Renovating a Mid-century home

Interview with Steven Townsend, Architect

1. Can you tell us a little more about your background? What do you do for a living etc.

I am an Architect and I lead a practice Montgomery + Townsend Architecture and Design. We are a boutique, full-service architecture firm and we specialize in providing bespoke, thoughtful architectural projects with an emphasis on custom single-family residences. My wife Lauren, works for Amazon, and we purchased our 1953 home in West Seattle a few years ago. Using my skills as an architect, we were able to design the renovation of our kitchen literally in house after living in it for some time and honing in on the changes we wanted to make.

2. Why did you choose to work with LEICHT SEATTLE? What were some of your favorite experiences working with LEICHT SEATTLE?

I was familiar with Leicht as a product, but until we started looking into our own renovation, I wasn’t familiar with them in detail. After meeting with Yuval, we were very impressed by the library of all the finishes LEICHT SEATTLE offers, as well as the accessories and configurations of each module that LEICHT SEATTLE offers. The show room was also stunning, and showcases a very wide range of options which helped us through the design process.

The design process was really efficient and helpful as well – we had the design more or less worked out, but to be able to work with Yuval to fine tune that design within the LEICHT SEATTLE system, and see, in real time the different hardware and detail configurations possible.

3. What are some of your favorite features in the home?

It’s tough to pick one piece, but we are really happy with the open shelving on our decorative wall – I thought that would maybe be a little more just decorative, but we end up utilizing that shelving a lot. The open shelving on the backside of the island is also a great feature – allowing us to utilize that extra storage, and lets our daughter have a place to stash her toys.

4. Do you have a room or space in the home that is especially meaningful to you? What makes it special?

We decided to focus our renovation energy on the kitchen, as we spend so much time as a family in that space. For us, the kitchen really is the center of that home. With the renovation, we opened up the kitchen really to the rest of the house, so now it acts not only as the central point, but there is a direct connection between the rest of the living spaces now.

5. What are you doing during this stay at home time to stay happy or creative?

Thankfully, as an architect, I have plenty of outlets in our projects and work to keep the creative juices flowing. As part of our practice, we try to stay ‘hands on’ and stay grounded in creating and construction, so to that end, we design and fabricate our own wooden furniture. I’ve found that to be helpful in this period, so we’ve worked and built some pieces for ourselves and friends and family. Also just getting outside – one of the reasons we moved to the Northwest was to take advantage of the outdoors, so that’s been helpful to weather this stay at home time.

Design: Montgomery + Townsend Architecture and Design
Kitchen Cabinets: @leichtseattle
Construction: @ysbuilt
Photography: Lara Swimmer @laraswimmer