teh House

Mercer Island, WA, United States

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teh House

Mercer Island, WA, United States

Firm

Floisand Studio Architects

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2014

SIZE

3000 sqft - 5000 sqft

BUDGET

$1M - 5M

We met the Owners and their two young kids in 2008. We instantly clicked and later embarked on a five year journey to design and build their new home. Nicknamed “the eventual house” or” teh”, the project evolved over the years from a second story addition to a new build.

The home sits in a friendly neighborhood on Mercer Island, Washington. Neighbors leave their doors open and kids play in the street. There is a beautiful view of Mount Rainier and Lake Washington to the south.

Surrounded by single story midcentury ranch homes, it was important to us that the home maintain a low profile on the street. We sought to create an easy flow from inside out to capitalize on theneighborhood’s energy and southern views. The main floor is defined by few walls and floor to ceiling windows and sliding doors that slip off axis to orient the living spaces towards the view. The main floor walls are clad in dark stained cedar channel siding; the interior and exterior windows are dark. The intent was to ground the house and focus interior views outside. The white stucco clad upper story cantilevers over the main to emphasize the home’s horizontality and minimize street scale. The white walls are intended to add lift to the second story especially as bedroom windows were minimized for privacy. The black/white dichotomy differentiates the interior main floor spaces from the upper private ones. We used materials such as marble, end-grain hemlock, walnut, and blackened steel to detail circulation, such as the built-in steel planters and upper hall bridge, and denote important gathering spaces, such the kitchen backsplash backdrop. Light marks transitions between rooms, such as the skylight/beam detailing over the stair and garage entrance. An interior clerestory brings light into the powder room/entry closet/mudroom core.