While a painting may inspire and music may enlighten, architecture is the one art form tasked with creating something that provides essential function in our daily lives. As far back as 15 B.C.E., Vitruvius famously expounded on the necessary elements of architecture, which he described as firmitas (strength and durability), utilitas (usefulness) and venustas (beauty and charm).
On a rugged hilltop in north Spokane, architect Evan Verduin, founder of Trek Architecture, has achieved a striking balance of all three of those Vitruvian elements in one functional, durable and delight-filled family home.
The home's location was surely durable – after all, the lot was filled with rocky outcroppings. But the rocks also posed the first challenge in the design process. "We needed to come up with a concept that wasn't going to come in and spend a bunch of money removing all the rock, so we worked around it strategically. We did have to break up some rock, but we ended up leaving some outcroppings," Verduin says. "So as you walk through the house, you'll see moments where you can see the rock coming out of the hillside."
The home's design – Verduin describes it as "Scandinavian-inspired, with a Northwest spin" – features a warm mix of wood and concrete, with steep, eaveless rooflines and an intentionally meandering layout.
The concrete walls frequently puncturing the facade feature a textured wood appearance, called board form, and were designed to tie the home to its rocky site. But the prospect of rough gray walls wasn't something the homeowner was initially comfortable with. "I wasn't sure I was going to like it," she says. So Verduin worked to ease her concerns. "We did a couple mock-ups early on," he notes. "We poured walls with three different types of wood, three different types of joint spacings," for the homeowner to see before the design was finalized. The walls have ultimately become a key element of the home's design. "You can imagine if it was all just painted white walls – we do that all the time," Verduin says, "but this just adds a whole other level of texture to it."
Though they're undoubtedly aesthetically compelling, those concrete walls could be problematic in the winter – as in, very cold. So, in a nod to practicality, the house incorporates double walls, with rigid insulation sandwiched between the poured concrete on either side to improve the home's energy efficiency.
The floorplan features a living room and kitchen situated in a vast, beamed vaulted space with a ceiling height of more than 30 feet. "The focal point of the whole home is this living space," Verduin says. Spanning one side of the room is a contemporary fireplace, capped with a large abstract painting. But there's a surprise underneath. "[The homeowner] didn't want the focal point of the living room to be the TV, so we actually ended up coming up with a kind of cool idea to hide the TV behind that piece of art," says Verduin. At the touch of a button, the painting glides up the wall, revealing the TV underneath. The project wasn't particularly easy – "Between the AV guy and the contractors, it required a lot of coordination during construction," says Verduin – but it does neatly solve a common problem of aesthetics versus functionality for a young family.
In another nod to family needs in the often somewhat minimalist aesthetic, a row of nearly invisible broad drawers under the fireplace wall holds board games and other kid-related items, ready for an evening at the nearby game table. The dining area is tucked near the front entry and features a lower ceiling height, creating a more intimate space the homeowner enjoys using to help her kids with homework, but also for entertaining.
A long broad island that separates the kitchen from the living area features easy-access freezer drawers and abundant deep storage drawers, and offers the perfect place for kids to eat breakfast and get ready for school.
Somewhat hidden away across from the kitchen is the butler's pantry. "This is the mom's dream," says the homeowner. "It's my kitchen away from my kitchen – so I can have my mom's mess corner!" Small appliances are lined up and easy to access, and there's also room for little mementos, such as a Mother's Day potted petunia from her son.
The home's second "pod" is accessed through a windowed breezeway, complete with a cushioned nook for reading while enjoying the views of the swaying tall grasses framing the large apricot-toned boulders. The natural look is exactly what the homeowner was going for. "I don't want it to feel like it's all manicured," she says. "I want it to feel like it's in a forest, and I don't want to worry about mowing it every week. We're still working on perfecting it. We're getting there."
The primary bedroom at the end of the hallway is intentionally cool and dark. "I like to sleep in a cave," laughs the homeowner. It also features a sauna. "I love that it's in my bedroom, because I don't think I would use it if it wasn't," she says. Views of the forest and distant Mount Spokane dominate the primary bathroom's tub and shower spaces.
But the showstopper in this wing of the home is undoubtedly the shiny black iron spiral staircase that leads up to an artist studio/exercise space. In the studio, canvases are stacked, and one huge canvas is ready for an abstract painting that she's planned for the dining room.
The spiral staircase was just one of many specific elements the homeowner requested at the outset of the design and build process. "I thought about every space that I wanted specifically and told Evan," she says.
In fact she and Verduin agree that the process of designing and building the home, though taking place over five years, was surprisingly smooth. "Sometimes it's hard to get in the client's head and determine what they're looking for," Verduin says, "but I think on our first pitch, (she) loved it. Obviously we developed it and massaged it over time, but it didn't take us months and months to get to what she liked."
The home's third pod may be the best combination of function and delight, particularly if you happen to be a young boy. Because her son is a budding ninja warrior, the extra-tall garage at the far end of the home is equipped with a ninja-training gym. "Friends come over, and they are out here playing," the homeowner says, noting that someday when the kids are done with the ninja gym, the space can go back to being a large garage, perhaps to store an RV. A "hangout" room near the gym features a virtual golf setup, as well as plenty of toy storage, while a catwalk leading to the kids bedrooms offers a view of the living area below and out through the living room's tall windows, taking in views of the forest and the mountains beyond.
"It is big," the homeowner says of the house, "but nothing seems 'over-big' to me. Every space is very purposeful. Everything is thought through. It's been just exactly what we need."
