My Houzz: Small, Vivid Island Home in Washington
A family guest home on Vashon Island becomes a primary dwelling with salvaged materials, efficient space planning and thoughtful details
Although the "Salsa House" was originally named for the salsa made on the property (the ingredients are grown there as well), this eclectic little home on Washington state's Vashon Island lives up to its festive and colorful name. Recycled materials, a bold exterior and smart small-home solutions all combine in this cozy Northwest cottage.
The owners, a New York couple named Walter Lewis and Blair Dean, fell in love with a plot of land on Vashon Island owned by Blair's daughter, Dalinda, and her partner Delene. Lewis and Dean decided to build their own guesthouse and left the creative process up to Dalinda, Delene and local builder John Demyanovich. Demyanovich has a passion for building furniture out of finds and a knack for finding, refurbishing and reusing materials. Working together, the crew came up with a design evolved from salvaged materials, tiny-home ideas, minimizing redundancy and creating character. The Salsa House is now Lewis and Dean's permanent residence.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Walter Lewis and Blair Dean
Location: Vashon Island, Washington
Size: 1,000 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bath, loft space
That's interesting: John Demyanovich is Delene's brother-in-law, so the building process was a true family affair.
The owners, a New York couple named Walter Lewis and Blair Dean, fell in love with a plot of land on Vashon Island owned by Blair's daughter, Dalinda, and her partner Delene. Lewis and Dean decided to build their own guesthouse and left the creative process up to Dalinda, Delene and local builder John Demyanovich. Demyanovich has a passion for building furniture out of finds and a knack for finding, refurbishing and reusing materials. Working together, the crew came up with a design evolved from salvaged materials, tiny-home ideas, minimizing redundancy and creating character. The Salsa House is now Lewis and Dean's permanent residence.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Walter Lewis and Blair Dean
Location: Vashon Island, Washington
Size: 1,000 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bath, loft space
That's interesting: John Demyanovich is Delene's brother-in-law, so the building process was a true family affair.
Builder Demyanovich along with his wife, Donna, and their granddaughter sit on the wraparound porch of the Salsa House. Demyanovich bought a truckload of damaged and twisted lumber and milled it into trim, but the siding, posts, beams and rafters are all new. The deck is cedar.
Demyanovich designed and built the Salsa House with Delene as his superintendent, laborer and craftsperson, while the rest of the family served as the support crew.
Demyanovich designed and built the Salsa House with Delene as his superintendent, laborer and craftsperson, while the rest of the family served as the support crew.
Inside, an open plan and a loft ceiling create a sense of spaciousness in the 1,000-square-foot dwelling.
The stair treads are made from a pressure-treated lumber that was badly warped and twisted. Demyanovich ran the boards through a planer and shimmed them to get uniform thickness.
The bookshelves were added after Lewis and Dean moved in permanently. Demyanovich screwed boards into the beams overhead to create this space-saving shelf.
The kitchen cabinets were salvaged from a remodel in nearby Ballard. Demyanovich rebuilt the frames and painted them, accenting with door and drawer pulls from Hardwicks. The wood paneling in the kitchen is built from plywood and trim fabricated onsite.
Demyanovich built the kitchen countertops, using miter joints and herringbone detailing at the corners to make them stand out. The wood floors are salvaged from a house torn down in 1999. Delene applied a water-based stain and revealed the grain with a bit of rubbing for a worn-in look.
The natural stone for the bathroom tile floor and a small section by the front entry is a combination of salvaged and donated rock. Delene created and designed the semipolished stone shower surround, hand placing each stone.
The window was salvaged from a friend, the toilet was free and the medicine cabinet was built by Demyanovich.
Towel bars: Restoration Hardware
The window was salvaged from a friend, the toilet was free and the medicine cabinet was built by Demyanovich.
Towel bars: Restoration Hardware
Sprinklers were installed in lieu of a turnaround for fire access, since the Salsa House is set so far back from the road. All the doors are salvaged, and the light fixtures are from Ikea.
In order to place a power line easement alongside the property, the power company had to cut back the limbs of a tree. Demyanovich collected the branches and repurposed them for beautiful banisters in this upstairs space. According to Demyanovich, there was very little shrinkage — the alignment took a bit more time, but the result is stunning.
The spinet desk is a find from Canada, and the rocking chair is from a secondhand store on the island.
Building the cottage with a 12-to-12 roof pitch provided some additional room for loft space. Adequately sized ceiling joists and thoughtful detailing allow for the possibility of a full second floor in the future.
The newel posts in the stairwell provide perfectly sized spaces for light switches in this open loft plan.
When they were working on the project full-time, Demyanovich and his wife moved to the property to make the process easier. They bought a comfy 1970s Airstream to live in during construction. The one-of-a-kind chairs were built by Demyanovich out of salvaged wood.
Now the Airstream serves as a guesthouse. Demyanovich and Donna stay there when they visit from their home in West Seattle.
Now the Airstream serves as a guesthouse. Demyanovich and Donna stay there when they visit from their home in West Seattle.
Delene and Donna remodeled the interior of the Airstream together. They removed the original shag carpeting and cut down 4-inch tile to create the colorful floor pattern.
All the linens, pillows, blankets and decor in the Airstream came from thrift stores.
The Airstream does not have a fully functioning commode, so the couple built an outhouse in the woods.
There is plenty of space on the property for growing fruits and vegetables, as well as raising bees and chickens.
Houzz call: Do you have a colorful, eclectic home? Share it with us!
Houzz call: Do you have a colorful, eclectic home? Share it with us!
"We spent hours looking at images to find that perfect blue and orange," Dalinda says. "We found the yellow from a colored pencil, the paint person at True Value was wearing the perfect green, and the red is from my kitchen trim." All of the colors were individually mixed until they matched the right imagined color. Every surface stain inside the house is custom mixed as well.