USA Houzz: A Home Built for Lego Play
“Since I was a little kid, I’ve always loved Lego,” says Seattle architect Jeffrey Pelletier. “It’s probably the reason I’m an architect now – it just inspired me.”
Pelletier’s fascination with the colourful building blocks didn’t end at adolescence. He continued to amass Lego sets well into adulthood. By the time his collection reached a 250,000 pieces, he realised he’d outgrown his old house and needed a place with more space.
Pelletier and his husband, Christopher Pasco, settled on a battered 1902 Seattle foursquare, drawn by its grand appointments but modest proportions, and its convenient Capitol Hill location. In renovating the home, Pelletier aimed to preserve the structure’s bones but make it more suitable for contemporary living. “You get the benefits of both,” he says. “You get the floor plan of a modern house, but you get the feel of an older home.” And, in this case, you also get a color palette as exuberant as, well, a stack of Legos.
Houzz TV: Watch the video of this home’s amazing Lego-filled basement
Houzz at a Glance:
Who lives here: Jeffrey Pelletier, Christopher Pasco, son Kellen (age 1) and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels Helo and Athena
Location: Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle
Size: 306 square metres (3,300 square feet); 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Year built: 1902; renovated 2013
That’s interesting: When the owners were renovating, they discovered a time capsule dating back to the 1980s, when the home served as a boarding house.
Photographs by John G. Wilbanks
It's so refreshing to see the fun colours, and I am glad they kept that opening to the dining room with the columns, it really adds character.
I don't want to come across as a nitpicking ninny, but I am quite sure the plural of Lego is 'Lego', not 'Legos'... But I suppose that hardly matters. It's easy to slide past the words and just stare at the lovely pictures.
I doubt this house had any crown molding. I've seen many houses of this vintage that had the original plaster still intact, and no traces of any molding to be found.
I want to see the house to the left of this one. You can see the exterior in the before and after
All I can say to this beautiful place: well played!
I'm sure the architect and parents can't wait until the little one is able to assemble the little plastic wonders himself.
I love it when Houzz includes additional photos!
Sharing the ladder between the two rooms is a great idea. It looks in the way in the kitchen but I assume it is only there when needed. It adds an interesting touch in the other room. I think the dog crate is brilliant. My dogs have always loved their crates but it is difficult to find an appropriate home for an ugly box. I probably would have had a standard cabinet door made at the same time to convert it to a normal cabinet. Perhaps the owner did.
Also I couldn't help but drool over that basement!! Look at all the space to drink and play with Legos!! Super jealous!
Tiled rooms and tiled floors,
A counter with so many drawers.
Counter tops and mirrors
And faucets there to see.
A bathroom with a pane of glass
And
All
That’s heaven,
Ly.
-The "cut off" windows in the Family Room are because there is a garage 2' from the exterior wall. The previous window was a large double hung and you had a big view of a garage roof. Bringing the windows up allowed for one horizontal wainscot line around the room and windows with just a view of sky and not neighboring buildings.
-The front yard is a disaster and that project will be phase 2 once we figure out how to pay for it! It is already designed just waiting for the opportunity.
-The dog crate is open to 2 sides with one side always open so the dogs can come and go as they please. They choose to spend the majority of their time in there as they feel protected and yet have a vantage point on most of the main floor (you can see the other door on the Kitchen side in the image in the main photo folder on Houzz.
-The majority of windows have honeycomb blinds. We do have plans for simple vertical drapes in the Dining Room but haven't had time to hang them (something about having a one year old son does that!
-The exterior colors are nuts and we freely admit that they're not everyone's tastes. The neighboring homes (look at the house to the left of us) are all bold colors and this particular block has a bunch of bright colors. We have a gray picked out that we can replace the magenta with if we ever want it slightly toned down but for now we love it. Houses should be everything to some people, not something to everyone!
Thanks again! I'll try and post responses to the questions in the individual photos.
I wonder if the author could take a street picture showing a better shot of the colour of the house next door with his house? Not enough to invade the privacy of the neighbor, but just a bit more of the colour and trim on that house.
I love the color, especially in the gray of a city.
Also, if anyone is interested, there is a fantastic photographer on www.redbubble.com who recreates famous historical and movie scenes with Lego characters. I bought my nephew some Star Wars Lego recreation prints from this artist. They're great for a kids room but something they'll be able to keep forever. You can just type in "Lego"on the site search to find his work. Sorry - I can't remember his name!
SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST SOOOOOO DANG TALENTED!
Your clients are so fortunate...
If only I had a "real career," I could afford to be one of your grateful clients! Unfortunately, when I was a kid I was enthralled with nail polish, and while I probably earn more as a manicurist in Silicon Valley, than a teacher in say...Ohio, I can only dream.
Unless, of course, you have a single brother who is also a very gifted architect!
LONG LIVE LEGO!
( or LEGOS)
Your gonna make HIM proud!
As for the rest of the house: I love that they brought back or added some of the architectural elements that it once had, or needed, such as the crown moldings! They did a beautiful job with the rebuilt fireplace.. The reworked floor plans are intelligent, logical, functional and beautiful on every floor, and they accomplished this without making any alterations to the original shell of the house, truly ingenious work. I noticed that there were no curtains or draperies anywhere, and wondered about privacy issues, but did notice rolled up shades on some of the windows. I don't think adding subtle window coverings would detract from the overall look of the rooms. The colors are a little bold for my taste, but you can always repaint. I like the white trim, and in this case I don't think stripping them down to the original wood would be as effective in this house; if I were decorating this house in a more traditional way, I might want the original wood, but the white works better here.
The kitchen is to die for, and I'd love to use some of these ideas in my kitchen, if it were large enough. I love the rolling ladder, and it probably rolls easily out of the way and isn't much of a bother. I'd even have one in each room, rather than move it. The front landscaping is a letdown after viewing the house, and I'm glad to hear that there are plans to improve it. The exterior colors are not my cup of tea, but it's not my house, or my neighbor's. I would change the green, myself. As others have said, it is not cruel to provide crates, cubbies, whatever you want to call them, for the dogs, if they are the kind that like to have a little den of their own, and having them built-in and out of the way is wonderful!
All together, it's a beautifully renovated house, with dozens of clever, practical ideas! I wish I could afford to do even half as much with my house. Since my house is on a slab, I'm at a horrible disadvantage. I don't think it's possible to put a basement under this house, or it would cost a fortune if you could. Still, there are many ideas here I can use, and I'm glad I read the whole article!
In this scheme, the master bedroom is larger and you don't have to enter it through the dressing room. This layout also maintains views out the front of the house and allows for a dresser and TV to be placed across from the bed wall in the master bedroom. The east bedroom is larger with a slightly larger closet as well. The office is also a little larger.
Just a thought!
Those Legos being stored in bins in the basement are going to need a lock & key soon. No little kid is going to be able to leave those alone!
I had never heard anyone use the word "legos" until we went to the USA for two years and I never picked up the habit - in New Zealand it's one piece of lego or lots of lego!
Love seeing these transformations but wonder the cost of doing so. Care to share?
Don't miss the cool new video about this guy's amazing Lego basement, including his own Lego creations. Click the new video link at the top of the story: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/21293913/list/houzz-tour-a-home-built-for-lego-play
Hi! Awesome house!! Someone knows the song at the beginning of the video? Thanks!
Great article and video! If you live in Seattle, you better have lots of color!
About the lego built in, how deep is it and where did you purchase all the bins?
As a LEGO builder totally out of space to build anymore this is so amazing. Thank you for sharing.
No labels on all those Lego storage bins? Wow! Oh, and the house is amazing....love it. More pics of that dutch door please!!
Love this. My favorite houzz video so far!
To Daniela Marino re: keeping the dust out - There isn’t much room between bins so they tend not to
collect too much dust. If dust does appear the easiest method if you can spare
the time is to just wash the bricks in the bin in the shower and then dry them
out on a towel and put them back in the bin when they dry.
Oh yes, I dont mean bricks but the dust on the figures already made of bricks... They fall apart when I try to clean them!
Daniela Marino - I build buildings also, and dusting was a problem until I asked someone at a LEGO convention how he dusted his complex castle/battle scene. He said his wife gave him a makeup brush. A large makeup brush from the cosmetics section in any store does a beautiful job of removing dust and not knocking of bits of your build. It's a little more intensive, but so is putting back parts when you use anything else.
Beautiful design and colors!