Sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful thing. Michele Thornquist, development director at a Seattle-area private school, and her husband, John, a business owner in aeronautical engineering, fell in love with a Kitsap Peninsula beach, put an offer on a midcentury modern home there and hoped for the best. When that home proved to have many unexpected issues, they rescinded their offer. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since a better house two doors away came up for sale a short time later.
After purchasing the property, the couple set about remodeling and transforming the beach house. Michele explains that the glassed entryway originally had a solid wood door between it and the living room into which it opens. To better connect the two spaces, the new homeowners replaced the wood door with glass doors.
The master bedroom, Michele says, was painted teal green when they bought the house, and there was barely any furniture in it. “‘Stark and dark’ really does describe how it used to look.” Now the room is filled with light and clearly relates to the water just outside.
Outdoors, a dining set provides ample seating for al fresco meals. The homeowners say they didn’t finish the set because they didn’t want the upkeep. Instead, they’re letting the wood naturally weather.
“The house has been really wonderful—it can easily sleep 10 people,” says Michele. “We invested in big tables that can extend out so we can host get-togethers like Thanksgiving here.
“It’s just easy,” she adds. “We don’t have any furniture that we need to keep clean. We don’t care about tracking in sand.” John agrees, saying, “This is a place to sit down in a chair, set your beverage on the table and just relax.”
KIMBERLEY BRYAN IN COOPERATION WITH HOUZZ
Who lives here: Michele and John Thornquist, their two teenagers and their Bernese Mountain Dog, Sasha
Location: Kitsap Peninsula, Washington
Size: 1,800 square feet (167 square meters); three bedrooms plus a loft
Year built: 1988
Photography by: Kimberley Bryan
For additional information: kimberleybryan.houzz.com