Northwest Harvest House is designed to harvest food, sun, and rain on site.

A Kirkland couple seeking to build their new home had two main criteria for their site: space to garden and a view. They found a 1 acre lot in the heart of Kirkland, largely undeveloped, with sweeping views of Lake Washington to the west. The house is a 5 minute walk to grocery stores, coffee, and restaurants, and has a bus stop right at the street with service every 15 minutes to Kirkland, Bellevue, or Seattle, enabling car-free living.

The site will boast a 6500 square foot garden for the owners to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Irrigation will be provided by a subsurface drip system to 30 raised beds, 12 fruit trees, and numerous berry bushes. A root cellar in the basement will store the garden bounty and ample kitchen counter space will enable home canning in season.

This 3500 square foot single family residence will be divided into two suites, each with its own kitchen. The master suite will group the living, dining, and kitchen in one great room with a master bedroom and bath, a guest bedroom and bath, his and hers offices, and an exercise room. The in-law suite will have a smaller great room, with two bedrooms and one bath.

While the smaller suite will initially be occupied by elderly parents, it is sized and arranged to become a children’s wing with playroom for a future owner with a large family. The wall dividing the great rooms is structurally designed to allow connection as one single dwelling, and can subsequently be divided again in the future for two smaller families.

All the principal rooms in both suites are located on the main floor flush with driveway grade to allow for accessibility for elderly parents now, and the middle aged owners in the future. Bathrooms are designed with accessibility in mind, with curbless showers, comfort height toilets, and grab bars.

This house has ambitious ecological goals, targeting LEED for Homes Platinum and Built Green 5 Star certifications. 99% of the existing house demolition was recycled. 100% of stormwater will be captured and infiltrated on site in a 2200 cubic foot rain garden. Rainwater from the metal roof will be collected in four cisterns totaling 12,000 gallons. Filtration and UV sterilization will allow the homeowners to use the rainwater for potable purposes in addition to toilet flushing, laundry, and irrigation. This is the first residence in King County to be permitted to drink their rainwater. The project anticipates net zero energy, supplying 100% of its own power with a 17kW photovoltaic array and 30 evacuated solar hot water tubes.