July 10th, 2007

Two realtors, five house-hunting trips, hundreds of hours searching online, a total of three years spent looking, scanning, watching...it all came to a sudden, needle-on-the-record scratch stop when we saw the house...

There it was.

Sitting like a forgotten gem at the very end of a quiet tree lined street on a private cul-de-sac. A small peaceful lake just a stone's throw from the living room windows.

Bold, but clean mid-century architectural lines. Open floor plan covering more than 3400 square feet. And best of all: everything in its original, un-remodeled form.     Intact.

Pristine, and un-Home Depoted.

It was everything that we'd been looking for and more. And after three weeks of intense back-and-forth negotiations with the seller, it was ours.

It's a strange thing to buy the house you plan to make a real life in for many years. To raise your children, and form what may be your fondest memories. It's weird, and cool, and scary. But we know in our gut that we found our ideal home.

Our plan is to take this diamond-in-the-rough, and make it more of what it already is. Using warm textures, increasing open spaces, bringing in generous pools of natural light, and giving a little nod to the architect's original vision.

We'll have a lot of help.

Amely Wurmbrand, a Seattle architect/designer will be assisting us every step of the way. We want the house to have the lowest carbon-footprint possible, use eco-friendly materials, and compliment, rather than dominate the surroundings.

Many, many thanks to Richard Corff of 360 Modern  for being the exceptional realtor that he is, and bringing his expertise in mid-century architecture. It's rare to work with someone so knowledgeable, and genuinely nice.

His hard work and dedication have won him life-time clients.

Now we just have to wait a couple of months to move in...

-Rob and Nicole

The front entryway off the driveway.

Here's a shot from the dining room toward the lake.

Here's the kitchen, with only a few minor updates -it's almost totally 1957 vintage.

The dining room...is huge.

This gives you and idea of how pristine and untouched this property is. No layers of 70's and 80's remodels to dig through and uncover secret "home improvement" horrors.

The house from space...you can see the lake in the lower-left.

View of the lake when the leaves are gone.

The living room with the fireplace that goes through to the dining room. Furniture not included!

A shot of the dining room looking back into the living room.

This is the downstairs "media room", a large space with a fireplace that can be used for watching movies, and more importantly: big comfy furniture you don't mind spilling soda on.