karen delucas architecture

I am excited to announce that I have started my own architectural firm.  Come on over here:

brixton builders new website

Brixton Builders has a new website.  Click the image and head on over...

brixton builders backyard cottage

Last summer, Neil finished building a backyard cottage in Bellevue that I had designed for a client of ours at Ross Chapin Architects.  One of the owners of the existing house wanted a cottage for her mother.  We ended up doing a major modification of one of our GoodFit plans, the Betty Cottage. For more photos check out the Brixton Builders website.

instagram

Since moving in, I have not been posting here as much as I would like to.  I'm planning to share more of what we have learned from the house as we live in it and monitor our energy use...but in the meantime, for more up to date photos, check out my instagram feed and specifically the hashtag #Chapucas.

chapucas in the snow

We woke up this week to a few inches of snow....a rarity in Seattle.  It was so pretty and the streets quiet as most of the city if not shutdown, at least had a few hour delayed start.

 I was surprised to see these tracks through the yard.  Wasn't sure at first, but did the closeup made me think of a raccoon and sure enough, later that day Neil encountered him again making the shortcut.  I realized later that we are the only house on the block that does not have a fence in the front or rear yard so, I guess it makes for an easy cut through.



In the lower left picture it was interesting to notice how his front paw and back paw line up when he walks...that's what threw me off at first, the tracks look more like he's hopping.

spring 2016

Chapucas exterior and rain garden

Took a couple pictures this weekend and then went back to this photo & rendering I had done before the construction.  Glad we went with the black trim.  The model and all the drawings were done in Archicad.

The rain garden has sure taken off.  I've had to do a lot more watering than usual due to our dry weather.  Each weekend I do a little more planting.  It's been hard to just stick with a few types of plants...I'm more of a color and texture experimenter when it comes to choosing landscaping. And it's looking a bit chaotic, but I'm having fun.  The Ben Moore gray siding is a nice backdrop for the different grasses and plantings.

Our solar panels are installed and just waiting on final equipment from Seattle City Light.  Here are 6 with another 10 on the upper roof.

We have been quite comfortable living in the 530 sqft apartment. Neil is working on the bookcases upstairs now and once they are done and painted we will be able to move up to the main part.

If you look closely you can see the cats lounging on the walkway.  Being strictly indoor cats, they have been loving exploring the garden and just being outside.