WHEN YOU’RE RENOVATING an architecturally significant home, the end product aims to impress. When new homeowners purchased this Bellevue, Washington, home in the Lake Hills subdivision, the fact that the home belonged to developer George Bell of the Bell and Valdez building company, which built more than 4,000 homes in the area during the 1950s and ’60s, made the results of their remodel rather high stakes. Thanks to Rick Chesmore and Dave Buck of Chesmore/Buck Architecture, they succeeded. In particular, the rear of the home is a stunning example of leaving a modernist design better than you found it.
“This modest waterfront Mid Century Modern home had been added onto many times in the last 65 years, which created a very disjointed floor plan. The new owners had an interest in creating more of an open plan and clearly distinguishing the private areas from the public zones with minimal walking areas between each. They also had a strong desire to keep the sleek appearance and scale of the low pitch roof while installing new materials for both the interior and exterior of the home,” Rick says. “The Northwest modern aesthetic is enhanced by designing ways to use similar materials on the interior and exterior, and by blurring the distinction between interior and exterior. This site was so beautiful, we wanted to open the exterior walls with glass windows and doors so you could experience more of the beauty of the site.”