Woodridge House - Addition

Originally built in 1951, this two-storey, 1,758 SF house in Bellevue was acquired by a family with a clear program in mind: a primary single-family residence for themselves, paired with an attached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) for their daughter. Rather than demolish the existing structure outright, the brief called for preserving the original basement and extending the footprint slightly towards the rear yard. The existing house was gutted down to its foundation and framing at the basement level, which were retained as the base of the new construction. The new main house comes in at 3,359 SF, with the attached ADU at 956 SF. Because the ADU is intended for family, an internal connecting door allows the two units to operate independently while maintaining a quiet, day-to-day link between them. On the main level, the kitchen, dining, and living spaces are arranged as a single open volume, with one corner pulled aside as a sunroom, a skylit nook with a built-in bench, designed at the owners' specific request as the cozy heart of the house. A new upper storey was added directly above the existing main level. Above the living and dining spaces, the ceiling opens into a double-volume room, with the single pitch roof sloping in the same direction to lift the interior height upward. The shifting ceiling profile gives the main floor a layered spatial character. From the upper level, an interior balcony looks over the double-volume space and opens towards the dining area below, establishing a visual connection between the two floors. Two ensuite bedrooms and a laundry room complete the upper level. The ADU is designed as a compact, self-contained living unit. The main floor holds an open kitchen, dining, and living arrangement, along with a combined powder room and laundry accessed from the common area. Upstairs, a bedroom and an open office sit side-by-side, with the office opening down towards the lower floor, echoing the same double-volume gesture that defines the main house and carrying a shared spatial idea across both units. Externally, the two units are deliberately composed to read as a single structure. Although the main house and ADU each have their own entrance, the siding language and overall form are curated so that the two volumes sit in harmony with one another rather than reading as contrasting parts. The single pitch roof gives the front facade a sense of presence and scale, while also expressing the spatial logic of the interior, a clear case of form following function. To break down the overall massing, the front facade and roofline are staggered to introduce variation in the silhouette. Paired with a carefully selected material palette, the result is a contemporary expression of the home that still respects the mid-century language of the original house.