Collection by Nadja Jonsson
The kitchen cabinet wall provides storage and workspace, yet retains an open feel by stopping well beneath the ceiling. Sliding cabinets at the bottom reduce the number of space-hogging swinging cabinet doors, and a KitchenAid mixer is hidden behind the horizontal lift-up cabinet at right, which recesses into the wall. “The cooktop is at a height where I can see into my pot of spaghetti sauce,” says Braitmayer. “I cook in this kitchen more than ever before.” The countertops are heat-resistant, allowing more options for the person cooking. To the right of the sink is an ADA-compliant dishwasher from Miele. The pendant lights are from Progress Lighting.
As an architect who specializes in universal access design and ADA compliance and as a wheelchair user herself, Karen Braitmayer was no stranger to the challenges of accessible design. Although she had been able to take advantage of her 1954 home's single-level, open layout, as her daughter (also a wheelchair user) grew up, the family's accessibility needs also shifted. The main living area includes a more formal sitting area near the entrance, the dining area, Braitmayer’s workspace, and the kitchen—you can see the couple’s daughter working at the island. In the foreground is a pair of midcentury chairs; at left is a Heywood-Wakefield that Braitmayer found at an antiques shop. Seattle-based designer Lucy Johnson completed the interiors. The windows are from Lindal, and the exterior doors are from Marvin.
“When we first drove by the house, I saw the front and said, ‘No way,’” remembers Braitmayer of initially seeing the home, which was advertised as having a level entry. “But then we discovered the alley leading to the back of the house and the garage, which already had a ramp, as the previous owner’s wife also had a mobility limitation.” After the family settled in, Braitmayer began working in the garden, which she says “can never really be finished—there always has to be something left to do.”
Zoning laws determined the maximum square footage of the guesthouse; as a workaround, Schwartz created a detached two-car garage, which did not count toward the dwelling’s overall size. In addition to the breezeway and the overhang, a series of ipe slats unite the two structures, covering the doors and a walkway in between. The living area is furnished with a Raleigh sofa and armchair by Jeffrey Bernett and Nicholas Dodziuk; the direct-vent gas stove is by Jøtul.
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