Four and a half an hour. That’s how long Mary Hurlock-Murphy husband Grant Risdon, their three children, two dogs and a cat lived in an 800-square-foot, three-bedroom, 100-year-old farmhouse at Seattle before undertaking an remodel.
The couple — she works at electronic agency Razorfish; he works in biotech — adored their desired neighborhood of Queen Anne homes, and moving into a nearby home wasn’t an option, because demand had priced them from the area. So they decided to stay put and make the most of their small house and lot. Architect Chris Pardo of Elemental Architecture provided a light in the end of the tunnel. By casting the job as a remodel, regardless of the renovations being so extensive that the home would be nearly a new construct, they were able to steer clear of new house setbacks that could have yielded a ridiculously slender 5-foot-wide house.
Instead, Pardo built up and up as far as possible, doubling the square footage to 1,600. He turned two amounts into four adding a rooftop deck in a partial-daylight basement, an in-law studio apartment, which the homeowners now rent out to offset their mortgage. Pardo also fulfilled a lifelong dream of Hurlock-Murphy’s to have a home library. With such limited space, Pardo Gently divide the library into three custom-built sections throughout the home.
Despite it being a “compact home,” Pardo states, the couple is happy with their four bedrooms; this is actually the first time in years they haven’t slept on a Murphy bed.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Mary Hurlock-Murphy, her husband Grant Risdon, their three children, two dogs and a cat
Location: Seattle
Size: 1,600 square feet; 4 bedrooms
Budget: $165 per square foot
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
This is only one of the library markets Pardo used to divide the homeowners’ book collection. The seats directly in front of it are covered in linen toile and filled with down. An sofa seat is faced by them.
Sofa: G. Romano
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
Since the home is very close to its neighbors, Pardo built up and picked to get a reverse floor plan that place the living spaces on the third level to maximize views and light. It also gives solitude from passersby.
Cost saving was a big issue, so Pardo had to get smart with his design decisions. To give the exterior the commercial glass-storefront look he pictured, he designed a cruder variant of 2-by-4 posts wrapped in aluminum cladding. The commercial system could have run around $96,000; Pardo layout price $18,000. “It was among the biggest cost-saving items for us without diminishing the layout,” he states.
To honor Pardo’s job, the homeowners chose for their doorway color the same hue as Elemental Architecture’s emblem: Pantone 144.
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
The master bedroom is via the doorway. “If you’re hungry in the morning, it ends up,” says Pardo. Minerit panels, also located on the exterior, constitute the floor of the dwelling spaces. Carrara marble was used for the countertops, kitchen island and the connected dining table. The Burke seats were purchased via Craigslist; they are modeled after the original designs in the starship Enterprise, with “late-’60s, early-’70s Brady Bunch gold cushions,” the homeowner says. The cabinets are walnut.
Chandelier: Design Within Reach; artwork: Todd Karam
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
The all-glass wall and spacious floor plan permit for leafy views of the neighborhood and nearby University of Washington.
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
Boxed tubular steel treads onto a steel beam produce a spine-like staircase. More Minerit panels constitute the floor.
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
A very simple bed and graphic yellow bedspread — both from Ikea — brighten this kids’ space, as does a midcentury swivel chair with a burgundy Naugahyde design.
Artwork: Todd Karam
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
Bamboo floors, a blue Ikea mattress and an opaque confetti-patterned vintage chair make an original look in another kids’ room.
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
Pardo wanted something fairly minimalist for the toilet, with a wall-hung cupboard and glass tile to reflect light from a skylight.
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
The claw-foot tub was original to the previous 100-year-old house. The homeowners had the once-rose-colored tub restored everywhere.
Chris Pardo Design – Elemental Architecture
An outdoor staircase contributes to a rooftop deck. The structure gobbles up the majority of the lot, so the deck is a means of having outdoor living room, with views of the University of Washington.
Daybed: Restoration Hardware; blue table: Ikea; Eames-style seats: Craigslist
