Originally published Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 7:02 PM
Seattle Anhalt-designed home gets an update with respect
The home needed a bit of updating for a young family. So they called upon architect Steve Hoedemaker of Bosworth Hoedemaker and interior designer Garret Cord Werner for respectful modernization.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Historically, the Kritser home, built in 1929, is known as the Millard May House. It holds all that Anhalt learned about Norman Tudor styling from building apartments. The door, roof, dormers and exterior brick all speak to the English cottage. It has two bedrooms, a nursery, office and four baths in 3,130 square feet.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Interior designer Garret Cord Werner designed the living-room furniture for a young family. The upholstery, a Sunbrella-like fabric, is well-suited for life with an active baby girl. Werner also guided the couple in selecting budget-minded pieces that would create a subtle and rich modern tone. Lighting and paint throughout the home were updated.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
"The house has good bones, like every good house," says architect Steve Hoedemaker. "We wanted to just keep the exterior of the house alone, the great spaces alone and modernize the flow, the lighting and the finishes so it could be a house that's both historical and modern."
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A previous owner remodeled the kitchen, but Hoedemaker created a passageway between it and the living room. A pantry and closet became a pass-through mahogany bar and new pantry.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
When the Kritsers opened the door to the Tudor, the first thing they saw were the stairs; the first thing they thought was "castle."
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A skylight casts muted light into the stairwell, just off the front door.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
J.D. Kritser loves a shower; his wife, Shanna, prefers a bath, and this is what she got in the remodel of the master bathroom: a roomy, free-standing oval tub from Americh. The floor is heated 4-by-12-inch marble tiles. The counter is basalt.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
This guest bathroom was once filled with pink and green tiles. "We loved the shape of that arch and really wanted to highlight that," says architect Steve Hoedemaker. "We moved the shower head up so you could actually stand up in the shower. We refixtured the sink and toilet and then just new finishes."
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
"It feels very calm in the bedroom," Shanna Kritser says of the master. The walls are warmed with eggshell paint from Benjamin Moore. New bedside lamps throw light to the arched ceiling. The old radiant heat works wonderfully. The bedside light is from Circa Lighting.
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Guests pass through this "coffin" door between the guest bedroom and the office.
Anhalt on Anhalt
"I decided that I wanted to do my buildings in brick, with a natural cedar roof. This was more suited to the Pacific Northwest climate. Once I made up my mind on this, I started looking around for ideas as to the style I would use. While I was doing this, I met a young girl who was selling books, and I asked her to find any books she could on beautiful apartments. She came back several days later and told me that she couldn't find anything like that, all she had was a book about English castles. Well, I took one look at that book and I knew I'd found my style of building. I went through that book and picked a window I liked here, a door, there, and something else over there."— from "Built by Anhalt" by Steve Lambert
photographed by Benjamin Benschneider
THEY'VE BEEN called "castles in Seattle," Fred Anhalt's landmark apartment buildings and homes around town.
And that is exactly what J.D. and Shanna Kritser thought when they saw the brick Broadmoor Tudor, with its heavy, ogre-thwarting wood front door and its serious-business, brass-hammered nails. The Goldilocks-charming shake roof highlighting dormers and sweeping to the door.
"The first time we toured it, it was like a mini-castle," says Shanna. "There's a hidden door, and the stairs are so grand."
The Kritsers, Belltown condo-dwellers, were in need of a family home. Daughter Harper Belle was expected shortly. They wanted for her a nice yard, a peaceful neighborhood and a home of good flow and comfort. And in Mr. Anhalt's design they found (mostly) all of that, built in 1929.
The home they bought in 2009 is known to historians as the Millard May House. It was finished a year after Anhalt's first home in Broadmoor. According to my Northwest Living colleague Lawrence Kreisman, an expert in historical building styles and on Anhalt specifically, this home holds all that Anhalt learned about Norman Tudor styling from the construction of his apartment buildings. The door, roof, dormers and multiple-hue exterior brick all adding up to English cottage.
According to Kreisman, Anhalt thought this home to be the best of his houses. No expense was spared in the details. There is a leaded-glass window in the room over the garage. Greeting all who enter is a substantial carved-mahogany staircase. The living room is grand; arched, beamed ceiling and stout fireplace. There's a Dutch door and oak floors, arched doorways and nooks. Anhalt also did the original landscaping here.
"We were lucky; almost everyone who lived here before us was a preservationist," says J.D. It is a tradition the Kritsers wish to uphold. But an update was required. ("The shower hit me here," says J.D., thumping his chest.) So it was with great care that they called upon architect Steve Hoedemaker of Bosworth Hoedemaker and interior designer Garret Cord Werner for respectful modernization.
Hoedemaker brought dated bathrooms forward with elegance and respect using marble and basalt; improved flow by clearing away a closet for a mahogany wet bar/butler's pantry that also opened a passageway into the living room. Werner designed the living room furniture (upholstered in a gray micro-stripe Sunbrella-like fabric for spilly babies) and guided the couple in selecting other budget-minded pieces to create a subtle and rich modern tone. They also updated lighting and paint throughout.
The home, 3,130 square feet, is still Anhalt. But the improvements are Kritser, by way of Hoedemaker and Werner. The couple is now eager to show off every nook and cranny, because each is special, old and new.
"As we talked about all the things we could do, it was important to keep the integrity and make it modern yet livable," says J.D., an investment manager. "We did that by sacrificing only a couple of closets to the bathroom gods."
"It feels very warm and cozy," Shanna says, holding Harper Belle, now 10 months old and on the verge of walking. "It feels like a home, a place where we could raise a family."
So what's next?
"Nothing," J.D. says. "We're finished."
Rebecca Teagarden writes about architecture and design for Pacific Northwest magazine. Benjamin Benschneider is a magazine staff photographer.
