Alan & Elena had a beautiful lot, perched on a hill in West Seattle looking back toward the city.  They have a spectacular panoramic view of downtown, the cascades and Mt. Rainier.  As is often the case, the higher up you go, the better the view so they decided to have Rick Anderson Architects design a home with a reversed floor plan.  The home had to be suitable for their young family, while giving them ample entertaining space and a private area for guests.

Traditionally the main living spaces would be on the ground floor but in this case the second floor provided a better opportunity to take advantage of the view.  To this end we designed an open great room plan with an expansive partially covered deck toward the view.  

Of course the best view is on the 3rd floor where the master suite takes full advantage of it.  Even the master bath room has a view with a window in the tub at eye level affording an unobstructed view of the city.  Taking full advantage of a resource like this is one of the joys of being a residential architect in Seattle,

The challenge of a multi story home with the main living area a floor above the entry is making the entry feel a part of the living space.  We solved this by opening the floor above the entry and centering the stairs on that opening.  Now when you enter the home you can see the activity on the floor above.