This modest floating home is situated along the north end of Seattle’s Lake Union. Working within the footprint of the previous home on the original historic log float foundation allowed the new home to honor the restrictions of shoreline development.

The high-craft home carefully gathers and reflects light through its many doors and skylights, establishing a sense of spaciousness and emphasizing the poetic quality of light reflecting off the surrounding water. Amplifying contrasts between the home’s dark cedar and Richlite exterior and the soft, light interior of pine and oak helps the home embody a feeling of lightness.

The home eschewed the ubiquitous application of gypsum wallboard, opting instead to clad the walls and ceilings with tongue & groove boards of whitewashed pine, interrupted only by pocketing sliding doors, stainless steel skylight shrouds, and a custom plaster cast inlay completed by the homeowner.