Agree that the Times photos don't do the house justice. The link provided by another commenter shows what is special about the house.
I love this house. Reading the comments it's clear most people don't understand contemporary architecture or technology. Radiant heat concrete floors are cozy, much warmer than wood, and can heat the whole house more efficiently than older methods. Clear windows can become opaque at the flip of a switch. You'd think people reading this were living in the 18th century. Certainly their aesthetic is stuck there. With doilies I imagine. I'm shocked they know how to use a computer to log in and comment. Do they frame their computers in hand made cozy wraps and replace the buttons with hewn wood? This is the 21st century people, wake up.
6
beautiful but cold. I'd never want to live in a house with no curtains or shutters, or blinds. I don't see a comfortable seat either - okay maybe one - for my aching back.
Smiled when I saw this. We love Goldbug. The store is not minimalist. They have a wonderful home to display their art. As a family with three teen boys I can only envy such clean lines.
2
Just visited the architect's website, as one commenter provided the website address. Wow. Their photos really bring this house to life, unlike the rather sterile photos the Times uses here.
4
You are right. The website has much better photos. I wonder why NY Times couldn't do a better job with photos. In a way, their photos killed the story and did injustice to the owners of this house.
1
It's an art installation. It's not a home.
1
I have unfortunately read many of the negative comments. When I was young we were told if you have nothing good to say then you should keep your opinions to yourself. Did any of you who trashed the house ever consider how you might feel if someone did that to your home? Such vituperative attacks.
14
I'm a bit surprised by the nastiness of many of the commenters here. Have you no imagination? The owners chose to highlight their artwork and the views. The architecture thus serves as backdrop. Try looking at the pictures anew with this in mind and you'll better understand what they were trying to achieve, not what you would choose to do.
10
Just stunning.
4
Oh, please. It's imitation Mies, a Farnsworth House rip-off.
2
Lovely setting with a sterile transplant.
8
BRAVO for doing it the way you love!
I'm lucky enough - with our home - to be able to live out your words: "It’s fun to be inside the house, but to feel like you’re outside.”
5
If that is your idea of a kitchen I'll pass on your idea of dinner.
And then to think that some of the beautiful countryside of Italy was strip-mined
in order to sit on concrete in an empty, dead space on the far side of the world.
14
ya know, i was just thinking . . .
that whole place could get a reputation, and another name as
HIGH ART, modernism . . . with a simple addition (this would work well in those fine photos in the article)
a simple addition of
a realistic casket, with someone, or some mannequin, appropriately decked out, lying in it.
easy peasy!
ART.
2
I saw an upscale place like that on a house tour once. Barren and cold. Couldn't wait to leave.
13
I lived on Whidbey Island, Washington off and on for 15 years and the weather is the same which is cold, dreary, and rainy about 70% of the time. When it's not raining it's overcast and gray. I can't tell you how many times at the July 4th fireworks that we were wearing parkas. The days when it's sunny it is spectacularly beautiful but there isn't enough of those days to make it worthwhile for me to live there. So when I see this cold, sterile home lacking softness from carpets or even drapes I get chills, the freezing kind. The house is wrong for the area of the country it was built in, yuck!
20
God forbid there should be any clutter. It might reveal a lack of taste.
Truly, though, it's a nice, if typical, piece of minimalism. Not something I can imagine calling "home", but maybe some people can. Being 25 years past having achieved my degree in Architecture, I've seen a few of these. They look good in photos, better than a lot of spaces I actually enjoy more.
9
New Yorker cartoon from years ago:
'You have to be rich to have that much nothing"
36
Well, there's some truth to that New Yorker cartoon.
Poor people are often pack rats by necessity, hoarding junk because they may one day need it, whereas rich people have more storage space and can also afford to discard stuff knowing they can buy or rent whatever they need whenever they need it.
Heliotrope did a terrific job, the proportions of the open kitchen and living room are wonderful! I had the good fortune to visit this summer: https://myalbum.com/album/zVrYl6OQDJeK
13
I am pretty sure that gouging out one's eyes with an awl would be just as effective a way of not seeing 'visual clutter' as eliminating towel bars in the bathroom... But to each their own. Personally, I would rather suffer the aesthetic misery of having a towel bar and a hook on which to hang my bathrobe.
17
Ugh. White and cold.
16
Heavy.
My thoughts: First, that's not minimalist; it's simply cold, sterile and pretentious.
And second: that kind of "minimalism" always requires a maximal bank account!
23
It's lovely these two were able to build their dream home after their daughter went to college, but they really went a bit extreme in being empty nesters, methinks.
6
Such a delight to see Stacey and Shelley's future home. Beautiful! As frequent customers of Gold Bug from the beginning, we have been grateful beneficiaries of their taste and style. When they finally return to their long-time island home up north, we know Gold Bug will flourish in Teddy's capable hands. Love you guys!
3
That little box with windows cost $850,000? Is cement an endangered material in Washington?
15
Looks expensive and functional and dull.
7
Very cozy.
6
To each their own. Not fortunate enough to a have a country house, but if I was and the NYT did a piece on it, the photos would show muddy boots and fishing poles by the door, maybe an old single shot 22 for shooting at cans, a fire hazard stack of books and magazines (Dominick Dunne era Vanity Fair) by the fireplace, a dog-eared backgammon set by the weathered old couch, an old tea pot and a case of cheap whine in the kitchen, and a paint splattered garage with a bunch of half finished canvasses strewn about.
25
Lots of full-time residents with houses very much as you describe here on Orcas Island. Come visit sometime!
7
I suggest they hang a 6'X4' portrait of George Jones in their master bedroom and then a painting of a John Deere riding lawnmower. Then accessorize the joint with vintage Jack Daniels bottles.
6
Cold, stark, lacks warmth and reminds me of a surgical theatre my idea of home. NOT!!!!
10
yeah, and 'spacious' . . . there is lots of 'room' in it:
ya know, i was just thinking . . .
that whole place could grab more reputation, even another name, to file under:
HIGH ART, modernism . . .
with one simple addition
(& what i have in mind i think would work well in those fine photos in the article)
just a simple object, more--it would require to be thoughtfully "located"-- 'placed just right' tho:
FOR instance, e.g.,
a real casket, content with someone, or some mannequin, appropriately decked out,
lying in it.
easy peasy!
2
Beautiful home.
6
Agreed.
3
The house is great, but the artwork on the walls? the tchatkes on the tables and bureau? and that horrid, horrid candelabra festooned with crystals? All the opposite of minimalism. None of it bespeaks people interested in nature.
I don't think the issue is towel bars, or the lack thereof, in the bathroom.
8
Concrete, steel and glass. The only colours grey and white and black. This place would be cold anywhere. But on Orcas Island, where it rains half the year? I shiver just looking at it.
19
I like the design overall, but I guess they don't have cats or dogs...
5
I returned for a second look with clear mind and cobwebs on just waking. My first and immediate impression of the outside view was that of a remodeled '50's-'60's service station replete with car wash. No joke intended, just a brutally honest impression.
8
That is a seriously expensive construction bill ($850,000 for 1,600 Square Feet
or Concrete Floors and Stucco) for such a simple house. I realize it is on an island, but that seems excessive.
8
@David: Yes, but you see, the more they spent, the more fabulous the resulting house MUST be. Isn't that how it works?
2
Minimalistic houses tend to be a dime a dozen and I can't help but eye roll when I walk into yet another interior with Barcelona seats, Eames chairs etc.
Mr. Coleman and Ms. Kimball's house on the other hand looks very nice and is not short on great conversation pieces. Well done!
7
I really love it, especially the expansive windows open to the outside. The steel cladding is ideal for such a wet climate but I do wonder how all of that yearly rain is removed from what looks like a flat roof. I am sure the architects have something in place.
3
Very "Artsy". I can appreciate that from a very narrow-minded point of view. As "living space" however, I find it counter to most all I feel to be human. It is stark, cold and hard. It reflects little to nothing of human living which after all, is the intended use of the space. God forbid there be any sign of human living in such a space as it would certainly be "out of place".
15
These "ultra minimalists" with their "framed macaw specimen" in their clutter free living room make it clear to me that we are a long way from coming together as a country.
11
Are you saying that someone interest in modern design in their own home will bring the country down to its knees? Worthy of Fox News.
11
Mr. Springman, Our country's strength comes from the fact that you so perfectly pointed out--some of us like "framed macaw specimen[s]" and some of us don't.
4
So now house designs are political fodder? Does that mean when your people completely take over, those who live in anything different from what you have (or approve of) will be thrown to the gulag?
A wonderful piece of architecture. With abstract art of the 60's or 70's, it would be heaven.
16
Stunning piece of architecture! The "art" collection - specifically the work of Mark Ryden and the framed dead birds - detracts significantly.
31
Orcas Island can get cold even in the summer. Minimalism is one thing, but the ice-like appearance of the home interior gives me chills just looking at it. It is possible to create minimalism without creating a space that looks cold, not to mention feels it.
56
Totally lifeless spaces. It would make anyone restless for the outdoors.
6
It's sad to see Orcas becoming an island of empty trophy homes. At least the owners get the view of actual trees are better then anything Mark Ryden can paint.
45