modern thrifter

[ HILLTOP HOUSE TOURS: REVIEW ] 

Saturday, Patrick and I went to the Hilltop House Tours with some good friends, who are also modern architecture fans. After a week of rain, we were surprised by a sunny afternoon—a total bonus since it was a walking tour. 360 Modern put together a helpful and lovely booklet to accompany the tour, that was filled with old photos, original architectural plans, and histories of the houses.

The Hilltop community was planned between 1947 and 1950 and each of the 40 homes were custom-designed by some of Seattle’s best known architects. The views from the homes we toured were breathtaking and panoramic. From a few of them, we could see downtown Seattle, downtown Bellevue, the Olympics, and nearly all of Lake Washington, all from a single spot on the deck.

The homes were modest in size, but carefully laid out. There was very little wasted space, and a huge emphasis on incorporating the natural surroundings into the home—walls of windows and natural materials were used throughout each house.

The only disappointing part of the tour for me, was seeing some of the remodels that were done in a few of the houses. Though they maintained much of the original look and feel of the house, there were a few bathrooms and kitchens that felt out of place amongst their minimalist surroundings. The exception was a remodel done on the Smith Residence, which was absolutely outstanding. They were able to add bedrooms, a bathroom, and a music room to the lower level of the house that flowed seamlessly from the existing space on the top level.

Since many of the houses had similar architecture to our own home, we gained a wealth of information about lighting fixtures, stairwells, decks, and landscaping. Overall, the tour seemed to be a huge success, and we will likely attend again next year. Many thanks to the hard work of the people at Docomomo WeWa for putting it all together!

Image Credits: Vista Estate Imaging