This Urban Tree House Is Upping Seattle’s Apartment Game
The first community tree house opens its doors to residents at South Lake Union's Sitka Apartments
By Sydney Gladu August 29, 2019
This article originally appeared in the September 2019 issue of Seattle Magazine.
This article appears in print in the September 2019 issue. Click here to subscribe.
Picture your childhood tree house. Now, scratch the rope ladder and add a fireplace, kitchenette and living roof. Perched 20 feet above street level in South Lake Union, the Island Treehouse is a grown-up version of that childhood hideout: a unique 235-square-foot communal space at Sitka Apartments (1255 Harrison St.; 206.466.2432), a 384-unit complex that welcomed its first residents last November. The rustic, wilderness-inspired tree house structure, decked in wood paneling and accessible via a skybridge, was designed by Daniel Mihalyo of Seattle’s Lead Pencil Studio, who says it’s the first community tree house in an apartment complex. Unfortunately, it’s only open to residents and their guests—no interlopers allowed.
Join The Must List
Seattle's best events delivered to your inbox
Follow Us
TURNING THE OTHER PEAK
SUNCADIA VACATION HOME REFLECTS FAMILY’S OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
Interrupting their travels to build a vacation home from scratch was the last thing on the minds of Sherri and Ali Anissipour in 2019 when they went on an anniversary holiday to Suncadia resort, located about 90 minutes east of their Seattle home. “We wanted to travel the world,” Sherri says, “not go to the…
From the inside out
INTERIOR DESIGNER ANNA POPOV DID NOT WANT TO WORK ON HER OWN HOME. THEN SHE FIGURED SHE COULD DO IT BETTER
Anna Popov never wanted to design her own house. An interior designer by trade, she didn’t want to put the amount of time, energy, and thought that she offers to her clients into designing her own home. She’d rather just find a place that checked all her boxes. But after two years of searching, nothing…
Publisher’s Note: Can Our Architecture Make Us Better?
Seattle's built environment reveals a lot about the city
With this issue’s focus on iconic Seattle architecture, we continue to drive awareness of the fact that Seattle is a world-class city, even if we ourselves may not know it yet. It’s been said that architecture stands as a representation of how we see ourselves, of how we see the world. At its most practical,…
AIA Home: Goodbye 1970
Family fixes design flaws to bring midcentury home into modern era
“Treehouse” by Floisand Studio Architects returns to glory a Ralph D. Anderson home that had lost its compass. Nick and Rachel Lenington purchased the 1970 Mercer Island home in 2010, attracted to the quiet neighborhood because of its midcentury vibe, big, west-facing windows, and abundant wildlife. An advertised water view didn’t really pan out, but…