Serene Sanctuary

While the 7,700-square-foot home's interior spaces provide plenty of opportunities for entertaining, architect Stephen Bobbitt says the clients' ultimate goal was to have a place where they could relax, enjoy the beauty of their surroundings and welcome their large extended family in an informal setting.

The home's spectacular site, overlooking a picturesque inner harbor on the western shore of Puget Sound, inspired the numerous water elements incorporated into its interior and exterior spaces. "The water elements were used to create a quiet sense of excitement in a number of key areas in the home," Bobbitt says.

The builder, Northwest Commercial Inc. in Tacoma, Wash., gets roughly 25% of its business annually from high-end residential projects. Vice president Russ Mackay says each one takes approximately two years to complete. "The most desirable residential sites in our area are almost always difficult ones because they overlook water on one or more sides," Mackay explains. "This one was no exception.

"This lot had a very dramatic slope to it and required a significant amount of excavation. We had to remove about 6 vertical feet of solid rock using a roto hammer attached to the end of an excavator."

Bobbitt says the cul-de-sac location, with homes on either side, also posed a significant design challenge. "It was a very large but constricted site, so it was important to create privacy on a lot that really did not have much," he says.

A rambling path of Pennsylvania bluestone pavers leads to the home's entry courtyard. "The approach to the house is intended to re-create the feeling of taking a walk through the woods," Bobbitt says. A granite boulder waterfall adjacent to the entry courtyard greets those who traverse the path.

The home's exterior style blends with the neighborhood's existing homes, Bobbitt says. "From the outside, the client did not want to set the house too far apart from those already there. Lots of roof breaks were used to reduce the scale and massing."

Subtle exterior elements such as the thick/thin pattern of the beveled cedar siding and the simple trellis entry promenade subtly hint at the strong Asian influences inside the four-bedroom home. That pattern is repeated throughout the interior in the windows, doors and wall treatments. "It creates a theme for the home," Bobbitt says. "It is in the interior spaces that the homeowners really allowed their taste to shine through."

Living spaces feature dramatic volumes, open suspended staircases, and Venetian plaster and teak walls, but "at the same time, this house is completely comfortable," Mackay says. "Every room is meant to be used and enjoyed."

On all three floors, living space pinwheels off the central core. Any interior space that does not overlook the harbor orients to the atrium and its reflecting pool. The lower level also includes a contemplation grotto with a wall-mounted, cast-glass waterfall and space for reading, reflection or meditation; a spa with a steam shower, dry sauna and "river" bathtub; two guest suites; and a wine cellar.

Designed to be accessible on all levels, the home has no steps at the front or garage entries, and all bathrooms meet Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility standards. The home, completed in October 2000, also has a central elevator.