Winning the Seattle Times / AIA “Home of the Year” award in 1987, this modern vacation home is one of Castanes Architect’s first. The major design challenge was the waterfront site; the majority of the steep lot was made up of shifting layers of clay. Jim Castanes said in a June 1989 interview by the Seattle Times, “I finally found one spot that was stable enough and we built the house on a concrete pedestal that anchored it.” This northwest vacation home was one of the first to be built in many years to feature radiant floors thus reinvigorating a movement towards radiant heated homes. Its spectacular location overlooking Manzanita Bay is a restful spot which is only a short ferry ride from Seattle.
Many years after the completion of the vacation home, the Owner’s requested that a garage be built that would complement the existing residence. Once again, the site was studied for the most eminently appropriate solution for this steeply sloped lot. An “open air garden” garage with a polycarbonate roof was “cut” into the slope for a cost sensitive solution that fit within the existing vernacular of the house and site.