Got Rocks?

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, August 16, 2006

If the Flintstones had been richer, more stylish and equipped with an unlimited supply of water, maybe this is how they would have lived.

Fred could have bathed in his own enclosed cave of rock with 13 shiny showerheads and a waterfall to boot. Wilma could join him, or she might relax in a lavish, oval-shaped soaking tub with water pouring into the bath from yet another rock wall.

But this no cave.

Oh, no.

This is the $4 million Hillcrest Farm home in the Seattle Street of Dreams, courtesy of Design Guild Construction and Curtis Gelotte Architects, who decided to take their show home’s master bathroom one step beyond mere luxury by teaming up with the sculptors at Turnstone Construction.

Turnstone, a longtime builder of large-scale faux-stone projects at aquariums and zoos, including Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, created the shower as well as a rock wall next to the soaking tub.

Owner John Fulford said his company has done many small projects in residential settings, including water features and alcoves near swimming pools.

But they had never done an indoor shower.

“It’s just a very clean and crisp project,” Fulford said. “It’s quite a space.”

In the early stages of the project, workers had to be quick to shape spray-on concrete.

“Typically, we have a half-hour to 45 minutes,” Fulford said. “We hand carve it with trowels and brushes and various sculpting tools in the time that the concrete is setting up.”

Fulford likes contrast of the natural stone look paired with sleek, modern fixtures and surfaces.

“Oftentimes our work has very strong sense of the organic and nature,” he said. “It really is set off when juxtaposed with strong architectural elements.”

Muted colors of tile, stone, wood and greenery match the natural, outdoor tones. In the garden, a stone bench awaits you in a flagstone courtyard accented with rock walls, thriving potted plants and abundant natural light.

If you want to separate the large bathroom from the private, outdoor gardening space, you need only shut the accordionlike wall of windows from NanaWall Systems.

Joel Glass with Design Guild Homes said the challenge in building one of six extravagant homes on the tour was to truly surprise people who seem to have seen it all in magazines and at other home tours.

“It was a lot of fun,” Glass said, adding that the shower’s high water usage isn’t exactly environmentally friendly. “It’s a tremendous amount of water – not exactly your green-home concept shower.”

Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.