The floors were sloping and the kitchen pantry was in the basement, but Dana Ferestien and Megan Landis happily lived with the quirks of their 1901 Craftsman home in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood. “As two adults, we could just shrug them off,” Ferestien recalls.

“But then we had a son five years ago, and that changed the dynamic. We found ourselves saying, ‘This house isn’t really working for us anymore,’” he adds.

A backyard view of Dana Ferestien and Megan Landis’s Craftsman home in Seattle before the renovation. Architect Ian Butcher designed a two-story addition that cantilevers off the back, completely transforming the rear profile of the 1901 house." layout="" credit="Add credit" photoUserId=""/>

They needed more room and better-functioning spaces, but they also wanted to maintain the home’s original character. Ferestien and Landis ultimately found inspiration in a neighbor’s Craftsman addition by San Diego artist and designer Roy McMakin. For the couple, it struck the right chord—contemporary yet attuned to the home’s history.

Seeking a local architect with a similar approach, they were given a list of recommended firms by a contractor. It included Best Practice Architecture, whose founder, Ian Butcher, had previously worked for McMakin, the San Diego designer. “It was serendipitous,” Landis says. The couple hired Best Practice to design both an extension and renovations within the existing house.

Butcher and his team wanted to find a common language between the Craftsman and the addition. “There was some character to the house that we liked and wanted to preserve and celebrate, and some things that we wanted to change to make it more livable for 2019,” Butcher says.

He and the couple decided to build a modern, square-shaped extension in the back of the property, allowing the Craftsman to remain unchanged where it faces the street. The same exterior cladding found on the original home—cedar shingles—was used for the expansion, tying the two volumes together. “We loved that contrast: to use this very traditional material on a tight, simple, architectural box,” Butcher says. “It shows reverence for the old house while being entirely its own thing.”

The new kitchen, located on the ground floor of the addition, was the most important space to get right for the couple. “I think at a high level we wanted a kitchen that would be a hub for the family, where you could have lots of people and it wouldn’t feel crowded,” explains Landis.

Butcher favored a mix of materials in gray tones to brighten the room, including quartzite countertops sourced from local stone yard Meta Marble & Granite. To resolve a friendly husband-wife disagreement over whether to have a TV in the room, Butcher designed cabinetry so that the screen could be discreetly tucked away.

With the kitchen pantry now in its logical place, the basement could be put to other uses. Butcher enlarged it and built a new stairwell, transforming the mostly underground space into a light-filled family room with storage and a play area.

The renovation also allowed for smaller gestures that add a touch of whimsy. After selecting a simple gray-and-white palette for most of the interior, the couple took a chance on a tropical wallpaper design featuring monkeys. “We just had to do it,” Landis says, laughing. “The living room is such a contained box—it seemed like it was asking for something with a more dramatic pop of color.”

“ t’s a typical Craftsman, but maybe mildly eccentric," says Butcher." layout="" credit="Photo by Kyle Johnson" photoUserId=""/>

On the second floor, a new master bedroom with an adjacent marble-clad bathroom provides a quiet retreat for the parents. A private balcony with sliding glass doors cantilevers off the master suite, creating a covered deck on the first floor—essential in the rainy Pacific Northwest.

Before the remodel, the couple used to treat themselves occasionally to a night at a hotel in downtown Seattle. Now those getaways have ceased, since the house feels more inviting. “Every day we’ve been living in this space,” Landis adds, “we’ve been more and more thrilled with it.”

Project Credits:

Architect: Best Practice Architecture / @best_practice

Builder: Sound Builders NW

Engineer: Harriott Valentine Engineers / @harriottvalentine

Interior Designer: Leah Steen Interior Design / @leahballsteen

Cabinetry Designer: Arnada Company

Photographer: Kyle Johnson / @KJPHOTOS1022

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A 1901 Craftsman in Seattle Gets a Svelte Cantilevered Addition