West Seattle
Courtyard
Residence
By chance, we met two brothers, while they were searching for property to build their dream homes in West Seattle. Each had partners and plans to build families in new homes. They brought Rhodes Architecture + Light in to design their spaces, envisioning places for their future families to grow, light and openness and connections to green spaces.
The younger brother’s home is the West Seattle Courtyard Residence, which will offer plenty of room to entertain, work, and play around a sheltered outdoor park. It also includes an attached accessory dwelling unit (AADU), providing a private space for family visiting from abroad.
We designed the primary gathering space as a pavilion opening fully to a private courtyard, allowing for seamless indoor-outdoor flow on sunny days. In the Seattle winter, when the glass doors are closed, the sense of openness is maintained through visual connection. The private spaces—including bedrooms, offices, and bathrooms—are elevated above, overlooking the courtyard and gaining wonderful views of Puget Sound, Vashon Island and beyond. This thoughtful separation of spaces enabled the plan to incorporate a protected outdoor playground at the heart of the home, flanked by outdoor terraces, grass, gardens and raised planting areas. Community and connection shape the design; the home incorporates park, theater, “people” space, and a rooftop aerie above.
The high-contrast yet neutral interior palette was inspired by the belief that a home should serve as a canvas for art, adaptable as life ebbs and flows. While neutral, the palette brings a strong personality to the house, with materials carefully selected to bring a "hacienda vibe" to the Pacific Northwest, the owner’s culture visually embedded in the architecture.