One of the first times Cynthia Chua saw her future home in person, it was about to take an excavator to its side. Fortunately, the Seattle property was handpicked by two of her daughters, Sarah and Julia Smith, who have a keen eye for design: Sarah is an architect at local firm Best Practice Architecture, and Julia works at Unique Art Glass, a family-owned, custom stained glass studio.

The 1950s two-level residence is set on a quiet street in the city’s Mount Baker neighborhood, and it has views of Lake Washington just a few blocks away, so it seemed like the perfect place for Cynthia, a retired doctor, who was moving from Cincinnati to be closer to two of her three daughters. (The oldest, Lauren is a creative director and amateur photographer living in Los Angeles with her three young children).

Before: Exterior

After: Exterior

“I initially thought that a condo would be really nice,” Sarah says one rainy afternoon, sitting next to Cynthia at the dining room table of the midcentury house, “but you were more ambitious.”

After: Entryway

Cynthia wanted the ability to have family—specifically Lauren’s family in California—over for extended stays, “but to also have my own space,” she says.

After seeing several houses in the area, Sarah and Julia came across the Mount Baker property, which was in dire need of work. The yard was overgrown and scattered with old furniture and outdoor gear, the ceilings were low, rooms felt cramped and closed off, and the staircase between the upper and lower levels bisected the house in a way that interrupted its circulation.

Despite these setbacks, the house, which had been a rental property for more than 20 years, hit three items on Cynthia’s punch list: a garage aligned with the first level, a basement that could be turned into a mother-in-law apartment, and sweeping lake views.

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

“At the time, the market was insane,” Sarah recalls. “It was still at the point where if you didn’t jump on it right away, it was going to slip through your fingers. So, we toured it and did a FaceTime walk-through with my mom.”

Aside from the views, the brick midcentury didn’t initially impress Cynthia. “I was like, ‘Just tear the house down and build a new one,’” she says. But her daughters, and particularly Sarah, the architect, saw potential beyond the dated finishes, dark interiors, and small rooms. Cynthia trusted their vision—and they quickly brought her on board with plans for a remodel.

Before: Dining Room

After: Dining Room

The sisters started a group chat—without their mother—to discuss the details of the project, which Sarah says went smoothly overall. “If I had done this in my twenties, I think it would have been much more difficult,” she says of working with her sisters and their partners. “We had messages about everything from which side to put stair railings on to whether the outdoor lights should be on timers or motion sensors.” (They ended up with a mix of both.)

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

After: Powder Room

The initial plan was a phased renovation, working with Bellan Construction, but once demolition started, “there was so much not up to code,” Sarah explains, that it became necessary to do a complete overhaul, all at once. “There used to be a landfill nearby, so most of the earth underneath was fill, which made it unstable, so we had to add pin piles.” Much the downstairs slab had to be pulled up and reinforced, and many of the existing stem walls—the portion of a structure that connects the foundation with the walls—needed reinforcement. “In the end,” Sarah says, “most of the house ended up getting removed and we rebuilt in the exact same footprint.”

Before: Primary Bedroom

After: Primary Bedroom

The only expansion was the addition of a 52-square-foot mudroom at the entryway, which includes hooks for coats and a floor-level niche for muddy shoes. Cynthia planned to occupy the main floor, so Sarah took the two existing bedrooms and combined them into one primary suite with laundry, a sizable walk-in closet, and a bathroom.

“She wanted a spa-like bathroom that felt really calming,” Sarah says, noting that her mother’s requests were often materials- or color-based. This rang true on the exterior, which is clad in scalloped, oak shingles stained in semiopaque white. The look was inspired by architectural nostalgia for New England: the first place Philippines-born Cynthia lived in the United States while attending Mount Holyoke College.

Before: Basement

After: Basement

The formerly cramped and crowded kitchen, which was separate from the rest of the house, is now open to the living and dining area, with a new quartzite-topped counter, integrated appliances, and ample storage. Cynthia wanted a space where she could cook but still interact with guests—she has her two local daughters, their partners, and their dogs over every Sunday night for a family dinner.

Two major architectural interventions happened in the living room, where the team vaulted the ceiling, replacing an existing square skylight with three slim, rectangular ones, and rotated the staircase to the basement by 90 degrees, relocating it to the south end of the house. Now, natural light floods the space, illuminating the new green-glazed brick fireplace, even on the grayest Pacific Northwest day.

Before: Backyard

After: Backyard

Downstairs, two bedrooms occupy the north end of the house, where a separate entry grants guests the freedom to come and go as they please. The guest bathroom, updated with a contemporary look in shades of gray and white, stayed in place, and the kitchenette was moved from a windowless back room (now a storage space and gym) to the main living area. Sliding doors offers easy access to the overhauled yard, where landscape design firm Cambium installed a patio populated with Blu Dot outdoor furniture and a fire feature. The house was completed in about a year from the start of construction—just in time for summer—and Cynthia’s first visitors were Lauren and her family.

“Ten days later we had an open house!” Cynthia recalls.

“There’s nothing like a party to get you to the deadline,” Sarah adds with a laugh. In a sense, it was a triumph for the entire family, who worked together to give their mom the space she deserves. “She worked so hard to be an amazing mom for me and my sisters,” Sarah says. “It felt nice to be able to give back in this next chapter of her life.”

More Before & After stories:

A Gut Remodel Corrects a Century of Quick Fixes in This Brooklyn Row House

Ann Edgerton Takes the ’80s Out of Her Texas Ranch House

Three Sisters Give an Abandoned Portuguese Farmhouse a Vibrant Revival

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Best Practice Architecture / @best_practice

Builder: Bellan Construction

Structural Engineer: Smith Lubke Structural Design

Landscape Design: Cambium

Stained Glass Windows: Unique Art Glass

Appears In

Before & After: Three Creative Sisters Team Up to Remodel Their Mom’s Forever Home