Lara Swimmer
The owners of this Kirkland, Wash., house are “serious cooks who had a lot of hard-working requests for the kitchen.” Architect Jill Lewis adds that they also wanted the kitchen to be the focus of attention so dinner prep could be combined with family time or entertaining. Lewis prefers designing combination spaces like this one. “Volumes that are flexible can be used daily … and done in a higher quality with less square footage,” she says, adding that “it also creates a better family dynamic of everyone being together.”
The elegant-yet-utilitarian result hosts after-school study sessions with the same aplomb as a holiday dinner party. “We kept the palette of materials limited because so many spaces flow into each other,” Lewis explains. Limestone floors segue seamlessly from kitchen to family room and out to a courtyard terrace. A chocolate stain on cabinetry shows up on oak floors in the dining room and throughout the house. Builder Joseph McKinstry repeated the casework’s bleached maple in the frame of the 9-by-9-foot sliding glass door he made to screen the dining room.
The floor plan also works to maintain connections. The kitchen island and cooking station float in the center of the space while ceiling and walls continue unhindered. Six sets of French doors flank one circulation path and offer each area access to the terrace. A storage system lines the opposite wall, but usage changes as it morphs from family room entertainment center to kitchen cabinets to a coffee/wine bar opposite the dining room. To keep kitchen and environs visitor worthy, the dishwasher and large sink are tucked out of sight behind the cooking center but within easy reach of eating areas.
Project Credits
Builder: Joseph McKinstry Construction, Seattle
Architect: Coop 15, Seattle
Cabinetmaker: Cornerstone Fine Woodworking, Woodinville, Wash.
Project size: 900 square feet
Construction cost: $300 a square foot
Photographer: Lara Swimmer
Resources: Coffee system/dishwasher: Miele; Lighting fixtures: Juno, Lightolier, and Tobias Grau; Plumbing fittings/fixtures: Franke; Range: Viking; Refrigerator: Sub-Zero.
