When the project was first described to me, I thought it was a little whacky: a site on a private island in Puget Sound with no roads and no other houses in view. Accessible only by private craft at high tide (unless you go to shore in a row boat). And then a half-mile trek through salt marsh with weekend supplies in wheelbarrows. Electricity, but no well water or toilets.
The project is to replace the termite-eaten rodent-sheltering log home on the site, a 600 square-foot cabin that has housed family weekends and vacations for nearly forty years.
The day of my site visit was sunny. The trip across the Sound in my client’s 23 foot landing craft warmed my bones, until it was time to climb into the row boat for a short trip to the shore. The footing on the wet rocky beach was unsteady, and I think my client was enjoying this city slicker’s awkwardness.
Climbing to the top of a small bank, the salt marsh came into view. A seemingly endless field of low grass, dotted only with an occasional tree manicured by deer into odd shapes. Total silence. I was awe struck. My client broke the silence by pointing out a small knoll far in the distance, a treed-covered oasis of sorts. “There’s the site.”
I didn't want to break the silence with my voice. We walked through the wet marsh, and as we did the existing log home came into view sitting at the highest point of that oasis, surrounded by wind-contorted pines.
Finally we arrived at the cabin. An east-facing front porch, its roof supported by five tall log columns, the only contrast to the large whole logs laid horizontally to form the shell.
As we walked around the gray weather-beaten cabin, my client explained to me in great detail how the sun and wind interacted with the structure. How the site became so dry in summer that my clients do not light campfires after mid-June. On the north edge of the knoll, a lone headstone marked the gravesite of an early settler who had lived on the island with its Native American owners.
The interior of the cabin was Spartan. A small great room (no sink in the kitchen area..no water) one small bedroom but no bath, a a
A second entry hall large enough for a cot, and a small loft too low to stand in but, my client imagined will be a place that his eventual grandchildren will love to play and sleep in. For now, it functioned as an storage area and an office of sorts.
From the loft a view through the great room below revealed a large open water view of the Sound on the opposite side of the site from which we had approached.
I envied my client’s regular opportunity to share time looking out over this beautiful corner of the world - majestic, silent, peaceful, awe-inspiring- recharging after a busy work week.
The new cabin: Respectful but Modern
I felt strongly that the new house should pay homage to its antecedent in scale, form, and color. My clients, surprised at my respect for the old cabin, encouraged my thinking. The added the requirement of super low maintenance- “Can you imagine getting a painter out here to re-stain the thing,” he quipped. Even though the well they drilled decades ago produced water that was too salty for treatment, the new cabin must have potable water and indoor plumbing- bathrooms and a kitchen sink. “I’ve lugged enough water over the marsh in a wheelbarrow for a lifetime, “she laughed. And they both emphasized that avoiding the grandiose was the order of the day.
Wonderful clients beget wonderful houses, and the design came together with ease. The new 1200 square foot house is comprised of two distinct volumes. The east facing volume – the “bedroom wing”- practically the same size as the existing cabin will be extended with a deeper covered deck that reuses the original log columns. The deck is deeper than the original to allow for family dining around a large table and a pair of Adirondack chairs from which morning coffee and brilliant sunrise view of the distant Cascades will be enjoyed.
The siding will be horizontal bands of low-maintenance textured cement board prefinished with one of Lindal’s two-tone rustic finishes that strikingly simulate weathered logs.
Strategically placed windows will ensure both bedrooms and baths will be bathed in sunlight throughout the day.
The other volume, containing the lofty great room, will be clad in cement board applied in a vertical board and batten pattern, prefinished in a soft solid gray color that will blend into the weathered pine-dotted surrounding. Another large deck invites one to enter the house but is positioned on the north leeward side of the house sheltered by the mass of the house itself. The west side of the great room is a large expanse of glass composed of smaller windows to maintain the cabin’s intimate scale and to soak in the view of the Sound.
The grandkids’ loft with full height and brightly daylit via two flat roofed dormers filled with glass.
Lindal’s tongue and groove pine liner with a pale gray wash and lacquer finish will complete the underside of the post and beam roof and the deep exterior overhangs.
A catchment system will capture all of the rainwater from the metal roof, store it and purify it to perfection. Designed by a catchment system expert, it will process enough rainwater to be for 130 days per year, adequate for weekends and vacations. An innovative modern septic system will require less room than a traditional system.
Lindal has considered the unique site and delivery conditions and will deliver in specially sized bundles for easy offloading and barging to within a few feet of the foundation.
