AIA Home of the Month: A Mercer Island Remodel

Tynis and Fancy Promet are a rare example of sweat-equity remodeling done right.

First, they hired an architect, David Foster, whose portfolio and personality they found equally appealing. Second, they armed him with a big binder of pro-and-con ideas, which Fancy exhaustively compiled from myriad design Websites and magazines.

What the couple had in mind was a major remodeling, on a relatively modest budget, of the 1960s Ranch-style house on Mercer Island that they had purchased in 2005. As well as looking for larger, lighter, more contemporary interiors, the couple wanted a third-floor addition, primarily to serve as guest quarters for when Fancy’s parents visit from California. Other special requests: plenty of display space for the couple’s artwork and mementos from their extensive travels, much collected on Asia sojourns, a sauna for Tynis (a cultural touchstone for the Estonia native) and an indoor climbing wall for their young son, Dakota. Foster, who characterizes his design style as “warm modern,” responded with a simple yet sublime plan that connected the kitchen, dining room and living room on the main floor by bringing down blocking interior walls (that load-bearing work is now done by a handsomely exposed steel beam), and by adding floor-to-ceiling windows along the house’s street-facing side. “What counts for me are volume, space and light,” says Foster, “and getting the parts of the building that are traditionally definitive…anything you can touch, like railings, getting those details right.”

The third-floor addition, which Foster subtly integrated into the design, complete with a sitting room, bathroom, two bedrooms and a private deck, is a particular hit with the couple. “The problem with lots of remodels that are additions is that you see right away that something’s been added,” remarks Tynis. “David did a fantastic job blending it in.” The extra room is well used. Says Fancy, “We use almost every inch in the house; especially when my parents are here.”

The couple’s potentially riskiest money-saving sweat-equity measure also ended well. Tynis was determined to act as his own contractor, an idea that originally alarmed his architect. “I think I kept a pretty straight face,” recalls Foster on first hearing the idea. “I advised him strongly to get a general contractor, but the fact of the matter is it worked out great....Most owners wouldn’t be able to pull off everything on their own like that, but he’s got a mind for it.” Fortunately, the professional piano and antiques restorer also has a Craftsman’s skill set and an artist’s ethic. He not only did a lot of the heavy lifting, such as the laying of the sod, but handled all of the fine finish work, from the kitchen cabinetry to the floors.

Says Tynis of his home labors, “I specialize in Steinways, but the idea is the same. It’s just lots of details and you have to pay attention to the quality.”