Between Sea and Sky on Raft Island
An artist enclave on Raft Island overlooks Carr Inlet in the southern end of Puget Sound, Washington. About one hour in Seattle, this modern architectural wonder was designed and built by the owner’s son, Randall Lanou, from BuildSense from North Carolina. Barbara Lee Smith and her husband, Mel, were hands-on all the way, creating a masterpiece both inside and outside.
Tucked between the ocean and the sky, and surrounded by evergreens, two constructions constituting a home and art are a careful combination of pure timber, corrugated metal and steel. Nearly 95 percent of the timber from a current 1968 A-frame has been repurposed in everything in the floors and decks to the stairs, closets and wine cellar. Artwork by Barbara hangs as comfortably here in her home as it does in museums and galleries around the world, although Mel’s intricate wood designs are integrated into hand-hewn tables and wall hangings.
at a Glance
Who lives here: Mel and Barbara Lee Smith, married for 41 years
Design and location: Modern Loft on Raft Island, Gig Harbor, Washington
Size: Main house, 3,200 square feet; independent artist studio, 900 square feet
Wendy K. Leigh
Having a distinctive style cultivated by their own son and architect, Randall Lanou, the most important home has complete views of Puget Sound. Carefully honoring the first A-frame constructed by means of a boat builder, the Smiths and their general contractor Willie Tompkins returned the structure to its base, then reused nearly every piece of the first cedar planks, beams and shingles.
Wendy K. Leigh
Mel fashioned an great piece of Sequoia into a desk weighing approximately 200 pounds following the timber dried. It took nearly six months to build, and breaks down into two pieces for smaller, more intimate dining when the couple is home independently. Though the home was only finished in 2008, their four grown children have all made their marks on the inside and exterior spaces with assorted pieces of artwork, design, and photographic collections.
Wendy K. Leigh
Rooms flow into one another, with all the kitchen framed by bamboo topped with little frosted supply closets. Cubbyholes for displaying artwork are carved into the walls. The neighboring living room includes built-in bookshelves and a fireplace.
Wendy K. Leigh
Natural splits from one slab of Sequoia are combined together using a Japanese method known as bow tie or butterfly repair.
Wendy K. Leigh
A wood and metal walkway overhead permits views of the open-concept alive, diningroom, kitchen and living room spaces. Original artwork by the Smiths and their peers is strategically positioned throughout the home. Wooden ducks parade throughout the street in memory of Barbara’s dad, a lifelong decoy collector and maker.
Wendy K. Leigh
Spice racks are built into the kitchen cabinets and roll out for use. Floors in the kitchen, as well as through the house, are re-milled cedar in the first home.
Wendy K. Leigh
The guest bathroom is a work of art in itself, with antique metal linotypes placed above ceramic tiles. Barbara and Randall pictured the layout and worked together to create this spectacular montage in what would be failed wall area in many houses.
Wendy K. Leigh
The counter of the guest toilet is lined with antique linotype as well, and set into a concrete slab poured by the owners.
Wendy K. Leigh
A counter in the master bath includes genuine ammonites carefully placed into limestone. Ammonites are extinct, fossilized marine animals whose shells are collector’s pieces. The floors are created from walnut, while showers feature marble and combed bluestone.
Wendy K. Leigh
On the master bedroom , an intricately designed coat is lovingly mounted. Barbara’s middle name, Lee, takes following the man who wore this garment to his marriage.
Wendy K. Leigh
Layered vertical columns varying in heights from 7′ to 8’5″ stand guard midway up a flight of stairs. They are a part of a tapestry art installation by Barbara. She says the layout came to her in a dream when she was a young girl, and went on to garner acclaim in exhibitions in London and Poland.
Wendy K. Leigh
At a nod to the past and present, Mel constructed a dumbwaiter to transfer objects from the top floor to the reduced, emerging into the kitchen space. Even more often associated with earlier time intervals, these easy”lifts” are non-motorized and easy to assemble, using pulleys and ropes to take things down and up the stairs through the day.
Wendy K. Leigh
Mel is proud to point out that his wine cellar cost $7.86 — to the claws. The wine rack is constructed from sticks of cedar in the first home, when it had been milled to make the tongue-and-groove for the new floors. The timber which has been trimmed from the ends now retains their impressive wine collection, which is largely comprised of”barters” with individuals that are faking to have a piece of Barbara’s artwork for their home.
Wendy K. Leigh
Though this Raft Island home is a digital museum holding outstanding pieces of art within its own structure, the private work of the proprietor herself provides the most intimate glimpse into the philosophies at work behind this architectural gem. Hidden details reflect a world view that is not immediately apparent. Barbara is a fiber artist, working with non-woven industrial materials that belie a hot, earthy approach to living. The piece atop the Mexican desk is an archetypal boat design common in Indonesia and Africa.
Wendy K. Leigh
Roaming concerning the upstairs, various objects call out using their own narrative. This table was recovered from an architectural store, in which the Smiths learned that it was built by Floyd Gompf, a master furniture maker who produces functional”sculptures” from sterile materials.
Wendy K. Leigh
A framed lithograph by Robert Stackhouse has been the inspiration for the layout of the outside deck, which is viewable directly below an adjacent window. A fire pit onto the deck is constructed of bricks which once lined the base of the first house’s fireplace.
Wendy K. Leigh
Raft Island is a tiny community of about 750 residents, joined by a quaint bridge crossing Henderson Bay across from Gig Harbor. The Smiths needed their home to adopt the natural environment that is so vital to the lifestyle here, for instance, towering evergreen forest property next to their property. They discovered a way to enhance the gardens while staying true to the landscape by integrating the work of local artist Tom Torrens. A gong along with a birdbath are a part of the collection of his creations.
Wendy K. Leigh
When you first approach the house after following a winding driveway, Barbara’s art studio is the very first thing that pops into perspective. It’s joined to the main home farther down by a wood and steel walkway, mixing two constructions into natural extensions of home and work. Red corrugated metal frames the entryway of the studio; the whole lower side overlooks the water.
Wendy K. Leigh
From the adjacent art studio, Barbara functions with an intricate process involving painting, stacking and layering with bits of non-woven fabric that are stitched into patterns, resulting in a fluid landscape which at first seems like a watercolor painting.
Wendy K. Leigh
Though her studio is grand, with lots of levels of design and creativity inherent in the open spaces, Barbara invariably starts each day before sunrise, sitting in a comfy window seat, surrounded by her books and sketches. Facing her diagonally is a wall in which she pins her ongoing bits, placed so her attention could collapse upon them by an area, to ascertain how every one needs to progress.
Wendy K. Leigh
As if the baths in the primary house weren’t esoteric enough, the one from the art studio takes the cake. A wall constructed of Lutradur, her signature working cloth since 1983, is decorated with a montage of exotic art pieces and suspended out of hardware which once graced a barn door. Barbara’s new interpretation of a door slides back and forth to show (and hide ) a tiny bathroom.
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