Designed by renowned northwest modernist architect Paul Hayden Kirk in 1952, this home in Seattle’s Maple Leaf neighborhood enjoys a beautifully conceived relationship between living spaces and garden. Recent owners of the home engaged Adams Mohler Ghillino to design a remodel of the kitchen that would better connect it to the living and dining spaces while being respectful of the home’s character and its relationship to the garden. An existing wall dividing the kitchen and dining room was removed and replaced with fir casework to create connected yet defined spaces. The dropped ceiling in the kitchen was removed to allow the existing vaulted ceiling in the living and dining rooms to continue into the kitchen. The new tongue and groove cedar ceiling was seamlessly feathered into the existing ceiling to provide a sense of continuous space. New kitchen windows were carefully detailed flush with the countertop and enhance the visual connection to the garden. To accommodate current electrical codes, a continuous stainless steel electrical outlet trough was installed between the countertop and window sill allowing small appliances to be plugged in when necessary. This project demonstrates how a mid-century home of some architectural significance can be updated with creativity, restraint and respect.
