greenwood ave cottages - ross chapin architects

This project was completed in our office just before I started working there 7 years ago. I actually visited it under construction because I was interested in housing communities and this was a unique project. I often look back on these pictures which were taken a few years ago, because it captures the cottages and their gardens at such a perfect time. About 3 years after completion. Before that the gardens are too freshly planted and haven't filled in....going back today they are just as beautiful, but much fuller.

I just can't seem to get gardening off my brain. I have realized that it is a never ending project. Not just the maintaining, but the adding and tweaking. I've had so much fun working on ours at the new house...I'm realizing that I need to put some time in at our Genesee house as well. These photos are a constant inspiration. The owners have really put so much passion into their individual gardens. Typically in our projects, the developer puts in all the plantings outside the 2' private yard fence. You can barely see the cedar fence depicting what is commons and what is private, as the plantings have grown. It's all about the transition from the public realm to the private.

porches + plants

My tulips I planted in the boxes are popping up now. They are very fragrant when they are open. On a still day you can smell them when you walk on the porch. I never thought of tulips with a strong fragrance.

I had bought the rain chain over the internet at Overstock.com. There is also a website devoted to them that I looked at... http://www.rainchains.com/ There is a catchbasin under the rocks that links to the deep drywells in the front yard. We seem to be alternating between beautiful sunny days and days of soaking. Hopefully our newly seeded lawn is not drowning.


The concrete guy did a good job finishing the stoop. I had chosen these tile leaves at Seattle tile and we have fish in the back stoop.

The Nandina "Moyer's Red" seems to be doing okay. I was concerned because there are a lot of leaves on the ground around it. It seemed to be in shock for the first couple of weeks, but I think it's settling in now. The color is beautiful.

Neil put in a bench outside the back door. I have eaten lunch out here a few times with my back against the post. It's always in the sun.

selling

I love night shots. I really need to use a tripod, but these didn't turn out too bad. I was taking a ton of photos throughout the day yesterday in different light, trying to get 15 to use to market the house. We are putting it up for sale at the end of the week...for many reasons, but the main being simply financial. It's been a long year and we have really enjoyed creating the house. Even though we would be happy living in it longer, we hope to find someone who will love it just as much.

soaking up the sun

We had a big push on the landscaping at the end of last week through the weekend. To deal with the grade change at the front, we had Matt Collins and his crew of Weigh Bones put in a rock wall. They also put in a gravel path from the front to the back patio and they put in the patio.

There were about a dozen large rocks left over, so on Saturday I placed them around the patio to help with the grade change there. We only wanted 2 risers from the back deck down to the patio, so they had to build the area up with gravel. Originally we were going to put a step, but after using it this weekend when friends were over, we liked how it created seating.

We had a few friends over to celebrate the completion of the house and before we put it on the market. What a beautiful day it was! The south facing back deck and patio worked just how I had envisioned it and many of us ended up gathering there to soak up the sun. Inside, the house was filled with light and the raised counter in the kitchen was perfect for the buffet of cinnamon buns.

It was fun to have kids running around, exploring and finding their own spots to sit.

happy new year!

Yeah!! Our front door is up! I love it. Love the color. So glad we went with the red...and there is Neil to welcome me home! I just picked out the door hardware yesterday at Builders Hardware. It's a great place to see a variety of door and cabinet hardware, but also every other kind of hardware piece that goes in a home. I also picked up 2 doorbells, door stops and pocket door pulls. The front door handle is Schlage - Wakefield with a Merano indoor lever handle We switched to the oil rubbed bronze for the front door to match the light fixture we FINALLY decided on. Just have to install the doorbell and the front porch is done.  The front door is made by Simpson and is "Craftsman One Panel #6811".
I didn't even notice the flower boxes til I was leaving. They put those up earlier this week. Now I just have to plant them!

The Karina - front porch

Neil continues working outside this week, completing the front porch and the back deck as well as some work on the yard. The front porch is a key design feature of the house. It's 8'x 15' which is room-size. Plenty usable instead of just a tack on. Many new homes today do not incorporate a front porch or if there is one, it's not deep enough to use. The front porch is an important transition between the public realm of the street and the private realm of the home. It's a place to sit and read the mail, to wait for friends or just watch the world go by. With our Seattle weather, it's also key to have a place to sit outside that has a roof over it. Because our house is so close to Madison Avenue, we have a lot of people walking by each day. Having the front porch is friendly gesture to the community and will provide opportunities to meet our neighbors.

front porch inspiration - ross chapin architects

All of these are houses in our Ross Chapin Architects' projects. It's interesting to see the different porch variations that we have done grouped together. The play of sunlight on this first one has always been a favorite of mine. Ross worked on site to get the spacing of the cross pieces just right. Sometime in the next 2 weeks, Neil will be pouring our front and back stoop that will be similar to the below...which reminds me that I have to pick up some tiles.
These next 3 are of the Highlands in Langley, on Whidbey Island.

This is the same house with 2 different porch roofs.



At some point, if the budget allows, Neil will build a tile lattice similar to this on the wrapped back porch. The recycled glass tiles are from Bedrock Industries in Seattle and we plan to use a larger 8" tile.
On this project we ended up leaving the railing natural cedar instead of painting it.

I'm ready to sit down with a gin and tonic when I look at this one. It's of a custom project that looks out on the water. I can just about feel the cool breeze. All of these porches were designed as extensions of the house. To be used not just pass through.

front porch inspiration - seabrook, wa

Neil and I went to Seabrook, Washington for the first time for my birthday a year ago. We rented a mother-in-law apartment above a garage with a bit of a view of the Pacific ocean. Seabrook is a new town that is being created along the coast about 2-1/2 hours drive from Seattle. When my parents came for a visit this summer, we rented a small cottage that was one of 10 clustered around a courtyard...very similar to the communities we design at Ross Chapin Architects. The town itself is still being developed, but there is a cafe, grocery and about 130 homes. The master plan is very well thought-out and I appreciated the walk-ability and pedestrian connections. So if you are looking for a place to go on the Washington coast, I would highly recommend checking it out.