While perusing old magazines for inspiration, I happened upon this favorite from the May 2008 issue of Metropolitan Home. This home takes my breath away. Owner, Jim Dow purchased this 1920s Mediterranean in Seattle's Queen Anne Hill. Dow hired designer Garret Cord Werner and landscape architect Bruce Hinckley of Alchemie to create an urban retreat.
The design team considered the importance of continuity and flow throughout the spaces. The color palette is simple and masculine. The incorporation of slots in the walls is a theme carried throughout all the spaces. Particularly the use of cubbies for wood ties together the dramatic living room and family room carved out of basement below.
The focal kitchen is sophisticated and sleek, opting to use custom open steel shelves instead of typical upper cabinets. The stunning walnut slab dining table branches out of the bar and allows a moment of organic departure from the rigid orthogonal lines in the home. I fell in love with the vintage 1970s Castelli armchairs that surround the table and found them via 1stDibs, a great online resource for finding antiques.
The masterpiece of this home is the spa-like master suite bathroom featuring a Japanese soaking tub recessed into the floor. The tub transitions into the exterior pond. It doesn't surprise me that Dow mentioned that he takes a bath every night. The water feature of this tranquil oasis continues into a garden, then cascades down the retaining wall into a pool.
The use of concrete and steel creates seamless transitions from interior spaces and the exterior, elegantly bringing the outside in.
IMAGE CREDITS: Photos 1, 4, 7 from Garret Cord Warner, Photos 2-3, 5-6, 8-11 and floor plan from Metropolitan Home