Building the Maxon House: Week 1
In our latest Backstory series, Seattleite Lou Maxon recounts the thrills and trials of ditching the suburbs, buying property, and designing and building a modern house with Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig Architects. Week One: The story begins...
Let's start in 2002. My wife and I, our two sons, and our basset hound were nestled into a cozy craftsman on a corner lot in suburban America. White picket (vinyl) fence, cul de sac, generous backyard, cathedral ceilings, family room, bonus room, formal dining room, granite countertops—the works. It was so cliché suburbia that a company that managed residential home owners’ associations across America photographed our house to promote their brand. To us, it was a slice of the American dream. All was quiet on the Western front.
Entry view of our 2,300-square-foot craftsman house. 'Traditional' pillars made of PVC tubing provide support for the porch and eave roof.
And then we were six. Our third son was born in the spring of 2006. With three young kids, a dog and plenty of accumulated knick-knacks, our once-spacious three-bedroom house started to feel like a pint-sized studio apartment. Our family was growing and all around us real estate was bursting at the seams with new construction. McMansions and mini-McMansions were popping up like weeds. You could have the American dream super-sized. The spigot of loans and credit flowed with seemingly no end. The economy was booming, the real-estate bubble was still a myth. We started looking around for more space and more breathing room.
We spent weekends visiting open houses and touring new construction, looking at renderings of new mini-developments within mothership master-planned communities. But visit after visit we felt increasingly lost. What started as a problem about space soon evolved into an opportunity for better living. Our experience was limited to split-level houses, condos, town homes—and, after college, a tiny rental in Manhattan. But we’d never lived in a ‘modern’ house. I make no apologies, but for us—until recently, at least—a finely built craftsman in suburbia was a dream.
Slice of existing living space. Lots of craftsman detailing, pre-built spaces for television, fireplace, etc.
View from side yard. Corner lot, white picket fence, mountain view and streets lined with suburbia.
With two kids enrolled in the newly minted neighborhood school, moving out of our subdivision would mean transferring schools. If we were going to make that move we were determined to make it be a big step. Just as we did when we moved to New York, then moved back to Seattle, and then moved out to the ‘burbs, our family expansion created a new opportunity. As the once-obvious choice—buying a bigger, more spacious McMansion—faded from the picture a new, more hazy but thrilling prospect emerged: Buying land, and building our Barbie dream home. But way cooler and definitely not Barbie-style.
The first real stage of the process before and after we sold our house was to gather examples out of books and magazines of what we’d like to build. We started numerous notebooks and began to collect tear sheets out of design magazines.
We started looking at different variations on modern architecture. Finding not only photos of houses we liked but houses in the setting helped to inform some of our ideas and visions for the project.
During our research phase we both used Post-It notes to offer comments and thoughts on stuff we liked. The entire process is extremely collaborative between husband and wife to align not only the needs for the project but also the prioritize things within and outside of scope and budget.
Calling us naive at that point would be an understatement. After all, our previous just-add-water suburban house sprouted up out of the ground in six short months with one trip to the store to pick out “upgrades.” We had no budget. No knowledge. No resources. And we still lived in a house we owned, in an economy that was starting to bubble and would soon bust at the seams.
After visiting as least a dozen sites, one afternoon I got a call from my wife that put our dreams into light-speed mode. She was trolling real estate sites looking at properties. I remember only a few words: 21 acres. Small town. Forested acreage. Valley view. Visit tonight. This was Spring 2007. To be continued...
Future site view. Overgrown 21+ acre forested site.
Better view shot of site slope and terrain. Photo by Thor Radford.
The true beginning. Selling our suburban house and transitioning to a rental while we begin the entire process.
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I love this! I can hardly wait for Week 2! Keep up the good work.
Nice writing! Can't wait for Week 2
Great idea for a series. It will be interesting to see how your ideas and values surrounding "home" changed as your family grew and changed. "Super-sizing" to a bigger version of what you already knew well would have been the typical, easy choice. Instead, you hired Kundig. Like waking up groggy one morning with the idea that a giant coffee isn't really the solution…and instead leaving for Japan to study the Tea Ceremony. Kudos! This should be a great read.
As an environmental designer, I applaud you for widening your scope. The homes we live in and the things we Americans furnish them with make up more than 60% of the entire green house gas emissions. Going modern is not just about a style, a look or just about user's needs. Modernity is about stripping away everything that isn't needed in a home, a chair, a desk, or even a toothbrush and providing what is essential in a clean and sustainable way. I congratulate you on ditching the fake American dream and embracing the fact that the true modernity was born right here in America. I know that convincing people that having more and more stuff does not create a sense of fulfillment is difficult. The fact that we are in a struggling economy with millions of people out of work and yet companies like Public Storage are doing better than ever is a clear indicator that something is broken with the American Dream. So I hope your blog helps to enlighten others on the feeling of having a weight lifted from your shoulders that I know I felt when made the transition to having only timeless, heirloom quality things that I love and I know will last 50 years instead of just ending up in a yard sale in a few years. By the way the site you've chosen is amazing. I hope you make as little impact on it as possible. Cheers, Chase Wills chasewills@msn.com
Thank you for the posts. Our goal is definitely to encourage and inspire others to take the "modern leap" and for many reasons Chase Wills articulated in his post. The path is not clear for such a journey so it requires a great deal of hard work, determination and a little bit of blind luck. As I will discuss in future posts there are many barriers along the way including our financial system (banks) which are set up to fund and manage risk based on the current inventory of sameness that exists in America today. Doing something "different" where "different" isn't something they can easily pull comps on makes it increasingly difficult to get funding or loans for a project like ours. However, like everything, you have to keep trying and you have to find that one person in that one place that supports understands and backs your vision and will help you navigate extremely muddy waters. Thank you for the great posts definitely keep the conversation going I have a feeling there are many out there facing the same opportunities to take a different route and our family hopes to continue to serve as a point of hope that there is a different way.
As a resident of the Great Pacific NW ... who also recently built a moden house ... I can't wait for week two. I especially want to know where the new house is located.
Bruce, we are building in the Carnation, Washington area (but not in the flood plain!) http://www.dwell.com/people/lou-maxon.html?summary=expanded
You've got my interest! What a great beginning to your story. My wife and I can relate to your adventure on many levels. Good luck to go along with the hard work I know you're doing.
Cannot wait for upcoming entries...very #jealous!
I was excited when I read the first paragraph. Then I realized they were leaving the Suburbs and going to the exurbs. We must realize that encouraging this type of behavior only encourages more similar behavior. We must be encouraging more dense development that reduces our carbon footprint and uses less of our resources. Transportation alone for this one house in the exurbs will consume more natural resources and add more greenhouse gases than 100 urban dwellings. You should be focused on how can we make urban America more livable.
Craftsman I think not. More Victorian than Craftsman. What happens when these people become old and unable to get upstairs? Two stories is strictly a "kid raiser" abode. If it was a single story craftsman type or a craftsman "airplane" type; this couple could stay in it until they had to abandon it for a nursing home. Unfortunately people don't think years ahead. They are young and strong and can easily run up and down stairs. I remember my Grand parents who drove by horse and buggy to another town to get help for their child who had fallen down steps in such a 2 story house presented here. The head injury was fatal. No stairs in my house and I would never buy a two story or one with a basement either.
Stephen Thanks for the note. The suburban dwelling we lived in and the two-stories played a huge part into the planning of our future modern dwelling. Your line of thinking regarding thinking ahead played into our planning and the architecture for the future home. Neither of us were exactly fans of continually going up stairs but at the time there weren't exactly options for new construction ramblers in the suburbs.The intent of our suburban dwelling was exactly as you stated, to raise kids. Now that they are out of diapers and in school our options have opened up and those are the things we will explore and share in upcoming weeks. Thank you for your post.
http://inhabitat.com/inhabitat-interview-8-questions-with-architect-tom-kundig/
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