HOMES
Growing in place A ‘seamless’ remodel adds amenities in a slightly larger space BY DON NELSON
T
here are some things that will never change at Tom and Mary Lencheks’ homesite on Elbow Coulee Road. The sumptuous views won’t be compromised. Wildlife abounds. Dark and quiet nights will be the norm. Solitude is guaranteed.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PRENTISS + BALANCE + WICKLINE
But the small, practical cabin the Lencheks built 20 years ago has undergone a substantial remodel — as might be expected when one of the homeowners is an architect — to a full-time residence, without claiming a much larger footprint. The remodeled house was featured in Confluence Gallery’s 2019 Methow Valley Home Tour. Tom Lenchek has been designing homes in the Methow Valley for more than 25 years — some 40 residences in all, he figures. His Seattle-based firm, formerly Balance Architects and now called Prentice+Balance+Wickline Architects, is active throughout the West and has had a Winthrop office since 2000. The Lencheks bought the 40acre property, which extends across Elbow Coulee Road, in
1984, and put in the basics — power, well, septic. “We liked the view to the east, and that it got sun in the winter,” Lenchek says of the site. The original cabin’s construction began in 1998. The Lencheks are avid outdoorspeople, and the two-bedroom, one-bath, 1,400-square-feet structure was intended as a recreational base when they were in the valley. They started out focused on winter sports, but then discovered that there was also an enticing summer in the Methow. “It was definitely a cabin,” Lenchek says of the original structure. “It wasn’t meant to be a full-time house.” Mary adds that the intent from the beginning was that it be a low-maintenance space. The cabin was ready for occupancy in 2000. 47
