The
Black House
November
1995
HOME
East Goes West
When
it came to building their dream house on a five-acre site in White
Salmon, Washington near the Columbia River transplanted Easterners,
Laurie Black and her husband Mark King, knew just what they wanted
"a little bit of home".
Working
with architect Michael Dowd, they designed a two-story cottage that
resembled the farmhouses that dot East Coast landscapes. Laurie had
grown up in New Jersey; Mark in North Carolina. So it was little wonder
that the sketch they drew for the architect resembled the East Coast
farmhouses they had left behind: a rectangular box with a covered
front entrance and a wraparound back porch, one part of which was
screened.
Architect
Dowd turned the sketch into 2,000 square feet of living space including
three bedrooms and a study. He sited the house so that its tall windows,
porches, and balcony took in sweeping views of surrounding woods and
meadows and the distant Cascade Mountains. With its simple, clean
lines, the house looks as if it's always been part of the landscape.
Laurie
and Mark had equally strong feelings about the materials that would
be used for their house as they did about its style of architecture.
"We have fairly simple tastes, but we respect high quality," says
Mark King.
The
resulting house has a clapboard exterior of red cedar, which the Western
Red Cedar Lumber Association calls "a naturally durable decay-resistant
product." And the beveled cedar siding that sheathes the house also
proved ideal for accepting Pratt & Lambert paint. Pella windows and
patio doors allow the spectacular view to become part of the interior,
while the house's steel roof, when warmed by the sun, aids snowmelt
at the end of Pacific Northwest winters.
One
of the homeowners' concerns was that the furnishings, like the architecture
of the house, look as if they had always been in place. The new tea-stained
fabrics created just the warm, lived-in look they wanted. And while
nearly all the furnishings in the house are new, many of them are
either made of old materials or crafted to look old.
Although
the furniture was a strong focal point, Habkirk made sure none was
higher than the windows so the wonderful views were unobstructed.
In the 14-by-18-foot living room, a Belleport sofa, made for Crate
& Barrel by Mitchell Gold, is covered in a cotton damask the homeowners
custom ordered. Across from it sits a Hawthorne chair and ottoman,
each slip-covered in a "tea-stained" chintz that simulates graceful
aging.
The
coffee table, which extends in front of the fireplace, and the adjacent
cane-seated pull-up chair are reproduction British Colonial pieces
made of recycled old teak. The room's striking fireplace by Fireplace
Xtrordinair is surrounded by Ann Sacks tile for an overscaled look.
It's topped by a mantel the homeowners designed, and accented by a
wreath available at Crate & Barrel furniture stores.
When
there is no fire in the fireplace, the living room and other spaces
in the house are warmed by Runtal hot-water baseboard radiators. To
help circulate the warmth and also stir cool breezes in the summer
is a ceiling fan by Casablanca framed by Halo recessed lighting.
As elsewhere
throughout the house, attention to detail and custom touches give
the 14-by-19-foot kitchen, designed by Beth Roberts of Design Concepts
in Lake Oswego, Oregon, an inviting look. While the living room and
dining room walls have a subtle faux patina created using Pratt &
Lambert paints, the kitchen's butter yellow walls and ceilings are
complemented by custom cabinets made of cherry wood.
The
counters and custom-made wrought-iron work table are topped with easy-care
Avonite. The blacksplach is Ann Sacks tile. Pitchers displayed in
the upper cabinets and pieces of art pottery in the rusted-steel etagere
were made by local craftsmen.
Recessed
and halogen pendant lights from Halo Lighting create subtle augmentation
in a room flooded with sunlight through tall kitchen windows. For
anyone standing at the sink, the outdoor view is of an ordered wilderness,
for the house tops a ridge bordered by woodlands.
Laurie
sums up the house's look as "simply elegant"; Mark put it even more
succinctly: "It's home!"
