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“There’s something about it that feels very contextual to where it is—on a little teeny hill, looking out over the Dry Creek Valley, and there’s nothing else artful around,” says Louis.

“Watching the sunrise and moonrise from the living room is gobsmacking,” says James.

The designer dressed the breakfast nook with a custom table inspired by Eero Saarinen, a Louis Poulsen-designed pendant, geometric-patterned wallpaper by Pierre Frey, pale green Farrow & Ball wall paint, and a bench upholstered with vinyl from Kravet.

Quartersawn oak built-ins throughout the house were fabricated by Toronto cabinetmaker Built Work Design.

A peek at another bedroom, located off the dining room.

A Norman Copenhagen Amp pendant light brings both light and personality.

Main house

The ferns encircle the kitchen and even camouflage the refrigerator. "I worked with Tempest Tileworks here in Portland, who made each tile by hand and gave me guidance on how to paint with glaze, which I'd never done before," says Eng-Goetz. The green range is from Lacanche.

Once the awkward back staircase was removed, the designers made way for a new family room downstairs.

The backsplash tile is by Fireclay, the 2x8 field tile in Calcite.

Rich black soapstone counters wrap black-matte IKEA cabinets, and appliances are hidden behind cabinet fronts so the room recedes. Storage now extends under the windows and lines the dining area, where the table and chairs were both Craigslist finds.

To avoid excavating the land, Pang and Boyle designed a structural platform to keep the cabin level.

To reflect light around the room, Alper chose to use two shades of white in this space. The warmer of the two, Cotton Balls, was used on the walls.

Set on 21 acres at the top of the Snoqualmie Valley, the 3,200-square-foot Maxon House represents a major lifestyle change for the Maxons, who previously lived in a split-level in a planned subdivision. "When you’re here, you just sit and watch what’s happening outside," says Lou. "It’s like the Weather Channel. We don’t even need the TV." Kim adds, "In spring everything explodes." Cedars, hemlocks, and vine maples shoot up from the fern-covered hillside.

An expansive glass door trimmed in vertical grain fir opens the interior to the refreshed deck. The designers made sure to keep the frame around the doors thin, in order to capture views and convey the minimal detailing of the original midcentury home. “All those details that go into keeping that eastern window wall as open and permeable as possible kept the essence of the original house, increased the indoor/outdoor connection, and retained that character that we and the owners had responded to in the house,” says Griesmeyer.

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The Ki cabins, which is named after the Japanese word for tree, are nestled among light oak trees around the two-mile lake on the estate’s Hill Wood plots.

A Floyd Platform bed and Headboard supports a mattress from Tuft and Needle and Parachute linens in a warm oatmeal color. The artwork is from the Poster Club.

Before: The dining nook had potential to be more usable.