BCRA Design

Situated on beautiful Henderson Inlet in Olympia, WA, this 1,680 square foot waterfront home is stunning example of designing for the surrounding environment.  To maximize the gorgeous views, the water-facing side of the home boasts two eight-foot cantilevered decks with no support system into the ground. The home is 52% glass, ensuring that the views of the water are exposed from every possible angle. This modern Craftsman home is built with exposed wood, fabricated powdered steel and a hand-carved wood entry door. The designers who worked on this project fondly refer to it as the “Jewel House,” as a small space was used to make custom details in the home shine.

Zoning laws required that the architects design within the current 27 x 27 space that included a suspended foundation built from four tree stumps, allowing a flowing stream under the home. The zoning requirements didn’t allow for a traditional foundation; thus the four tree stumps were replaced with four concrete foundation footings, anchoring two-foot tall steel beams around the perimeter of the home to support the entire structure. As not to disrupt the stream by the front entry, the architects designed a bridge that brought some of the custom design elements that were highlighted inside the home outside, to the entry space.

The owner had sentimental memories of the tree roots that were within the footprint of the current structure of the home, standing almost five-feet tall. During construction, that area of the home was hand-dug as not to disrupt any of the underground root structure. The interior designers worked with the architects to create a glass window casing around the roots to illuminate this special feature.