Ravenia

The brief was simple: build a house the family would actually use. They cook, work, train, read and have people over, and the plan had to make all of that sit together rather than merely fit.

Just under 4,930 square feet on a wooded lot outside Woodinville, with a three-car garage and a shop kept for later.

The site came first. A steep slope, the existing utilities and the setbacks decided where the house, the drive and the outdoor rooms could go, so the plan grew out of the ground rather than being dropped on it.

Painted brick, dark metal and glass under tall firs. The clients asked for timeless, which mostly meant nothing that will look dated in ten years.

Coming in from the garage you land in a room that does real work: a bench, closed storage, and a mirror at the end of it.

The mud room was drawn before any of the finishes were. It is the door the family will use every day.

The stair is open on both sides, oak treads on black steel, so the hall stays light and the two floors stay connected.

One piece of art, a lot of daylight, and nothing else competing for the space.

From the sofa you can see the kitchen, the dining table and the terrace door, which is the whole point of the room.

One long space doing three jobs, with enough furniture to make each of them comfortable.

The primary bath is the one room that goes all in on stone: marble on the floor, the walls and the tub surround, with the tub set into the window.

Warm oak at the vanity keeps it from reading like a hotel.

The gym sits under a wood slat ceiling on a dark floor, with everything stored along one wall so the middle stays clear.

It was on the brief from the first meeting, not added at the end.