Pacific NW Magazine took a peek at local Studio Pacifica architect Karen Braitmayer's house in Magnolia this week. Braitmayer's known for designing and consulting on handicap-accessible houses that don't sacrifice style for wheel-ability, but her own house was kind of lacking in the nice-looking-accessibility department. (Braitmayer's a member of President Obama's U.S. Access Board, which handles handicap accessibility issues around the country.) There were ramps and wide doors and the like, but it wasn't entirely practical for her and her daughter, who both use wheelchairs, and her husband. She wanted a re-do.
Rather than taking on the remodel by herself, she asked Carol Sundstrom of Rom Architecture, the firm with which she shares her office, for some input. Sundstrom ripped out the fireplace (despite Braitmayer's initial resistance), opened the house up, painted the sucker yellow, and added adjustable-height tables, front-load washer and dryers and a lower stove to make the place easy for everyone to use.
Braitmayer's now pretty obsessed -- she couldn't pick what to show Rebecca Teagarden first when she gave her a grand tour for PNW's weekly design feature. For more smooth wooden features, pretty accessible bathrooms and conveniently low cabinets that blend right in, check out their slideshow.
· Accessibly beautiful home in Seattle [Pacific NW]