Seattle Central District Dowager Gets a New Life

By adding only a few extra square feet, this couple got the light-filled, comfortable house they'd hoped for, thanks to architect Chris Keyser

By Valerie Easton

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AN OLD Seattle home had its charms. It was roomy and rich in character. But it had been left with an awkward floor plan from earlier remodels; the kitchen was white melamine, other rooms were unfortunately dark, and a stairway in the middle of the main floor blocked views of Lake Washington and Mount Rainier.
Then textile artist Patti King, a woman with an eye for color and a passion for collecting art, bought the Central District dowager in 1996. King got married a week before the home was scheduled to be stripped down for major renovation. She and her new husband, Chris Madden, took off on a bike trip to Myanmar, returning home to find a shell of a house open to the elements.
Wouldn't you expect this story to end in expensive disaster-rehab?
First, a little background. King grew up on Capitol Hill in Seattle and bought the house when she returned home after years in rural Connecticut. At 3,200 square feet, the boxlike house had enough wall space to display the eclectic art collection King has been accumulating since the 1970s. The lower-floor apartment made a perfect art studio, with space for King's loom and sewing machine, and kitchen cabinets to store all the fabrics she's collected on her world travels.
Back to the big remodel. Before taking off for Myanmar, King worked with architect Chris Keyser on the design. She chose him in part because he appreciated her strong ideas about what she wanted in the house, including an updated kitchen, cozy nooks for reading, and more natural light and views.
Luckily, the story has a happy ending. By adding only a few extra square feet, King and Madden ended up with the light-filled, comfortable house they'd hoped for.
"We did a lot of work undoing past misdeeds," says Keyser of the earlier, unpermitted remodels. Keyser's design dramatically improved the home's circulation, function and views. He reconfigured the windows, raised the ceiling in the living room and moved the staircase into the newly enclosed front-porch area. A leaky, old roof deck was turned into a master bathroom with killer lake and mountain views. King's desire for a spot to read prompted a pop-out window seat sheathed in glass, and at 9 feet long, spacious enough for two to snuggle up and nap. There's not a shred of white melamine left in the kitchen, now all dressed up in green-glass tile, black-granite countertops and white-oak cabinetry.
The home reflects the same earthy color palette of green, turquoise, gold and orange King uses in her textile work. Upstairs, King chose darker, richer colors to encourage restfulness, including Madden's coffee-colored office and "the insomnia room," a bedroom painted cinnamon brown.
Light floods in through new windows to illuminate King's art collection. "Every piece of art in the house, I know the artist. I like to have the feel of their work around me," says King, who considers her house itself to be an art composition indoors and out.