WRITTEN BY LAWRENCE KREISMAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER

The antique reproduction alder dining table is paired with some newly purchased chairs by Guy Chaddock.

Welch didn't directly know when she bought the house that the things she appreciated about it were specific goals of architects in the 1920s and '30s.

Even before the Great Depression, architects banded together to encourage well-designed, compact homes that would be charming, comfortable and efficiently laid out. The American Institute of Architects promoted the Architects' Small House Service Bureau nationally. Indirectly, this could have been their way of reaching for a piece of the market dominated by plan and pattern-book producers as more and more Americans chose to work without architects.
 

	Liz Welch's cottage-style 1935 home still has its original shingled exterior, dormers and windows.

With the Depression in full swing and housing expectations deeply diminished, size, practicality and affordability became important factors.

Some of Seattle's leading architects during this period — Paul Thiry, Edwin Ivey and Elizabeth Ayer included — built successful practices in upscale residential neighborhoods by adapting traditional domestic architecture with newer ideas that rose out of Art Deco and modernistic design trends. At the same time, they adjusted the scale and square footage of houses to make them affordable to a new generation of owners.

People who buy these houses today often expand them into something they were never intended to be, building out and up for new master suites, extravagant bathrooms and "great rooms" — the large majority an awkward marriage of new and old. Fortunately, Liz Welch is not one of them.

When she bought the shingled cottage in Broadmoor, Welch asked architect Gregory Bader and interior designer Tami Bozorgnia-Cline of Interior Works to look at the kitchen, the bathrooms, cabinetry in the bedroom and the recreation room in the basement. She wanted a great kitchen, and the house had a really undistinguished kitchen, which was, in her words, "an invitation and an opportunity." The living room and dining room would also get face-lifts with new windows and French doors.
 

Simplicity and function were keys to the redesign of the kitchen. White-paneled cabinets built by Nelson of Seattle Cabinets and Millwork were designed to have the look of furniture. White tile was chosen for its traditional appearance.

She trusted her designers to find the best solutions because she had long-standing professional relationships with both of them. Bader had worked on a previous home and a weekend cottage. Bozorgnia-Cline had worked with Welch on three homes and the cottage.

Bader's education fostered appreciation of historic architecture, and he was a natural choice, feeding that knowledge into the remodel of a traditional house. He approaches such challenges by asking himself, "How would they have done it if they were doing it today?" Then he looks for opportunities to take it to another level. Bozorgnia-Cline's practice initially involved busy, single professional people. "As they married and their families grew, their housing needs changed. She and associate Karen Skadan worked with them on new homes, sometimes a summer or weekend house — essentially growing with them. Tom Zeller, of Gradwohl Construction, was in charge of the work on this house.

The most challenging piece of this project was the kitchen, which surprised them all by its structural deficiencies in the floor above it. "That explained why doors didn't open, plaster was cracking, and the landing was crooked," Bader said. They added some major steel beams, brought support points into the basement, and rescued the kitchen. In the end, the changes in height where the beams are "added architectural interest it wouldn't have otherwise."
 

	The 1935 newel post and crossed balusters demonstrate the place where modernistic design meets traditional cottage style.

Smaller changes often made enormous improvements. For example, the dining room was closed off from the kitchen except for a swinging door. A broad arch now connects the two rooms and invites light and views from the east windows into the kitchen. Guest rooms at the other end of the first floor have been adapted to a home office and a laundry room.

The designers embraced original design details and accepted some of the changes previous owners had done, particularly in the second-floor cabinetry and trim moldings. In all decisions over the eight months in which the house was updated and decorated, the designers were guided by Welch's repeated concerns for a tasteful, understated approach.

Welch is delighted with the way this house supports her lifestyle. "I have little kids. I cook, they read and color in the kitchen (she shows off a new blue-crayon scratch on the butcher-block counter as evidence). Food goes back and forth between the kitchen and dining room. Then we clean up, and last night we had a game of charades and a dance performance. We mill around the kitchen, dining room and living room really happily."
 

A new Napa-stone fireplace wall in the living room replaces the 1930s fireplace. New windows and doors provide a more comfortable bridge between exterior and interior.

The other thing that she loves is having her home office on the main floor. "It is handy for my work to be so immediate. They can be doing things out here, and I can be in there, close by."

The living room is not a sanctified formal entertaining area but another center for group activity, such as playing board games. A room in the basement houses a Ping-Pong table, television and art supplies.

It's obvious, but Welch explains: "We use every inch of the house."