to allow for the ease of indoor/outdoor living. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Backyard Spaces
Double sliding glass doors open to a back deck right off the dining room to allow for the ease of indoor/outdoor living. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Reusing the original home’s foundation allowed us to avoid a steep slope area and to protect an exceptional tree. It also ensures the new home is proportional and appropriate to the neighborhood context by increasing in height but not footprint. Additionally, reusing the existing foundation is more environmentally-friendly than demolishing and replacing the concrete.
This conscientious couple chose to include a number of other sustainable strategies, as well. In the yard, captured rainwater collects in a cistern for graywater irrigation. Inside, a super-efficient boiler powers radiant heat throughout the home. Meanwhile, heat-recovery ventilation supplies the house with fresh air with minimal energy loss.
Along the upstairs hall, automated operable skylights allow for stack effect ventilation, pulling warm air up and out of the home while drawing in fresh, cool air at the ground floor – a passive cooling strategy that adds comfort without the cost or energy burden of air conditioning. Sheep’s wool insulation (a natural, durable, and renewable option) in the home’s walls helps with energy savings, while a solar array on the large, south-facing roof volume offers a clean and renewable energy source moving into the future.
Water Conservation
A cistern in the front yard collects rainwater for use in a graywater irrigation system. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Water Conservation
A cistern in the front yard collects rainwater for use in a graywater irrigation system. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Aesthetically, the home’s interiors reflect the characteristic mid-century palette of warm wood paired with clean, white walls. The wood details feature throughout the home, accenting generous glazing and custom built-in shelving. Bathed in light from the skylights above, an open-slat signature stair is a beautiful custom focal piece in the home. Peeking out from strategic doors and hallways, it connects the two floors with a common and distinctive element.
In the kitchen, the color palette expands with dramatic cerulean cabinets paired with classic red accents and an eye-catching, geometric backsplash. In a region where many of our natural blues trend gray, the vibrant blue recalls that California feel.
Not every client comes in for a remodel and leaves with a new home. But, by taking this house back to its foundation, we were able to nestle a sustainably-minded, mid-century-inspired design into an established Pacific Northwest neighborhood in a way that feels like “home” to these California transplants.
Peek Into the Dining Room
A deep passage connects the living room space to the dining room. This area accommodates pantry storage on the dining room side, while allowing for built-in bookshelves, accessible by library ladder, on the living room side. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Peek Into the Dining Room
A deep passage connects the living room space to the dining room. This area accommodates pantry storage on the dining room side, while allowing for built-in bookshelves, accessible by library ladder, on the living room side. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Living Room
Carefully trimmed wood windows meet at the corner of the living room, filling the space with abundant natural light while adding architectural interest. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Living Room
Carefully trimmed wood windows meet at the corner of the living room, filling the space with abundant natural light while adding architectural interest. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Master Bedroom
Expansive windows along two walls of the master bedroom create the sensation of sleeping in the treetops. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Master Bedroom
Expansive windows along two walls of the master bedroom create the sensation of sleeping in the treetops. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Kitchen
Cerulean-painted base cabinets give off a beachy, yet crisp vibe. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Kitchen
Cerulean-painted base cabinets give off a beachy, yet crisp vibe. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Geometric Backsplash
White hexagonal tiles lend a geometric feel to the backsplash, while larger-format files — hand-painted in California — accent the range. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Geometric Backsplash
White hexagonal tiles lend a geometric feel to the backsplash, while larger-format files — hand-painted in California — accent the range. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Visual Links Between Spaces
Through the wood-ceilinged hall, the kitchen peeks through along with a glimpse of the wooded backyard beyond. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Visual Links Between Spaces
Through the wood-ceilinged hall, the kitchen peeks through along with a glimpse of the wooded backyard beyond. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Midcentury Wood Screen
A custom wood screen partitions the stair from the foyer while still allowing sightlines between the spaces. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Midcentury Wood Screen
A custom wood screen partitions the stair from the foyer while still allowing sightlines between the spaces. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Midcentury Modern Wood Details
The custom stair screen continues down into the basement, tying it in with the rest of the home. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Midcentury Modern Wood Details
The custom stair screen continues down into the basement, tying it in with the rest of the home. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Daylit Staircase
With large skylights above the dramatic staircase links all three levels of the home. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Daylit Staircase
With large skylights above the dramatic staircase links all three levels of the home. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Skylight Row
Along the length of the upstairs hall, a row of operable skylights light the space naturally, as well as being operable to aid with passive cooling. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Skylight Row
Along the length of the upstairs hall, a row of operable skylights light the space naturally, as well as being operable to aid with passive cooling. Fremont High-Performing Home | Photo by Andrew Giammarco.
Notes & Credits
This project was built by Mu-2 Construction.
Front yard design and landscape construction by Cultivar, LLC.
Sustainable strategies consulting from 475 High Performance Building Supply.
Photos by Andrew Giammarco.
Want to learn more?
You’re welcome to take a look at our available services and other portfolio projects.
Services
Our design services encompass architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture, with teams specializing in projects across the spectrum, from single-family homes to multifamily and mixed-use buildings, and from boutique commercial spaces to civic spaces, like parks. We love designing the integrated fabric of structures, spaces, and places that create vibrant neighborhoods.
Considering a project? Or, just curious about something?
Send us your questions about design, architecture, interiors, landscape, LEGO rooms… Anything, really. We’re always eager to meet new people, and we’d love to get to know you, your project, and your goals.