Explore 8 modern Seattle homes on a fun self-guided tour
Published 4:46 pm Thursday, April 14, 2016
Get off the couch.
This is better than gaping at beautiful homes on HGTV.
You can immerse yourself in the amazing on the Seattle Modern Home Tour on April 30.
This is the fifth year for the self-guided Seattle tour by a Texas company that partners with architects nationwide.
“Seattle has always been one of the best places to host a tour,” said spokesman Ken Shallcross. “We pick and chose the best cities and most vibrant crowds. People keep coming back every year.”
Homes are chosen by “old-fashioned scouting the Internet and asking people we know,” he said.
Based in Austin, Modern Home Tours was launched to introduce modern architecture and living through fun and informative tours in dozens of cities across the nation and in Canada.
It allows architects to showcase their work and people to get ideas for their homes. Some of the places are for sale.
There are eight homes on the Seattle area tour, from Madison Park to Kirkland.
Homes include a houseboat, a new $1.8 million construction with an elevator and a 1907 Colonial total gut job.
Can’t make the Seattle tour or want more?
The Portland Modern Home Tour is June 4.
Andrea Brown at 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.
If you go
Seattle Modern Home Tour: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 30.
Tickets are $35 in advance; $40 on the day of the tour. Ages 12 and older.
More at modernhometours.com.
Houseboat by Lanker Design LLC
This new floating home on Lake Union replaces a houseboat originally built at the turn of the century. When that houseboat burned down in 2007, it remained on the water as a burnt shell until early 2015. Below the water were 22 old growth cedar logs perfectly preserved, but the rest of the structure was lost. In 2011, a designer decided to give the house new life. The idea was to create a structure to showcase design elements that would promote the preservation of shoreline habitat.
Every detail of the re-built 2,025 square foot home was approached from a sustainable viewpoint. Two-thirds of the roof is covered by a solar array and a third is a green roof. The cedar logs were salvaged from the old houseboat and incorporated into the dramatic curved ceiling and built-in elements.
1907 Colonial renovation, David Coleman Architecture
The exterior of this gambrel-style Colonial, which was built in 1907, was restored to its former glory. A completely new interior was created within the existing shell of the home.
The details of the home are spare, elemental and quiet. The intimacy of the original rooms was retained using architectural elements such as freestanding partitions, full height pocket and pivot doors and lighting. New mahogany doors and windows accent the traditional painted double-hung windows throughout the building. Several oversized rolling doors open the dining area to a new stone terrace made of Norwegian quartzite. Sinks and countertops are made of fossilized French limestone. Blackened steel structural elements, hardware and fireplace surrounds recall the wrought iron common in Colonial homes of the period.
New home by Barcelo Homes Inc.
Located in the arboretum neighborhood, between Capitol Hill and Madison Park. The open interiors flow seamlessly with the outdoors, expanding the living space to two view terraces and a back yard that can be accessed from the gourmet kitchen. The topography helps to capture stellar views and provides an unusual degree of privacy for a city home. An elevator makes day-to-day living that much easier.
— Source: Modern Home Tours
