LIFE BEYOND FIRST CLASS
DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE
THE GARDEN WITHIN
At Seattle’s Federal Avenue Residence, Mutuus Studio transforms the sunroom of a 1921 Georgian Colonial into a richly layered retreat where family history, vintage design and the surrounding landscape converge.
KATHERINE GANNON
PHOTOGRAPHY: KEVIN SCOTT
“We place a high value in honoring the hard-worn patina of the materials we find and look for new possibilities for their continued use.”
– Kristen Becker, Architect, Mutuus Studio
Set beside historic Volunteer Park in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, Federal Avenue Residence balances the formality of its Georgian Colonial architecture with interiors that feel collected, personal and unexpectedly bold. Throughout the 8,200-square-foot home, deep greens and blues draw from the landscape outside, but nowhere is that relationship more compelling than in the sunroom.
Mutuus Studio treated the room less as an addition to the house than as an extension of the garden. Fern-patterned wallpaper wraps the space in foliage, while expansive windows place actual greenery just beyond the glass. Against the darker envelope, a vintage de Sede sofa sourced in Switzerland brings warmth in cognac leather. The homeowners’ grandmother’s chairs, newly dressed in linen slipcovers, introduce a quieter counterpoint and give the room an unmistakably personal connection to the family’s past.
The details keep the composition from becoming overly precious. Soft leather de Sede poufs, silk-and-wool rugs and nesting side tables by Gianfranco Frattini create an interior intended to be lived in, not simply admired. Custom Mutuus Made plant shelves and an entry bench were crafted from salvaged walnut remaining from elsewhere in the renovation, reinforcing a philosophy of reuse that runs throughout the residence.
The result is a room that feels simultaneously cultivated and relaxed, sophisticated enough for the architecture surrounding it yet intimate enough for everyday family life. Here, history is not preserved behind glass. It is given another life.
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