The box seat on Puget Sound

by Peter O. Whiteley

Comfortable, inviting, and elegantly simple, this two-room, 380-square-foot pavilion on a wooded site overlooking Puget Sound sits, as juror Julie Eizenberg said, "like a Miesian couch on a hill." The spare, shed-roofed, light-filled building replaces a dark and decrepit old beach house on the same site, and even uses its original footings. The water-facing, side is aluminum and glass. A roll-up garage door at the center opens the shallow room to sea breezes and the sounds of lapping, water.

The bare-bones simplicity, of the interior resulted in part from a remark made by contractor Karl Krekow partway through construction. He mentioned to architects Tony De Jesus and Tom Kundig that the exposed studs and conduit reminded him of his grandfather's mountain cabin. Although the architects had intended to cover the interior walls with insulation and gypsum board, Krekow' s comment brought them up short, They liked the honest and unfinished look, and so they persuaded the owners to leave the interior wall structure exposed. which meant installing rigid insulation on the exterior beneath the cedar siding and roofing.

The main room features an antique wood-burning stove, a floor of weathered oak, a long built-in daybed facing the view of the sound. a small refrigerator and sink, and plenty of storage beneath the daybed.,a small bathroom at one end gives the cabin all the comforts of home. In fact. the owners lived in the building for six months while their main house was being constructed farther up the hill.