Beach Drive Remodel
Take a look at the amazing transformation of this beach drive remodel on Camano Island. This article details the renovations made during this home remodel.
Far East Home Comes West
Take an inside look as Ross Grier builds his dream home in Fairhaven by fusing Japanese elements with a Pacific Northwest Washington feel.
Far East Home Comes West
Take an inside look as Ross Grier builds his dream home in Fairhaven by fusing Japanese elements with a Pacific Northwest Washington feel.
Hamlet Hotel
Downtown, An Old Space Becomes New Again For Fred and Colleen Schacht, the Hamlet Hotel has been a reclamation project, sentimental…
An Anacortes Home for the Sunset Years
Here is a quick glimpse inside this beautiful home in Anacortes, with amazing detail to design and even more incredible views.
Above the Boulevard, A Year-Round Beach Home Shines
Faith Ulate grew up in Whatcom County, and long dreamed of having a beach home. So, she and her family lived in Costa Rica for 11 years. But when it came time to move back, she was determined to bring beach life with her. Ulate, a realtor with a passion…
Home, Healthy Home
There’s warmth just looking at this yellow cedar home, originally built in 1927 as a single-story, working-class Craftsman. But in addition to adding a second story and master bedroom to their now two-bedroom, three-bath home (plus basement apartment), the client wanted a house with a healthy addition of another kind. Builders and designers avoided using materials like toxic paints, and installed wood flooring and tile to keep mold and pet dander at…
Lake Whatcom Home Gets An Update
New owners of this home loved its sweeping views of Lake Whatcom and its modern character. But sometimes, even modern needs an update. With…
Palatine Passive House
The Palatine Passive House by architect Tiffany Bowie of Malboeuf Bowie Architecture was one of eight homes featured during last year’s Seattle Modern Home Tour in April. Bowie, a certified passive house consultant, fielded questions from tour guests curious about passive construction. “Many people weren’t familiar with the concept of a passive house, so it was a…
Birch Bay Mansion
This spectacular Birch Bay estate is what dreams are made of: This private 66-acre property consists of a 12,000-square-foot mansion with 1,575 feet of pristine, south-facing and jaw-dropping Georgia Strait shoreline. And that’s just the beginning. If you prefer to arrive by air rather…
San Juan Log Cabin Retreat
This striking home in the San Juan Islands started as a log cabin. A full overhaul, led by Bellingham interior designer Lisa Staton and client Kristina Gladstein, transformed it to a lighter, brighter vacation getaway that fits the quiet elegance of its surroundings, just off Roche Harbor. The original logs, whitewashed to create a freshness inside and out, help…
Hemp House is Small, but Cool
While the tiny building that sits on Pam Bosch’s property isn’t legally a house, it serves as a model for future construction projects. It was built using hempcrete, a cement-like mixture that’s made from combining the inner core of the hemp plant with lime. The result is…
Birch Bay Waterfront Estate
Arrive by land, sea or air to your estate; a private 66-acre compound on 1,575 ft. of pristine waterfront. A 12,000 square foot manse, carefully composed for graceful and comfortable gatherings.
One-of-a-Kind Design
RE Store’s Revision Division We love to recycle here in the Pacific Northwest. We’ll divide, compost, and reuse until just about everything gets another home or is made functional again. And while recycling might seem more mundane…
Chuckanut Bay House
The airy lightness of this Chuckanut Bay home’s interior stands in contrast to its big, bold, concrete frame that attracts attention from those who live nearby or paddle past. The owner, a builder himself, wanted to convey permanence in a home situated between the everchanging water and a boulder wall constructed to highlight area sandstone. McClellan Architects, led by Regan Smith, was also responsible for the interior design that included this staircase, enhanced by multi-level orbs, giving the floating sensation…
Edgemoor Neighborhood Historic Home
Lairmont Manor Historic homes can be a focal point for neighborhoods. In Bellingham, few are more famous than Lairmont Manor, in Fairhaven’s Edgemoor neighborhood. Originally named The Larrabee House, it was designed in 1914 for local power couple Charles and Frances Larrabee by renowned Seattle architect Carl Gould. Gould designed a 25-room Italian Renaissance-style estate with sweeping views of Bellingham Bay and plenty of gardens for their four children to enjoy. While Charles died before completion of the estate, before…
Rustic & Reclaimed
Bath Renovation Antique wood and a sliding barn door in a bathroom? Say it isn’t so! Yes, that is exactly what we incorporated in this recent remodel and the trend has exploded. The juxtaposition of materials and finishes in homes today is exhilarating….
Gem on the Water
Lake Samish Row House This distinctive home on the shores of Lake Samish was built in 2010 with rowers in mind. We want to say its curvy roof and contemporary, minimalist design evokes the smooth, effortless air of a rowing team in sync. But like the sport itself, looks can be deceiving. Bellingham Bay Builders and the Cirrus Design Group, with the owner’s direction, put substantial effort into the interior’s open, breezy feel, starting with…
Cheetah-Chic Living
Animal Prints Rev Up a Room It might be safe to say that while keeping the color palette tame on this project, we got wild with the style. Prior to our makeover, we were welcomed with a pet-soiled off-white carpet with poorly placed furniture. My client rarely used this room and wished to make improvements in order to…
Guemes Cottage
This peaceful retreat on Guemes Island designed by David Hall (since retired) of HKP Architects draws on Finnish and Scandanavian summer houses for inspiration. Situated on the the north end of Guemes Island with expansive views of Bellingham Bay, this 625 square-foot…
Broadway Beauty
The beautiful thing about ranch-style houses is the way in which a good designer can open up the interior, build in great storage, and add light and space. Many of these homes have been updated a few times, and sometimes a remodel…
A 1940s Camano Island Log Cabin Remodel
A classic log cabin on Camano Island’s North Shore offers stunning views of Utsalady Bay and has been in Neil Hampson’s family since the 1940s. Hampson’s grandfather Dr. Russell R. Bradley, an Everett optometrist built the cabin himself. The preface to a 1944 publication of the U.S. Forest Service entitled “Building with Logs” assures the…
Orcas Island Beach House–Featured Home
This beautiful Orcas Island beach house is an island paradise, nestled among towering evergreens and set right on the water. As with most things Orcas, this home is the perfect balance of architectual distinction and cabin-like intimacy. The natural wood beams and…
Palatine Passive House
The Palatine Passive House by Architect Tiffany Bowie of Malboeuf Bowie Architecture was one of eight homes featured during the 2016 Seattle Modern Home Tour in April. Bowie, a certified passive house consultant, fielded…
South Hill House
You know what it’s like when you paint your living room, and then the adjoining dining room looks drab, so you paint that, and the next thing you know, the kitchen, bath, and…
False Bay Writer’s Cabin
This stunning San Juan Island beauty is a perfect metaphor for a writer’s personality — open, receptive, and unguarded at times, and closed, private, and introspective at other times. A beautiful example of contemporary architecture, this cabin folds up into a neat little package, or opens up to a…
Northwest Modern Luxury Home – Featured Home
Perhaps the crown jewel of the entertainment space, a glassed-in wine display room showcases a wine library and is conveniently located near the wet bar, an upgrade from the traditional bottom-floor wine cellar.
Eldridge House – Featured Home
The couple set about remodeling, using mostly local artisans. The result? A comfortable, unpretentious, and yet artful home that accommodates family, friends, and even a lovely bald eagle who lurks in the trees above
Net Zero House – Featured Home
Sean Haven of Haven Design workshop took on the challenge of designing and building a Net Zero house.
Bay View House – Featured Home
Natural textures like wood and stone complement the white walls and countertops.
House in the Field
Built to blend unobtrusively with its landscape, yet maximize views and interior space, the House in the Field takes the lines of a traditional ranch house and explodes them into beautiful angles and fascinating…
Lopez Island Getaway
When architect Don Larkin and his small Eastside architectural firm were asked to design a Lopez Island vacation home on the original…
Chuckanut House
In partnership with the Northwest Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, we selected this exquisite home perched above beautiful Chuckanut Bay. This project began as a remodel, but the needs of the family were greater than the existing house could provide, and a rebuild ended up being a more affordable option. A Feng…
Tiny Tack House
Q & A on the Tiny Tack House Bellingham Alive: What is your background and interest in building a tiny house? Malissa Tack: The Tiny Tack House was our first adventure building anything of this size. Both Christopher and myself had only constructed a few projects, back in our high school shop classes. So to us this was a large scale undertaking that we were both…
Woodland Retreat
This issue we feature two small spaces that are nestled deep in the woods and surrounded by mature forest. The paths around the property teem with wildlife, the trees are alive with birdsong. A peaceful spot overlooking the bay, these small structures speak to both sustainable living and excellent design. The owners have deep roots in this…
Samish Island Cabin
This lovely house is located on the tip of Samish Island, just above high tide. It is owned by an oyster farmer who farms the surrounding waters of Samish Bay. Built to withstand harsh conditions — the salt, sand and constant breeze of the island elements — it’s solidly built and yet graceful. Amenities include heated concrete floors without a crawlspace, which is ideal for minimum maintenance. The solid timber frame construction and Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) keep…