How A Classic Seattle Home Adopted English Cottage Vibes

A well-known Maybelline advertisement pictures a model and muses “Maybe she’s born with it,” before suggesting that perhaps cosmetics could be responsible for her beauty. In a similar vein, people admiring this West Seattle home built in 1924 might assume its vintage charm is inherent. But they would be wrong, because, in the parlance of the beauty industry, the residence has had some work done.

The timeless features the dwelling now possesses were engineered by frequent collaborators architect Lauren Crocco and interior designer Heidi Caillier. Crocco was initially hired for the job by the owners, a pair of empty nesters who purchased the abode to reside closer to children and grandchildren. “They had a project on their hands,” the architect remembers. “Although the house had a vaguely Craftsman style, it didn’t have much character. What it did have was a lot of worn fixtures and finishes, a nonexistent foundation under the rear addition, and fixed windows that didn’t take advantage of the views.”

A similar visual play enlivens the dining room, where a leafy Craftsman-style wallcovering backdrops chairs with woven rattan backs and patterned upholstered seats set atop another flat-weave rug with a rustic print. “The client allowed us to be adventurous with color and texture,” Caillier says. “It makes the home inviting.”

The designer’s favorite room in the house is the kitchen, a space that Crocco took down to the studs and clarified by eliminating awkward angles. “When assembling this room, I had the look of traditional British kitchens in mind,” Caillier says. That aesthetic starts on the floor, where she commissioned a decorative artist to paint a checkerboard of creamy squares, allowing the natural wood color to shine through in every other space on the grid for warmth. The wood tone is echoed in the beams overhead. Classic inset cabinets painted a muted blue color and accented with aged-brass hardware surround an island standing on furniture-like legs.

Serving double duty, the combined office-guest room houses the wife’s desk and workspace as well as a twin-sized bed enveloped in curtains and perched beneath a window. “The bed is for the grandkids, and we included a nook at the foot of it for books,” Caillier says. “When the children come to visit and pull the drapes, it becomes a magical place for a sleepover.”

Throughout the home, the pieces outfitting each space don’t explicitly match, and that’s on purpose. “This is a house where it appears that elements came together over time,” Caillier says. “The effect is spaces that are gracious and welcoming.” It’s the kind of beauty that’s more than skin deep.