Midcentury home with creative shiplap update asks $1.1M

Thanks to the Boeing boom, the Seattle area is full of gorgeous midcentury modern houses, and seeing how they’ve been kept up through the years is often an adventure. Sometimes they’re a lovingly preserved time capsule—and sometimes, the updates make them look like they were built yesterday.

This restoration of a midcentury home in Lake Forest Park gets creative, without too many changes to the four-bed, three-bath floorplan but some creative choices in the finishes. The most obvious design choice is that it’s covered in shiplap, something that doesn’t look entirely out of place in an era known for wood paneling.

A few other changes are notable, too: The classic, corner fireplace common in midcentury homes has been replaced with a gas module and covered in wood tile to add to the rustic look. In the kitchen, a patterned tile backsplash pops against a largely white color scheme.

Things are a little more untouched downstairs, though, where a straightforward brick fireplace in the family room has been painted white. Plenty of light gets in there during the daytime, though, thanks to the typical hillside setting of this kind of floorplan. 19240 51st Avenue NE is on the market for $1.13 million.

Derrick Louie, Clarity Northwest/Courtesy of Kimberly Shaeffer