Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/833937
T he Juanita area of Kirkland pretty much exudes Pacific Northwest essence. Snuggled within this archetypical Pacific Northwest city grows our atypical community—only so because the rest of us haven't quite caught up with their methods yet. What makes this development so cool? That's like asking what made ancient Rome flourish or what made the Beatles such an influential bunch of shaggy-haired lads. It's many things in the right places at the right time. Okay, really, though, the Juanita Farmhouse Cottages begin with an ideology—simple in structure, yet not often replicated or even replicable in some instances. In its broken-down form, it's footprint reduction and community expansion; specifically, making smaller the space that is your home and making larger the place you call home. It's okay to live in a smaller house if you have a whole community in which to walk, talk with friends, eat, relax, and do all the other things we typically rush home to do behind the fortified walls of our inclusive castles. The cottages reverse the trend of living behind closed doors, without giving up storage or smart living. Their appeal is based on getting out there, promoting the entirety of your neighborhood, your city—in this case, an aesthetic community set up for this kind of thinking. But that shouldn't deter other cities from trying the same thing. All it takes is a little community effort and a great mind to draw up plans and put them in motion. Space and comfort intermingle inside the cottages. PHOTOS COURTESY OF VAL BURMESTER 28 master builder SUMMER 2017