When Charlotte and Adam Aljets bought their two-bedroom craftsman in the north end of West Seattle in 2013, they knew it was a bit small—especially since they planned to start a family. But having two stories, close proximity to coffee shops and the library, and a commute by water taxi for Adam was all too good to pass up.

“Our realtor didn’t think the house made sense for us,” says Charlotte. “But we were totally drawn to the style of the home and its craftsman features, and we had a vision for making it into something that we could live in long term.”

As for the backyard, it was perfectly serviceable for their kids—Elias, Henry, Noel, and Elsie—as toddlers. “But they outgrew its small space as they moved toward activities like whiffle ball and tag,” says Charlotte.

Inside the house, the family was becoming equally squeezed, with everyone sharing the solo bathroom upstairs and Adam’s remote work setup tucked into a corner of the bedroom. “We were kind-of bursting at the seams,” says Charlotte.

Before: Front Facade

After: Front Facade

A friend recommended they reach out to the firm Wittman Estes, so they sent an email. “I remember it feeling like a shot in the dark at the time,” says Adam. “We loved what they had done with light-filled spaces and wood, and their intentional design.” When they met up with architect Matt Wittman, they asked for a rear addition that was simpatico with the existing craftsman features at the front of the house, and better connection to the backyard.

They didn’t want the extension to “look like a 1908 craftsman,” says Adam, who adds "What if we took those same ideas that embodied the craftsman style, with thoughtful spaces and details, and put them into the addition?”

After: Living Room

Wittman’s first impression was that the home didn’t suit the couple’s lifestyle. “They are quite social,” he explains, noting Adam’s biweekly book club meetings, visits from nearby family, the children’s activities, and their various friend groups. “They didn’t have a space where they could gather with larger groups. People lived very differently in 1908, when they built the house.” He says his goal was to create “different spaces where different age groups can find themselves comfortable and break out.”

He designed a 713-square-foot, two-story addition that removed an odd upper-level bay window with supports stacked on the deck below, and added an extra bedroom and a primary suite. On the main level, a sunken living room with extra-tall ceilings connects to the yard at grade. Mudroom storage fits the family’s gear as they walk in from the carport, while bookshelves and a fireplace frame the lounge area.

Before: Back Wall

After: Lower-Level Addition

Before: Backyard

After: Sunken Living Room

One challenge was the prospect of losing so much yard to the addition. “Our backyard is already pretty small,” says Adam. (Their entire lot is just over 4,000 square feet—which is smaller than typical Seattle lots, Wittman notes.) “We basically lost half of it to the addition, so we wanted the remainder to be even more useful.” Wittman Estes delivered with a series of outdoor “rooms,” including a cast-concrete fireplace with a built-in bench, a dining area, and a covered carport.

$4,900 Site work	$31,000 Foundation	$136,600 Structural
$6,100 Insulation	$19,800 Paint	$29,000 Drywall
$4,860 Tile Materials	$11,340 Tile Labor	$5,037 Flooring Materials
$11,753 Flooring Labor	$21,900 Roofing	$1,700 Hardware
$17,200 Electrical	$18,600 Plumbing	$10,200 HVAC Equipment
$7,000 Custom Woodwork	$34,719 Landscaping	$10,020 Steel Railings
$3,500 Kitchen & Bath Fixtures	$5,500 Lighting	$57,300 Cabinetry
$800 Countertops	$42,000 Windows & Glazing	$2,500 Doors
$4,950 Waste/Debris Removal	$2,400 Permitting	$20,770 General Contractor
$14,103 Demolition	$4,500 Surveyor	$5,500 Glass & Mirrors
$6,350 Fireplace & Surround	$52,631 Tax
Grand Total: $604,533

While the couple considered building these outdoor spaces later to reduce the budget—the landscaping was about $35,000—in the end they decided it would be better to do it all at once. “Despite the yard being smaller, I feel like we use it a lot more,” says Adam. “Even the covered carport doubles as a foursquare court for the kids, which is awesome.”

After: Mudroom

After: Primary Suite

As for the design of the addition, “The main challenge was how to have enough space for the family given the limited expansion area that the city allowed,” says Wittman. One key solution is a pop-out bay window off the back. “There’s the setback, and the city will allow for a bay window into it, so we were able to capitalize on some extra square footage there,” he explains.

Wittman thinks of the bay window as a kind of portal—“between the tame zones inside, and the wild zone,” he says. “Like that book Where the Wild Things Are. The wilding can happen outside.”

Before: Rear Facade

After: Rear Facade

The window is five-and-a-half-feet tall, so a child can stand inside it—and it’s wide enough to lay down beside the glass (Adam has been found reading there). Most importantly, it’s 30 inches off the ground—high enough to jump, but not so high that any kids will get hurt doing so. “Children have a right to be outside,” says Wittman, adding that the point of the design was to “get them outside in a way that is novel, or different than how they'd normally do it.”

It turns out, people of all ages gravitate to it. “Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, we can jump out the window,’” says Charlotte. “It’s fun for adults and kids.”

Before: Backyard

After: Backyard

Before: Driveway Connection

After: Carport

More Before & After stories:

They Rebuilt Their Home’s Historic Brick Facade—but the Back Is a Different Story

With an $850K Reno, a Couple Ditched the Suburbs for a Home in the Sky

They Built a Do-It-All Backyard Shed for $281K

Project Credits:

Architecture: Wittman Estes / @wittman_estes

Builder: Stephen Grudier

Structural Engineer: JWE / Josh Welch

Landscape Design: Wittman Estes

Interior Design: Wittman Estes

Cabinetry: Stephen Grudier

Venetian Plaster: Studio C Designs