The House As mountain guides, Scott Schell and Margaret Wheeler are used to the upper reaches of the Cascades. Their site in the foothills above Snoqualmie is not far from work. The house, designed by Johnston Architects PLLC and built by Tall Tree Construction, accommodates both professional and practical demands, but it also fulfills a deep desire to do what is right.

The Schell Wheeler house will soon receive a LEED Silver certification. Blow-down trees from storms provided the logs that were milled into siding, fascias and trim. A ground source heat pump, supplemented by solar water preheating supplies energy to the house. Other strategies are implemented throughout the house, but the overall character of the two buildings complete the goal of sustainability: the complex is extremely livable within its environment. Even on a grey and rainy day this forest retreat is filled with light.

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Here is Mt. Baker house of neighborhood Seattle, was built as a speculative project and was the first house in a planned development of five houses. The area is a veritable catalog of the styles that have influenced Seattle residential architecture for 100 years, with many classic craftsman houses in the mix. The neighborhood accommodates all of these styles gracefully because of a shared sense of scale and relationship to the street.

The house as an infill project that respects those attributes and borrows from tradition while expressing a more modern aesthetic. The use of hardipanel, aluminum windows, steel and fir handrails, modern lighting and vivid colors bring the house unequivocally into the present, but the attention to detail, the expression of separate materials and the clarity of the construction reflect its traditional roots.

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This project consists of two town houses Johnston Architects PLLC is located half a block from the beach. They are also found in the Alki neighborhood in Seattle. Both houses have three bedrooms and two master suites equipped with two-car garage.

The glass facade and the view from the roof of the buffet collect neighborhood, Seattle skyline, and the beach. Master bedroom has access to the terraces and large glass walls, so that they cover some of these views. In addition to a spacious living room and high-quality surfaces, such as BSH framing beams, bamboo flooring, marble countertops and fir frames, Alki town houses are beautiful and practical. [Johnston Architects]

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