Gathering Place

The award-winning architecture & design studio, GO’C designed the house for a large family with six children located in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood.

With its views across the Puget Sound and to downtown Seattle, the 5.500 square foot home has been designed for the clients, Brandon and Sarah Ebel and their children: each has three. They combined families for the first time with the build of this house where each member had unique needs and desires for how the spaces should function. The house is spread across two main living levels as well as a basement that opens out onto the pool terrace and a rooftop level with extensive gardens. From the upper north street, the house appears as two stacked horizontal bars with the materiality of the lower mass grounding the building and lightweight porous upper level revealing hints of the interior space. The upper level is clad in vertical tight knot cedar slats which open up to form screen walls over portions of the upper-level glazing. Entering the house through a wide hallway creates a physical and visual connection from front to back and a glimpse of the views beyond. The rear of the house opens up to the garden terraces and swimming pool.

At the heart of the main level is a double height living space with wood burning fireplace and chimney that extends vertically through the space. Furthermore, for Brandon, a music lover and owner of a local record label, intertwining audio throughout the house and creating a space for his large record collection was a high priority. Therefore, the designers have undertaken to include some musical equipment in the living room near the fireplace. This home presents an existing series of terraced gardens and pathways that were reworked to form also a dining terrace. And thank to the huge sliding patio doors, the living spaces have a direct relationship to the outside.

An emphasis was placed on providing large shared spaces to enjoy together and smaller areas of retreat for all members of the family. All spaces in the house needed to maximize the extensive views across the city and Puget Sound.

Natural warmth derives from the texture of the interior plaster, use of warm woods, and patina of the concrete and steel. All this is especially noticeable in the kitchen where all the furniture is made of wood: from the kitchen cabinets to the stools to the dining table with adjacent chairs. Particular attention has been paid to the huge island with the top in white marble which offers a breakfast area of 6 seats - essential for a large family. Before stepping out to the outdoor terrace, next to the dining area, a powder room was included with a minimalist but at the same time very elegant and refined style with gold accents. Always on the same level, for Sarah - a NYT best selling author and chef extraordinaire, the designers reserved a calm refuges to write that includes a library that houses her many books. Here, there is also a black cladding fireplace that gives a sense of both welcome and privacy to the room.

It was important for the house to be both elegant and refined as well as withstand daily use from a family of 8 who like to entertain.

Passing from public to private space as you ascend through the void, the transparency of the house responds by moving from open glazing to a wood slat brise-soleil, filtering sunlight and screening the interior spaces from the street. The void is flanked either side at the upper level with the kid's wing and primary wings connected by a lightweight bridge. Both wings have an active relationship to this main living space and each other whilst retaining their own privacy and character. The primary wing cantilevers dramatically out over the dining terrace and pool below. It hosts the master bedroom that offers the impressive view of the city and Puget Sound. A luxurious primary bathroom and his/hers dressing room occupy the central section of the wing while a small office is located in the northwest corner.

One of the driving factors in the design of the house was the almost 360 degree views from the site and the design allows these to be maximized on each of the levels.

The kid's side functions as a bunkhouse of sorts, with 6 small bedrooms arranged around a sun-filled central play space with a large skylight above. Built-in desks and storage around the perimeter of the play space provide for the functional needs removed from the bedrooms, this allows the bedrooms to feel more spacious. The rooftop above the garage becomes an extension of the kid’s play space at this level.