Dockside Drama

What is now a dream home began as something of a dare for Robert Cugini. n The third-generation son of the family that ran Seattle’s last lumber mill, the Barbee Mill, once asked his father what would become of the land they owned just south of the mill on the southeast shore of Lake Washington.

“My dad said, ‘You can’t do anything with those lots,’” remembers Cugini, speaking of the 20-foot-wide specks of land, a baker’s dozen worth, that had been platted for vacation houses in the late 1800s. “I guess that became a challenge."

This past July, Robert and his wife, Mary, moved from their long-time Newport Shores home into one of three houses they erected on the lakefront land. The original idea was for Robert’s two sisters to live in the other two houses. That plan was dashed due to long delays caused by negotiations over water, land and railroad uses, with, among others, the State Department of Wildlife and the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad that rolls by just to the east. (The Cuiginis do rent one of their bonus dwellings to family and friends.) What remains, however, is a continuity in the design, says Johan Luchsinger of Bellevue’s Baylis Architects, that gives these shore-hugging dwellings the feel of one.

It wasn’t difficult for Robert to feel at home in the new house. His original office at the Barbee Mill (the mill was closed and its land sold to a developer in 2006), was just a few hundred yards to the north, offering similar breathtaking views of the lake that he gets these days from his kitchen, living room, bedroom or anywhere in the house. “What’s unique about the home is that every room has a 180-degree view of the water,” he says. “That was done on purpose; but also because we had to."

That’s because the lots actually jut out more than 300 feet into Lake Washington, with only about 50 feet of the property resting on dry land. A battered timber bulkhead was replaced with one made of rock. Concerns about the soil near the water were remedied by placing the house’s foundation on pin pilings.

“We agreed to use all natural landscaping for the first 10 feet of the water side, meaning no pesticides or fertilizer, and all native plants,” Cugini says. “We then chose to do all the landscaping that way.”

The exterior of the 2,558-square-foot, three-story house is covered in stucco and cedar wood, with cedar overhangs and metal roofing. A cement walkway out back leads to a barbeque patio, cabana bathroom, outdoor shower and the inviting dock.

The main-floor living space is dramatically wrapped in walnut flooring and windows, with a media room, living room, dining room and kitchen lining up from north to south. The living room’s bare-bones decor features a fireplace and four chairs for conversation, television viewing is restricted to the media room, which opens to a concrete patio via French doors.

Most striking on the ground floor is the kitchen. Mary Cugini who served as the interior designer for all three houses, calls it a “kitchen of twos."

“We customized the kitchen for how we cook, because we both love to do it,” she says of the open area that houses a pair of sinks, two dishwashers and two ovens. “There are five or six feet (between the counters and the island) so we both can move around without killing each other.”

Below the main floor sits the couple’s personal wine cellar, complete with eight-foot ceilings, stained concrete floors and enough cedar-shelved wine racks to hold 1,200 bottles. When he’s not in his wine cellar, Robert can be found in the office in the upper floor’s third bedroom. Walnut rails lead up the staircase where, at the top, the walnut flooring turns into Oregon’s Port Orford cedar, some of the last of the old mill’s flooring. A guest bedroom and bathroom neighbor the office, followed by what the Cuginis call their study: a central sitting room outfitted with a single chair, a library with a built-in espresso maker and a Juliet balcony.

Next door, the master bedroom has open closets, walnut dressers and a sliding barn door leading to a generous bathroom, where his-and-her vanities are accented by limestone counters, and the floor and tub surround are bathed in marble. Yet another balcony is a focal point in the master bedroom. From this vantage point, Robert’s life can almost rewind as he looks north, past his new office, the “sibling” houses that neighbor his new home and onward to where the family’s old mill once stood.

Open House Tour
Our ongoing partnership with the American Institute of Architects Seattle Chapter (AIA Seattle) continues our commitment to bring the experience of Puget Sound–area residential design to our readers. Each issue, we showcase an architect-designed home, selected by AIA Seattle and NWH, that will be open to the public for a Sunday-afternoon viewing. We invite you to tour this issue’s featured home, designed by Baylis Architects, located in Renton at 3905 Lake Washington Blvd. N, Unit D, on Sunday, November 16, between noon and 3 p.m. For more information on the tour and the Open House program; 206.448.4938.

Directions to event: From Interstate 405, take exit 7 toward Northeast 44th Street. Head West towards Lake Washington and take a slight left at Lake Washington Boulevard North.