Bathroom of the Week: New Primary Suite With a Hidden Courtyard
A ranch-style home gets an Eastern-inspired addition with an airy bedroom and spa-like bathroom with a private courtyard
This Seattle-area couple with two growing children wanted some space just for themselves in their small ranch-style home. So they hired architect Miriam Larson, whose portfolio and project photos they researched on Houzz, to design a primary suite addition. At first they thought they wanted to add a second story. But Larson convinced them to go outward instead, designing a serene yakisugi-clad retreat with a bedroom and a bathroom that opens to a small private courtyard.
Keep scrolling for a peek inside the new light-filled space, which includes a clean white-and-wood palette and a space-savvy wet room with curbless shower and soaking tub.
Keep scrolling for a peek inside the new light-filled space, which includes a clean white-and-wood palette and a space-savvy wet room with curbless shower and soaking tub.
After you enter the suite, a custom fir barn door opens to reveal the bathroom. Let’s step inside.
Custom fir doors: Frank Lumber The Door Store
Custom fir doors: Frank Lumber The Door Store
The new primary bathroom measures about 6 feet wide and 12½ feet long, plus a separate water closet (not pictured).
To achieve the retreat-like feel her clients sought — and to make the room feel more generously sized — Larson included a wet-room-style rain shower, hand shower and freestanding Kohler bathtub, all behind a glass enclosure with a barrier-free entry.
“From a floor space, cost-per-square-foot rationale, they just are so efficient for people who have tighter budgets,” Larson says. “I also love the fact that you can tile the whole thing, which in this case really is a beautiful design element, but it’s also practical.”
Tile: Bond Excalibur matte porcelain (floor) and Maya Stacked Pearl White polished glass mosaic (walls), Tile Bar
To achieve the retreat-like feel her clients sought — and to make the room feel more generously sized — Larson included a wet-room-style rain shower, hand shower and freestanding Kohler bathtub, all behind a glass enclosure with a barrier-free entry.
“From a floor space, cost-per-square-foot rationale, they just are so efficient for people who have tighter budgets,” Larson says. “I also love the fact that you can tile the whole thing, which in this case really is a beautiful design element, but it’s also practical.”
Tile: Bond Excalibur matte porcelain (floor) and Maya Stacked Pearl White polished glass mosaic (walls), Tile Bar
The floor is heated into the shower area, which helps keep the temperature in the wet room comfortable. And the whole area is enclosed, which contains the steam and splashing water.
The door to the fenced-in courtyard is also within the wet room.
“I remember the client was like, ‘I want to feel like I’m showering outside,’ ” Larson says. “He can open the door to the little courtyard garden and it’s completely private. The window over the tub is not onto the courtyard garden, but it’s high and nobody can see into it.”
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The door to the fenced-in courtyard is also within the wet room.
“I remember the client was like, ‘I want to feel like I’m showering outside,’ ” Larson says. “He can open the door to the little courtyard garden and it’s completely private. The window over the tub is not onto the courtyard garden, but it’s high and nobody can see into it.”
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In addition to the glass door and several other windows, there’s a skylight above the tub.
“There was a lot of light in the bathroom already, but [the homeowners] were walking through the construction site and they said, “We thought we didn’t want a skylight, but we do,” Larson says, laughing. The eleventh-hour addition was worth it, she says. “It adds a lot to that feeling of being outside, actually.”
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“There was a lot of light in the bathroom already, but [the homeowners] were walking through the construction site and they said, “We thought we didn’t want a skylight, but we do,” Larson says, laughing. The eleventh-hour addition was worth it, she says. “It adds a lot to that feeling of being outside, actually.”
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This is the view from the private courtyard looking back into the wet room.
The addition is clad in yakisugi, commonly known as shou-sugi-ban in the West. It’s made by burning cypress boards as a preservative heat treatment in a traditional Japanese process. This lighter Pika-Pika variation from Nakamoto Forestry has been wire-brushed twice to remove the soot, then given a light gray linseed oil finish.
“I don’t have a lot of clients who are willing to take chances on siding, and in this case it makes it so special,” Larson says. “It’s a very small addition, but you really take notice of the depth of color in the siding and the detail of it. And of course it goes really well with that Eastern aesthetic that they were looking for.”
They painted the rest of the house a complementary shade of charcoal gray (not pictured). The courtyard is a work in progress due to rising material costs and pandemic delays. The clients intend to complete it later and were able to get everything else they wanted within their budget, Larson says.
The addition is clad in yakisugi, commonly known as shou-sugi-ban in the West. It’s made by burning cypress boards as a preservative heat treatment in a traditional Japanese process. This lighter Pika-Pika variation from Nakamoto Forestry has been wire-brushed twice to remove the soot, then given a light gray linseed oil finish.
“I don’t have a lot of clients who are willing to take chances on siding, and in this case it makes it so special,” Larson says. “It’s a very small addition, but you really take notice of the depth of color in the siding and the detail of it. And of course it goes really well with that Eastern aesthetic that they were looking for.”
They painted the rest of the house a complementary shade of charcoal gray (not pictured). The courtyard is a work in progress due to rising material costs and pandemic delays. The clients intend to complete it later and were able to get everything else they wanted within their budget, Larson says.
Back inside, next to the wet room is a custom hickory double vanity with a quartz countertop and matte black hardware. Narrow mirrors flank yet another window that looks into the courtyard.
VIGO wall-mounted faucets coordinate with the bath fixtures and vanity hardware.
Wall paint: White Heron, Benjamin Moore
Read stories about bathroom vanities
VIGO wall-mounted faucets coordinate with the bath fixtures and vanity hardware.
Wall paint: White Heron, Benjamin Moore
Read stories about bathroom vanities
Exiting the bathroom through the barn door (at left) and turning left gives you this view toward the primary bedroom.
The wood flooring was matched to the flooring throughout the rest of the house.
The wood flooring was matched to the flooring throughout the rest of the house.
The bedroom is simple, clean and mostly white, with a window that reveals a beautiful set of trees on the neighbor’s property. It’s set high, so only the greenery, not the the fence or home, is visible.
A vaulted ceiling adds to the light, airy feel. The clients specifically requested track lighting.
“I specified white and the clients came back and said, ‘We want black. We want it to look more like a space for art,’ ” Larson says. She was glad they insisted. “I think the black really works,” she says.
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A vaulted ceiling adds to the light, airy feel. The clients specifically requested track lighting.
“I specified white and the clients came back and said, ‘We want black. We want it to look more like a space for art,’ ” Larson says. She was glad they insisted. “I think the black really works,” she says.
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A large fir slider door next to the bed is essentially a huge pane of glass that allows the couple to see into the backyard, which shares a deck with the rest of the house. When it’s open, the homeowners feel like they’re sleeping outside.
The direct access to the outdoors from the bedroom and bathroom are both unexpected and lovely, Larson says, and something one might not get if they feel pressured to do what their neighbors are doing, or if they don’t hire a team with whom they can forge a personal connection.
“When you hire a designer or an architect, you are really getting a conversation about what works for your family and what works for your lifestyle,” she says. “The reason I called my firm Story is because I feel like space tells the story of the people who live in it.
“I think we were really lucky we got the right contractor fit and the clients were really engaged in the design process,” Larson says. “It’s a gem of a project, and it’s because we all cared so much about it.”
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The direct access to the outdoors from the bedroom and bathroom are both unexpected and lovely, Larson says, and something one might not get if they feel pressured to do what their neighbors are doing, or if they don’t hire a team with whom they can forge a personal connection.
“When you hire a designer or an architect, you are really getting a conversation about what works for your family and what works for your lifestyle,” she says. “The reason I called my firm Story is because I feel like space tells the story of the people who live in it.
“I think we were really lucky we got the right contractor fit and the clients were really engaged in the design process,” Larson says. “It’s a gem of a project, and it’s because we all cared so much about it.”
More on Houzz
Browse and save bathroom photos
Shop for a bathroom vanity
Find home design and remodeling professionals
Primary Suite at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Kirkland, Washington
Size: Bathroom: 92 square feet (8.6 square meters); bedroom, including hallway: 212 square feet (20 square meters); courtyard: 62 square feet (5.8 square meters)
Architect: Miriam Larson of Story
Builder: Black Dog Custom Builders
The leafy Finn Hill neighborhood of Kirkland, Washington, sits across Lake Washington from Seattle and has many small, older homes like the three-bedroom, 1½-bathroom ranch house owned by Larson’s clients.
“Everyone in their neighborhood was going up,” Larson says. “We would’ve had to cut into one of the other bedrooms to have a stair. I thought that it was better to go out — especially because their tight budget didn’t allow for a lot of extras, [and] I started thinking of the stairs as an extra.”
Instead, Larson suggested making a suite wrapped around a hidden courtyard garden on the first level and nodding to an Eastern aesthetic the clients were drawn to after spending time in Japan. Her challenge as an architect would be making the suite feel special yet part of the rest of the house.
This custom hickory bookcase is at the end of the hallway that links the suite to the rest of the house. Above it is an etched bronze Moroccan-style pendant light the clients found on their own. On the left is a large window; on the right is the entrance to the suite.
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