January 9th, 2008 @ 12:08 am by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings
I usually stick to historic, or at least older, homes when I tour and highlight properties that are on the Seattle housing market. However, this house (actually, group of homes) is an exception. They are three Craftsman style houses just built on 20th Ave in my Squire Park neighborhood — and boy are they impressive. The property that I toured at
533 20th Ave very closely resembles my dream house (though it’s much larger than I’d want or need). The other two houses, which share the same floorplan, are right next door and also coming on the market as their construction finishes up. I must say that if I were paying that much for a house, I would not want two duplicate copies next door. But for now let’s concentrate on 533. This dark blue classic looking Craftsman is 4,000 square feet, 3 bed, 3.5 bath, and going for $879,000. You can see in the images that the finish work is top notch. Give it a look and hit the
listing here if you’re in the market. Click on the images for high-res copies.
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The home as viewed from the curb. The rare detached garage is a welcome selling point. You can see from Live Maps that two houses were demolished to erect these three houses.
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A closer view of the front of the home. The dark blue paint color contrasts the white trim very well.
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Moving around to the back of the home, you can see the other two homes for sale. All three share the same floor plan but have different finishes.
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The back patio. Notice the decorative woodwork above the French doors.
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The back yard is elevated and held in place with this large rock retaining wall. The yard is rather small.
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Stepping into the home from the front. Directly to the right as you enter is this den/office.
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Unlike most modern floorplans, this living room has wall space for a television and entertainment center. There is also crown molding throughout the first floor.
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The dining room leads from the living room. The paint color, trim, and vintage-inspired lighting fixtures all work well together.
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Everything in the kitchen is also very impressive, from the fixtures to cabinetry. It’s very difficult to find fault in the decorating choices.
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I was impressed with how true the first floor bathroom was to a traditional Craftsman style. The pedestal sink and hex tile are beautiful.
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Let’s take the stairs up to the second floor to see if it’s as nice as the first.
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And from the looks of this second floor bathroom, it is. Having a window and recessed lighting by the bath are great features.
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The master bathroom is just as impressive as the other two, if not more.
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The vaulted master bedroom looks out onto 20th Ave. I do wish the upstairs had hardwoods rather than carpeting.
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January 9th, 2008 @ 8:35 am
I aspire to get a house with a carport. This is one “beautifuy” little home.
January 9th, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
Gorgeous house — I will need to see if it’s on the open house schedule for this weekend. What I really like is that it doesn’t look like a new house; it looks like someone did an amazing remodel of an 80 year old craftsman. Now that is attention to detail.
My only gripe is that it has carpet. I hate carpet, owing largely to the fact that I have 2 cats and 2 dogs. The only carpet in my house is a runner on the staircase that is necessary because the stairs are quite steep.
January 9th, 2008 @ 3:10 pm
Ya, I’m totally with you Holly. I’m not a fan of carpet at all. If I owned this house (and had the money), the first thing I’d do is yank out the carpet and match the hardwoods downstairs. Even after a few years, I’ll take dust-bunny’s over ratty old carpet any day.
Cliffe
January 9th, 2008 @ 3:46 pm
This type of retrocraftsman, new construction has been going on everywhere for quite some time, and I agree that it is appealing on the surface, and fits especially well into the old Capitol Hill neighborhood. There are entire new neighborhoods built this way in Bend, Oregon, and here in West Seattle, in the High Point neighborhood, where I purchased such a townhome last summer. I have a builder friend in Bend who calls this phenomenon “Crapsman”. Although the exterior, windows, and fixtures look vintage in this model, the interior finishes (2nd floor carpet and white paint) are far from classic, bordering on cheesey. After a lifetime of fixing up old houses, it certainly is a pleasure to live in a new home with classic features combined with modern amenities. If only these new houses were constructed with the old growth woods that define the true vintage Craftsmans, rather than OSB sheathing and MDF mouldings. I’m curious how these reproductions will hold up over time. Also, the lot is 4000 sq.ft., the house is 2557 sq. ft.
January 9th, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
RPH:
While I agree that I would absolutely prefer stained wood molding rather than painted white and I’ve already stated that I don’t care for the carpet, I would not classify this house as “Crapsman.” I have seen the Crapsman style you refer to in many, many homes, and this wasn’t a case of it. The molding is not MDF in this home. Also, the house is not in Capitol Hill, but Squire Park. Part of the reason that this property is priced so high is that the usual junk materials were not used, and you can tell that when you tour it. I encourage you to do that and make up your own mind.
With that said, this home is not perfect at all. I’ve pointed out the faults as I see them: carpeting upstairs, having two identical houses next door, a rather small backyard, etc. I do agree that since such poor craftsmanship and design is used in most modern houses, our expectations and quality bar is lowered — elevating houses like this to the upper tier. Sad, but true.
All of this recalls a difficult balance that preservationists often struggle with, that of quality vs affordability. At what point is quality not worth it, if it starts to price people out? Personally I am pretty high on the quality side, but someone with a lower income than me would probably have a different answer to that question.
Cliffe
January 11th, 2008 @ 6:53 pm
Cliffe,
I think it’s fabulous that you put these homes on your website. True quality and charm. King Construction has remodeled one house for me, and built another large project for us on a non-ferry service island in the San Juans. He is an unsual and extraordinary builder - and has such high standards for himself that he will likely not make a penny on these gems. Pulling out carpet and replacing with hardwoods at some point is a great project to save for. But the kitchen, bathrooms, lighting, floorplans, etc. are all so beautiful, who can gripe? I’m been watching these under construction and can’t wait to see who ends up with them. These are houses that are going to still look fabulous in 40+ years. . .
Julie