In Seattle, a Modern Home That Looks Toward the Sky and the Water
Modern interior design has become so popular in Seattle that, for a while, the city appeared to be living in a golden age of design. But the golden age is about to end.
The modernism craze was not just a Seattle phenomenon: the city went through periods in the late 1970s and early 1980s filled with homes built with huge spaces, dramatic colors, and sleek forms. But by the early 2000s, most of those homes were gone. Today, most of Seattle’s new modern or contemporary homes are filled with small spaces. Interior designers and designers have had a chance to examine the city’s new homes and look at the reasons for the new-home trend.
The reasons for the new-home trend are simple. “The modern homes we’re building are less stuffy and look more like what we really want,” said Chris Gaskins, owner of R&G Interior Design in Seattle. “They all have the same layout and space—and they’re much taller, and the windows are really big.”
To a large extent, it’s the same reason the first wave of modern homes in Seattle was the last wave: Fewer homes had large, open floor plans and high ceilings, said Gaskins. He also sees evidence of it when he visits his clients’ homes or shows them pictures he took of their houses, he said.
“The new homes are a lot simpler and more modern because they’re so much taller,” Gaskins said. “There’s a little more drama and a little more energy to them. It’s very cool to look at.”
But the modern-house trend goes beyond the tall, narrow, and open spaces. It’s also about how they relate to the land, its atmosphere, and the views from the windows. Gaskins offers many examples.
A Modern Home With Views
The house in this photo is the only one on the first page of Seattle homes that has views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains outside. The house also has a large foyer with an open area downstairs and a big back yard. The house has glass walls on all the windows and a modern style in the furnish