WRITTEN BY LAWRENCE KREISMAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY BARRY WONG

	In the home of Peo Gudmundsson and Alan Black, dining-room furniture combines Mission and European turn-of-the-century styles. The light fixture belonged to Peo's grandmother.

"It was really tired and neglected," Alan remembers. "Wall sconces were painted over. Ceiling fixtures had been removed. Double-hung windows and windowsills had settled. Water seepage had rotted interior walls. A remodel of the kitchen and the powder room didn't fit the house style."
 

Rough plaster walls with cove ceilings, dark wood trim, leaded glass, tile fireplace and sconces are original living-room features that have been refreshed. New French doors open to an expanded terrace.

They made the mistake of moving in and then having the work done. "Smart people stay in their old house or rent a place. This is the fourth remodel I've done, and this is the last one," Alan says adamantly.

They began in June 2000, and by December had finished the basic repairs, including the infrastructure work, a kitchen makeover and a master-bath addition upstairs. During that summer, they had the brickwork tuck-pointed and cleaned up the property in order to start on a unified landscape.

A new boiler came next. They also replaced the unsightly metal flashing at the parapet with cast-stone caps and added an awning over the balcony of the master bedroom. Lisa Ewing of Paper Scissor Stone, a small design firm that had worked on Alan's advertising offices in the Terminal Sales Building, guided the process. Art Donnelly of MO. 42, a local metalworker, designed the scroll fixture that adorns the façade and created the frame for the awning.
 

	French doors in the master bedroom, below, lead to a small balcony that is just the right size for enjoying the morning sunrises over Lake Washington with coffee and newspaper at hand.

The couple chose their own colors, furniture and other interior-design features to create a circular plan that allows the house to function well for large groups. For the living room, they added French doors to replace a window. The doors and another set in the kitchen complement the original French doors in the den and allow visitors to move easily in and out of the inviting sandstone-paved terrace that now wraps around the main floor.

Removing walls that separated the breakfast nook, preparation areas and pantry enlarged the kitchen. At just the right time, Peo, who is a personal-fitness trainer, was offered a mother lode of sandstone from some clients who were redoing their pool area. The stone flooring makes a smooth transition between the kitchen and terraces.
 

A stone terrace wraps around the house, reached from living room, den and kitchen French doors. The fireplace, built by Maitland Masonry, allows the couple to entertain outdoors, even during chilly days and evenings, and enjoy the new water fountain and plantings.

Earlier this year, the two finally completed the terraces and outdoor entertaining space. The redesigned back yard has a brick fireplace so it can be used even if the weather is a bit cold. Pyramadalis and laurel hedges border the property. These are all that were worth saving of the untended landscape. Peo and Alan, avid gardeners, have newly placed everything else.

On the second floor, there were some changes to make the master bedroom more efficient without radically altering the spaces. Some people would have gutted the three bedrooms to accommodate a large master suite, but Alan and Peo liked the intimacy of its period rooms and were clear: "We didn't want to lose too much bedroom space or to change the floor plan of the house from its original."
 

	The new master bathroom has a 1920s feel, with white tile and wainscoting, black-and-white floor tiles and simple white fixtures.

Instead, they did some selective editing in order to add a bathroom and more closet space for their bedroom. They borrowed square footage from the stair hall and rearranged the entrance to a bedroom in order to shape a small master bath. They also walled off the closet in another bedroom (now a home office) to have it become part of the existing master closet.

The basement had been a recreation room with fir floors and a fireplace. With some upgrades, it now houses their exercise equipment and media area.

In the three years they have lived in the house, they have become some of the neighborhood's most ardent boosters. "Madrona has every kind of person in it — old to young, gay to straight, kids to people whose kids are long gone. People walk here. You get to know your neighbors. We joke that it takes twice as long to walk your dogs because you have to stop and talk to everybody."

Alan also makes the point that, because the streets meander and stairways connect them, it's much more interesting to walk around. "You can walk a different path and find something new on every walk — there's always an alley or a street that isn't really a street. The neighbors really participate in that. There are groups that take care of parks, woods. They take pride in the surrounding areas."

Madrona Walking Tour
The Seattle Architectural Foundation's Viewpoints Tour program offers a guided tour of the Madrona neighborhood on Sept. 20 from 9 a.m. to noon to explore its historic development and architectural styles. Several interiors are included. Other tours in this season's program include "Working Places: Trade and Tourism" on Aug. 23, "Ravenna Craftsman Bungalows" on Oct. 4 and "University Park" on Oct. 18. Downtown tours and midweek site tours are also available. For information, contact 206-667-9184 or www.seattlearchitectural.org.