This Ballard Garage Is Transformed Into a Studio That Invites the Outdoors In
The multipurpose space can serve as a home gym, play space, planting area or entertaining venue
By Chelsea Lin July 22, 2019
This article originally appeared in the July 2019 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the July 2019 issue. Click here to subscribe.
When Ballard resident Ella Dillon started planning an overhaul of the 360-square-foot detached garage located behind her 1940s two-story Craftsman duplex, she had big goals. She yearned for a versatile space where she could host neighbors for a glass of wine or summer dinner; where her 10-year-old daughter, Isabelle, could read quietly or bounce around without bothering the tenants who occupy the lower level of the duplex; and that could also function as a home gym and an area for potting plants for her garden.
LIGHT IN THE ATTIC: Homeowner Ella Dillon’s daughter Isabelle climbs up to her hidden reading nook, a charming detail added by designers Jim Friesz and Kristen Becker
Dillon calls herself a perennial do-it-yourselfer, but when she got ready to remodel the small space, she decided—because of her demanding work schedule and her daughter, with whom she would rather invest her time—to hire someone to help her vision become a reality.
Fenceboards cover the walls, further bringing the outside in
Enter design team Jim Friesz and Kristen Becker of Mutuus Studio. “Our approach to design is to work with what we’ve got,” Friesz says. “The first thing we saw was this great little garden that [Dillon] had already put a lot of time into.”
Friesz says they decided to remove the existing interior walls, which divided the space into rooms. The resulting single room maximizes light and flexibility of use. A NanaWall (a foldable custom glass wall) faces west toward the garden, allowing Dillon to open that entire side of the building for outdoor parties. Storage options like built-in cabinets were essential; a secret reading nook for Isabelle, above the built-in daybed, was a bonus.
The project was finished in August 2017, and Dillon says she’s already maximizing the use of the space. “We live outside a lot,” she says. Her new space serves all the functions she’d hoped for. “[The former garage] is fun for entertaining, it’s fun for playing. I can get my fingers dirty gardening and feel like I’m really connected to the outdoors.”
Bookshelves function as both storage and design element
A foldable wall opens to connect the studio to a garden patio, perfect for entertaining
Follow Us
Better Together
This Seattle project presents an out-of-the-box model, where investors are also residents, and the design focuses on longevity and tenant retention—not profit.
Growing up in rural Detroit, Chad Dale spent many after-school and weekend hours playing with neighborhood kids in an open lot near his house. It’s an experience he always hoped his children would have someday, but by the time he became a father in Seattle, land was at a premium: either already developed or prohibitively…
A Different Kind of Mattress Store
Photos courtesy of Bedrooms and More. If you’re looking for the best mattress shopping experience in Seattle, the right choice often comes down to materials, transparency, and expert guidance – not just price or brand names. Bedrooms & More specializes in natural and organic two-sided mattresses and offers a no-pressure showroom environment where customers can…
Joint Effort
Rooted in the Northwest craft tradition, Mory Homes offers thoughtful furniture and storage solutions with an architectural point of view.
After more than a decade as the executive director of local lighting company Graypants, one of the cofounders, Jonathan Junker, decided to return to his architectural roots. In 2019, he was raising a family on Bainbridge Island when he opened his namesake studio. At first, Junker enjoyed the holistic approach to residential design; a few…
Your Land, Your Legacy: A New Way to Build at Suncadia
For those who believe that where you live should reflect how you live and how you’ll be remembered Suncadia invites a deeper kind of ownership. It’s an opportunity to create a home that is entirely your own, on some of the most desirable homesites in the Cascades, while benefiting from the ease, support, and long-term…