This $1,198,000 house doesn't just look modern, it lives modern. They labeled this 2015 Novian Architecture reconstruction a NW Contemporary, but its true contemporaries are all modern. The form is angular. The interior is uncluttered and open. The function, however, is where the real modernity arrives.
When they tore down the original 1960's house, they repurposed two tons of the material for the new house. That old material was that matched to high-tech, low-impact versions of materials like concrete, glass, and drywall to create a draft-free structure that wouldn't let heat escape. Insulation was as important, before they poured the concrete floors, they laid down insulation. Fiberglass and polyurethane foam improve the heat insulation, but also the sound absorption. Add low-tech but effective overhangs and let the Sun heat in winter without baking in summer. Put it all together and they met the Built Green standards.
A house is still just a place to have bedrooms and baths, but here they managed to address the flexible nature of modern living. Maybe that's where the term FlexHaus comes from. By the basic stats it is a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 3,100 square foot house. The rooms are nicely appointed to the style, to the point that there are few features that aren't right angles. Evidently curves aren't even allowed in the sinks or tubs. The toilets, however, don't require reshaping people built from squares. Today's reality suggests some flexibility in lifestyles; so, the house can be divided into two units; one is a 2,500 square foot house with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths; and an ADU with 1 bedroom, 1 bath, and 550 square feet. (Check the math, or visit onsite to see where the 50 square foot difference lies.)
Even the 7,200 square foot yard turned into an opportunity to do things differently. Rather than bulldoze the lot and lay down some sod, they added 40 yards of compost and mulch to support drought-tolerant and indigenous plants. With a fenced yard, some decks and patios that take advantage of the overhangs, you can live outside, too.
· 8056 122nd Ave NE, Kirkland [Zillow]