Garage

Schaer replaced the garage’s crumbling wooden posts with an earthquake-resistant steel frame. He also excavated beneath the building, establishing a basement level for a workshop, storage, laundry, and water heater. The earth removed in the process was shoveled into concrete “boxes” in the yard. These form a raised terrace from which you can see the Olympic mountains.

“They are a very active family, with rowing and basketball at the top of the list,” Witt says. “Other activities include water sports, volleyball, and entertaining—even in the winter months, which have short, usually damp days.” Witt created a garage deep enough to hang rowing shelves and enclosed it in a Wayne Dalton garage door.

“The stable/garage was built with two intersecting gable roof forms," Schaer says, which didn't match up with the inteiror spaces within. “In order to provide a unified, singular main space, we dropped a flat ceiling at the entrance and linked it up with the main gable visible from the street.”