When Mike Mora first saw the three-acre site for this Pacific Northwest retreat, a new residential project north of the city, he knew the heavily forested and marshy site would be a challenge. ‘The big thing for us was how to create a built environment in this wet, densely wooded site where the main living spaces would feel as sunlit and open as possible,' says the architect and principal of Seattle-based Heliotrope Architects. However, the forested context turned out to be the central design inspiration for the low-slung home, which gently stretches out into the landscape to provide the perfect respite for a young family of four.
