1930's Moderne International Style home in Seattle designed by Paul Thiry- complete restoration 2006-2010
In the mid-1930s, Seattle architect Paul Thiry traveled to Europe to study a new, modern European architecture that was emerging with the visionary work of Walter Gropius, Meis van der Rohr and Le Corbusier. With new-found inspiration, he returned to Seattle a few years later, and completely renounced traditional design. Early in 1993, just a few months before his death, he described traditional residential architecture to me as "a regurgitation of styles of the past." He changed the focus of his work to modern, cubist style residences with flat roofs and concrete & steel construction methods that incorporated glass block windows, polished steel trim and radius corners.
In late 2005, we purchased this handsome and rugged concrete & steel International Style home, which Paul Thiry designed in 1937. The home has 5 bedrooms and 5 baths, comprising over 5,000 square feet. Working with the original architectural plans, we have embarked on a comprehensive and massive multi-million dollar restoration of the home, which brought back to its original appearance and added some additional period-style detailing, which might have been included in the home had it not been built during the Great Depression. Every aspect of the home has been updated. Quite literally, every surface, fixture and building component has been restored, refinished or replaced. All building systems have been replaced to bring the home up to modern standards, including all new copper plumbing, wiring & lighting, 400 amp electrical service, cable TV, Cat 5 wiring, furnace/AC system, and twin 75 gallon hot water tanks with a tempering valve and a recirculating pump system.
The interior work includes restoring the vintage mosaic tile fountain room and its connection to the concentric-circle pond in the greenhouse. The main floor has been redone with subtle unpolished white Carrera marble floors and a black Brazilian slate border to blend with the existing black slate entry. The existing bone travertine and gray marble fireplace has a new black slate hearth to go along with the other black slate in the room. The Art Deco steel hand rails & steel support columns have been ground and polished to a bright chrome-like finish. The home has been decorated with authentic black lacquer 1930's French Art Deco furniture, which we had restored in Germany. The upholstered pieces are covered in bone German leather to coordinate with the travertine fireplace. French Art Deco beveled mirrors, European Chrystal chandeliers and walls sconces, French silk armchairs in the living room, and a large collection of Meji and Edo period antique Japanese Imari porcelain complete the decorating. The kitchen has book-matched African Sapele "ribbon-Mahogany" cabinetry with radius corners and vintage 1950's Modern chrome cabinet hardware, polished granite counters with Honey Onyx backsplash and 9 stainless steel Viking, SubZero and Miele appliances.
The lower level includes a media room with Italian leather furniture, a Pioneer Elite flat screen TV, 7.1 surround sound with a built-in vintage ADS speaker system, and custom ribbon mahogany cabinetry. The large spa and dressing room has a pink Italian marble and glass block shower, a two-person Jacuzzi jetted tub, a vintage 1930's Art Deco buffet that has been retro-fitted with a porcelain sink and stereo system, putty-color high gloss cabinetry, heated pink Italian marble slab floors inlaid with Red Jasper stone and Mother-of-Pearl tiles in a Greek Key pattern.
On the second floor, the 5 bedrooms have been refurbished with refinished oak and fir floors, modern closets and custom high-gloss built-in cabinets. The master bath has been remodeled with restored vintage fixtures and retains its rare original 1930s glass Vitrolite walls. The two other bathrooms upstairs were remodeled with modern fixtures and polished chrome fittings, heated white Carerra marble floors, salvaged vintage towel bars that match the originals and custom high-gloss cabinets. The V.I.P. suite bathroom features NOS vintage 1950's pink porcelain fixtures, beveled glass mirrors set into the white Carrera marble walls and a large Jacuzzi corner tub that fills from the ceiling above. The interior painting was done with a very special high-solids Old World Dutch paint that yields a velvet-like texture on the walls and a high gloss piano type finish on the woodwork in soft putty tones.
The exterior work included removing the troweled stucco and wood trim that was unsympathetically added to the home many decades ago, as well as the small shed roof addition to the garage. This has exposed the original concrete façade, which we have restored and painted in a warm flesh pink hue. In addition, we have added the glass block windows to the greenhouse room that are shown in the original plans, but were deleted during the original construction, using lovely German glass blocks that match the original ones.
The front yard and driveway have been transformed into a landscaped Auto-Court and courtyard patio. The new concrete block walls and new stainless steel, bronze & glass Art Deco electric privacy gates create a private and secure walled and gated compound. The driveway and courtyard are finished in rose-colored stained concrete with custom cast bronze grates in a Greek Key pattern. The original stainless steel and copper front door has been restored and has a new brass and glass nautical porthole. Other features of the front courtyard are a concrete and glass block addition to the garage with a polished granite-faced balcony, 3 decorative braided stainless steel & brass wall panels at the front door, matching twin 8' tall rough-hewn concrete waterfalls, weather-hardy Chinese fan Palm trees, and tropical plantings including Gardenia, white Casa Blanca Lilies, New Guinea Impatiens, Agapanthus, white Jasmine and Sarcossa, all reminiscent of 1930’s Art Deco tropical landscape designs. A dozen large teal-glazed pots display annuals and Lilies. Wicker patio furniture with Sunbrella cushions provide seating in the courtyard and also on the back patio. From the original landscaping in the front yard there is a mature Japanese Maple and a grand flowering Cherry tree.
The backyard features a country garden with historic species Roses from the Fred Anhalt estate and David Austin hybrid Roses, tree Peonies, Rhododendrons, Camellias, Hydrangeas, boxwood, a flowering Japonica tree, a pink Dogwood, a large Lilac tree, and a Hornbeam hedge. A 6-person 480 gallon Jacuzzi hot tub and a cast stone water feature are in the lower garden which is paved in broken granite with wild strawberry ground cover between the pieces. At the bottom of the exterior basement stairs is an interesting feature: a restored gardener’s bathroom, occasionally found in pre-War architect designed homes.
Twenty feet in the air on the roof is a new 1,000 square foot rooftop terrace, faced in 3 cm polished Gealo Farfala granite with a glass & bronze filigree Art Deco railing, Viking barbecue and outdoor shower. The 180 degree view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains is unobstructed and breathtaking.
Read MoreIn late 2005, we purchased this handsome and rugged concrete & steel International Style home, which Paul Thiry designed in 1937. The home has 5 bedrooms and 5 baths, comprising over 5,000 square feet. Working with the original architectural plans, we have embarked on a comprehensive and massive multi-million dollar restoration of the home, which brought back to its original appearance and added some additional period-style detailing, which might have been included in the home had it not been built during the Great Depression. Every aspect of the home has been updated. Quite literally, every surface, fixture and building component has been restored, refinished or replaced. All building systems have been replaced to bring the home up to modern standards, including all new copper plumbing, wiring & lighting, 400 amp electrical service, cable TV, Cat 5 wiring, furnace/AC system, and twin 75 gallon hot water tanks with a tempering valve and a recirculating pump system.
The interior work includes restoring the vintage mosaic tile fountain room and its connection to the concentric-circle pond in the greenhouse. The main floor has been redone with subtle unpolished white Carrera marble floors and a black Brazilian slate border to blend with the existing black slate entry. The existing bone travertine and gray marble fireplace has a new black slate hearth to go along with the other black slate in the room. The Art Deco steel hand rails & steel support columns have been ground and polished to a bright chrome-like finish. The home has been decorated with authentic black lacquer 1930's French Art Deco furniture, which we had restored in Germany. The upholstered pieces are covered in bone German leather to coordinate with the travertine fireplace. French Art Deco beveled mirrors, European Chrystal chandeliers and walls sconces, French silk armchairs in the living room, and a large collection of Meji and Edo period antique Japanese Imari porcelain complete the decorating. The kitchen has book-matched African Sapele "ribbon-Mahogany" cabinetry with radius corners and vintage 1950's Modern chrome cabinet hardware, polished granite counters with Honey Onyx backsplash and 9 stainless steel Viking, SubZero and Miele appliances.
The lower level includes a media room with Italian leather furniture, a Pioneer Elite flat screen TV, 7.1 surround sound with a built-in vintage ADS speaker system, and custom ribbon mahogany cabinetry. The large spa and dressing room has a pink Italian marble and glass block shower, a two-person Jacuzzi jetted tub, a vintage 1930's Art Deco buffet that has been retro-fitted with a porcelain sink and stereo system, putty-color high gloss cabinetry, heated pink Italian marble slab floors inlaid with Red Jasper stone and Mother-of-Pearl tiles in a Greek Key pattern.
On the second floor, the 5 bedrooms have been refurbished with refinished oak and fir floors, modern closets and custom high-gloss built-in cabinets. The master bath has been remodeled with restored vintage fixtures and retains its rare original 1930s glass Vitrolite walls. The two other bathrooms upstairs were remodeled with modern fixtures and polished chrome fittings, heated white Carerra marble floors, salvaged vintage towel bars that match the originals and custom high-gloss cabinets. The V.I.P. suite bathroom features NOS vintage 1950's pink porcelain fixtures, beveled glass mirrors set into the white Carrera marble walls and a large Jacuzzi corner tub that fills from the ceiling above. The interior painting was done with a very special high-solids Old World Dutch paint that yields a velvet-like texture on the walls and a high gloss piano type finish on the woodwork in soft putty tones.
The exterior work included removing the troweled stucco and wood trim that was unsympathetically added to the home many decades ago, as well as the small shed roof addition to the garage. This has exposed the original concrete façade, which we have restored and painted in a warm flesh pink hue. In addition, we have added the glass block windows to the greenhouse room that are shown in the original plans, but were deleted during the original construction, using lovely German glass blocks that match the original ones.
The front yard and driveway have been transformed into a landscaped Auto-Court and courtyard patio. The new concrete block walls and new stainless steel, bronze & glass Art Deco electric privacy gates create a private and secure walled and gated compound. The driveway and courtyard are finished in rose-colored stained concrete with custom cast bronze grates in a Greek Key pattern. The original stainless steel and copper front door has been restored and has a new brass and glass nautical porthole. Other features of the front courtyard are a concrete and glass block addition to the garage with a polished granite-faced balcony, 3 decorative braided stainless steel & brass wall panels at the front door, matching twin 8' tall rough-hewn concrete waterfalls, weather-hardy Chinese fan Palm trees, and tropical plantings including Gardenia, white Casa Blanca Lilies, New Guinea Impatiens, Agapanthus, white Jasmine and Sarcossa, all reminiscent of 1930’s Art Deco tropical landscape designs. A dozen large teal-glazed pots display annuals and Lilies. Wicker patio furniture with Sunbrella cushions provide seating in the courtyard and also on the back patio. From the original landscaping in the front yard there is a mature Japanese Maple and a grand flowering Cherry tree.
The backyard features a country garden with historic species Roses from the Fred Anhalt estate and David Austin hybrid Roses, tree Peonies, Rhododendrons, Camellias, Hydrangeas, boxwood, a flowering Japonica tree, a pink Dogwood, a large Lilac tree, and a Hornbeam hedge. A 6-person 480 gallon Jacuzzi hot tub and a cast stone water feature are in the lower garden which is paved in broken granite with wild strawberry ground cover between the pieces. At the bottom of the exterior basement stairs is an interesting feature: a restored gardener’s bathroom, occasionally found in pre-War architect designed homes.
Twenty feet in the air on the roof is a new 1,000 square foot rooftop terrace, faced in 3 cm polished Gealo Farfala granite with a glass & bronze filigree Art Deco railing, Viking barbecue and outdoor shower. The 180 degree view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains is unobstructed and breathtaking.
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