Where the Lake Meets the Kitchen
A 5,000-square-foot lakefront residence designed around water, light, and the way a family actually lives.
Waterfront homes have a specific problem that most designers miss. The view is the feature. The design should make you feel the water before you understand why. This project was a 5,000-square-foot home on Lake Washington in Kirkland, built to live in year-round, host large gatherings, and give a family room to breathe without losing the thing they paid for: the water.
The starting point was light. How water light moves through a home in the morning is different from afternoon, which is different from an overcast Pacific Northwest day. Those differences needed to be built into the material palette, not fought against.
Designed for Life on the Water
The lounge acts as a curated living gallery, framing views of the water while offering deeply comfortable, sculptural seating. A linear fireplace wall and custom media surround bring warmth and drama to the double-height volume — without competing with the lake that anchors the room.
Every material decision was made in service of the view. Italian chandelier as centerpiece. Polished heated concrete that distributes water light across the floor. A custom stone fireplace that reads warm in winter without going stark in summer. A dual kitchen that keeps the cook connected to the room.
The Work Begins With One Conversation
We hold a limited number of consultations each month and are selective about the projects we take on. If you’re ready to discuss yours, we’d like to hear about it.
Great room looking toward the open-riser staircase — Kirkland waterfront residence, Lake Washington
Rooms That Turned Away From the Lake
The original layout had rooms that turned away from the lake. The kitchen faced the street. The living room had the right view but the wrong furniture placement — pieces that blocked sightlines and made the space feel crowded despite the square footage.
The challenge was spatial and material simultaneously. We needed to open the interior toward the water without a full gut renovation, while selecting a material palette that would hold in both winter’s gray diffused light and summer’s bright reflected glare off the lake.
“The person cooking shouldn’t be cut off from the room or the view — that’s the principle behind every kitchen we design.”
Material Decisions That Hold in Every Light
Polished heated concrete floors were the foundation of every decision. Concrete reads warm when it’s heated. The polish picks up water light and distributes it across the room without creating hotspots — and it holds correctly at every temperature of light the Pacific Northwest delivers.
The dual kitchen layout was a functional decision first. One professional kitchen for serious cooking. One prep kitchen for catering and holiday overflow. Keeping the main kitchen open to the water views meant the prep work happened elsewhere, and the person cooking was never cut off from the room.
The Italian chandelier introduces warmth without competing with the view. It reads as an art object when the lake is visible beyond it. At night, it becomes the focal point. The custom stone fireplace, floor-to-ceiling in gray-white tones, holds well against winter light and doesn’t read as cold when unlit.
Frequently Asked
The work in this portfolio is the standard we hold ourselves to on every project — not just the celebrated ones. We take on a limited number of engagements each year, which means the projects we commit to receive our full attention from the first conversation through the final installation. If you're considering a renovation, a new build, or a full redesign, tell us about your home. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit — and what working together would look like.Your home should stop you. Every time you walk in.
