Low-profile Luxury

A Street of Dreams home tour event offers designers and builders the chance to showcase their work. It also presents them with a short amount of time in which to create stunning projects. Parmenter Homes teamed with Architects Northwest, both based in Woodinville, Wash., and worked closely to create a Street of Dreams project that would set them apart from their peers.

For the past two Seattle Street of Dreams events, in 2003 and 2005, the title of best of show was given to Parmenter Homes. When the 2006 event was announced, design/builders in the Seattle area were gunning for the title that Parmenter Homes has held since 2003. Architects Northwest and Parmenter Homes challenged themselves to design and build a house that stood out from what they’ve created in the past. “The big challenge was topping ourselves,” says Jeffrey DeRoulet, president, Architects Northwest. “We looked at features and styles that haven’t been done because we wanted to build a house that was new, original and spectacular.”

“The Street of Dreams includes six homes, each with 5-acre lots, and this house is located on a private lake,” says Mike Davis, general manager, Parmenter Homes. “We did a lot of brainstorming with Architects Northwest to come up with what we wanted the house to look like.”

This $5.5 million house in Sammamish, Wash., features Northwest Tuscan style with a touch of Italian, Renaissance and Shingle styles. Together, Parmenter Homes and Architects Northwest worked on unique features that complemented the lot on which it sits. The development is called Dodd Ranch at Allen Lake. “We wanted to orient the house with the lake. The lake is too small to put a dock on it but it’s big enough to offer a nice view,” DeRoulet adds. “We created a visual relationship with the lake with internal axis aligned through the house with a view of the water. There are only two rooms that don’t have views of the lake — one bedroom and the formal dining room.”

The house was built as a spec home, but there were specific clients in mind when creating the design. “We were building it for a professional athlete with a family, and someone who enjoys entertaining,” Davis says. “We wanted the house to be warm and not like a hotel.”

The house boasts 11,000 sq. ft. of space, which challenged Parmenter Homes and Architects Northwest to prevent it from having an imposing presence. “We wanted to make a statement with the house but not necessarily have it be ego-driven; rather, it has restrained elegance. We wanted a low-profile roof and to keep the exterior mass down,” DeRoulet says. “The house was going to be big enough without a third story and we wanted to maintain a retreat-type house which is why it sprawls so much.”

To maintain the sprawling retreat-like appeal of this house, it is spread across four separate buildings. “There is a two-car attached garage, two-car detached garage, cabana [and the main house],” Davis says. “The cabana is at the end of the pool and includes a Murphy bed, complete kitchen and shower. The detached garage includes an additional shop. The detached garage is designed for a boat, with doors on both sides so you can drive right though it.”

The pool area was expanded to include a swim channel. “If you’re at a resort, you don’t want to have to get out of the pool to get a drink and watch TV. So, the swim channel is 7 ft. wide by 30 ft. long and takes you to the cabana with benches in the water. The outdoor living area includes a plasma screen that can rotate, a fireplace and sitting area. There is also a sheer-descent water fall at the end of the pool,” Davis says.
The outside of the house features 104 columns with many terraces and pillars. It also features cobblestone in many spaces, including the driveway, which consists of 2,100 sq. ft. of cobblestone, while the pool area and terraces also feature cobblestone, Davis adds.

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