Shelter: Down Under

With a vintage home and prime location, some Seattleites find that to add square footage, digging down—or lifting their house up—is the way to gain space


Shortly before Jeff and Teresa Santerre tied the knot in 1987, they bought a home in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood, but they never expected to spend the next two decades renovating the 1906 fixer-upper. “We were a young, merging family,” says Jeff. At that time, their blended family included Teresa’s two children, Chris, 11, and Alison, 7.

For the past 22 years, however, the couple—who are passionate about art and design—have poured their heart and soul into remodeling their domicile, turning the American shingle-style abode (with about 2,600 square feet, plus an unfinished basement) into a palatial 5,000-square-foot dream home. Its sprawling porches and circular floor plan make the home perfect for entertaining. “We just evolved here,” says Jeff.

The Santerres’ most recent endeavor—and probably their last—was renovating the basement or “lower level.”  “We like to call it that due to the level of investment required to get it where it is today,” says Jeff, 56, who is the founder and president of Seattle-based Prestige Custom Builders, Inc. “Previously, only the brave ventured down into the bowels of this old house,” he says.

The Santerres’ methodically planned dig-down—completed last spring—was no small feat. And despite the fact that Jeff is well versed in construction, he enlisted the expertise of architect Brandt Hollinger and West Seattle–based interior designer Carl Williams. “My architect thought of stuff I wouldn’t have done,” says Jeff.

The dig-down began with gutting the existing space and removing the concrete floors. Thirteen foxholes excavated around the perimeter of the foundation allowed the remodel crew to drive pin pilings to support the foundation and export 75 cubic yards of earth. Subsequently, the team removed and restructured several columns and beams to open the space into an ample living area. “We basically went down 2 feet,” says Jeff. Additional work included asbestos abatement and a seismic retrofit that secured the frame to the foundation.

By the time the yearlong project was finished, the Santerres had gained 1,000 square feet of living space, increased ceiling height, and an air conditioning and purification system that greatly improved the overall air quality of the classic home, says Jeff. Today, the new entertainment space also boasts a kitchenette, a three-quarter bathroom, stained fir cabinets, low-voltage halogen accent lighting, hot-water-heated concrete floors and even a wine cellar with a WhisperKOOL cooling system that keeps some 1,000 bottles of vino at the ideal temperature of 56 degrees F.

“This is really a new way of thinking about the basement and the premium living space this part of the home can offer,” says Jeff.

Digging down isn’t the only way to remodel a basement. Queen Anne residents Martha White and Mary Lou Mulflur chose to lift up their 1923 California-style bungalow to gain more basement and headroom. They began renovating the house, previously owned by White’s mother, in December 2007. Up until then, White, 47, and Mulflur, 50, lived in Issaquah with their two children, William and Lindsey, now 8 and 4, respectively. Their original plan was to buy a home where White’s elderly mother, Barbara White, could also reside. But, when they couldn’t find a house that fit all their needs, they decided to remodel Barbara’s home instead.