Historic Integrity Meets Modern Design
A1DesignBuild recently wrapped a kitchen, bathroom, and living room remodel for Dave and Teresa Martinelli, who live in a historic house on South Hill built in 1911.
We asked them to tell us about why they love Bellingham, how the project went overall, and what the advantages are when you work with a company that integrates both design and build services.
Plus, they reveal the single best hike in the Cascades. Read on.
A1DesignBuild (A1DB): What do you both love about Whatcom County?
Teresa Martinelli: The reason we moved to Whatcom County is because our grandchildren are here and the scenery is so beautiful, and we love being near the water. We first discovered it when we came up here for a family vacation, and then our oldest son ended up going to Western Washington University. He met his future wife here.
Dave Martinelli: Bellingham was the logical place for us to land. It's beautiful, like Teresa said, the scenery is stunning. We like to get out and Mount Baker's an hour away, there's a million hikes, and it’s different than anywhere else we’ve ever lived.
We stumbled on the South Hill neighborhood and that’s when it all kind of clicked, with these beautiful historic houses overlooking the water. It's just stunning.
Teresa: We fell in love with the view. That's what happened to us. We find these homes and we fall in love with the view, and then we fix them up.
Dave: The historic character of the house is just off the charts. Built in 1911, the same year my dad was born.
A1DB: When you walked into the house, did you know right away you wanted to live here?
Dave: Actually, the first time I walked into the house, we were already in escrow. (laughter) So yeah, I had a pretty good idea that we were going to own it.
Teresa: Ken Harrison was our realtor. He knew this house would be coming on the market, but when we were up here visiting to look at places, it wasn't available to show. So we drove around and we walked the alley and all that stuff.
Then when there was an open house a few weeks later, Ken did a virtual walk-thru with us, and we loved it. We got lucky on it.
Dave: And here we are.
A1DB: When you moved in, did you know that you wanted to redo the kitchen and the bathroom right off the bat?
Teresa: Well, we actually were hoping we wouldn't have to redo the kitchen or the bathroom. (More laughter) But after living in the kitchen for a while, I mean, it didn't look bad, but it didn’t function well at all. We were just unhappy after living with it for a while.
Dave: A good friend of ours from Sonoma gave us some advice that was good counsel. When you move into a house you haven't lived in before, in an area you haven't lived in, don't do anything for a year. Just resist that urge to change stuff. There's probably a reason a hundred year old house is the way it is. So just experience it and then you can make a more informed decision about what you ultimately want to do.
So yeah, we lived with it for a while, and kind of figured out what we liked and didn't like. And that's when it logically made sense, and then we thought maybe we should do the bathroom and living room too because of their proximity to each other.
Read more after the break.
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A1DB: How did you shop around for builders?
Dave: We talked to a lot of different people, but then I happened to read an article online about A1DesignBuild and another house that they'd worked on in South Hill. And the main premise of the story was how they did a great job blending the historical character of the house with modern upgrades. That was a really important criteria for us: how do we bring the house into the 21st century yet preserve the historic character?
That's a fine line to walk.
So we talked to them about their process and timelines and expectations, and they came out and walked the house and gave us some input and suggestions. And then it made sense to go through at least the design process with them to see how that worked. And that went really well. Their design services were outstanding.
It really became apparent to us that whoever did the build, communication would be paramount. Mainly because we weren't planning on physically being at the house. So I wanted to work with a builder who had a good system in place to keep us informed about what was going on. And that actually worked really well with A1DesignBuild. Because they did the design, there was already good internal communication on their side. There wasn't a third party designer or architect that's trying to interface with the owner and with the builder.. It's all the same entity that has the communication skills and the kinks already worked out. So it just made sense at that point to have them build it as well.
The other thing they did a great job with in the design phase was that they really laid out all the decisions early in the process. Is this going to be a two gang box or one gang box? Where do you want it located? What color is it going to be? All that little stuff was dialed in long before the building even began.
Teresa: By making all the decisions upfront, it also meant there weren’t any big financial surprises. Everything was pre-determined.
I loved working with Sharon, our designer. When we've done a major remodel in the past, we worked with the architect, he figured out the main layout, but I had to make all the decisions about things like light fixtures. I had to do that all on my own. And this was so much less stressful working with Sharon. We told her what we were looking for, and she would come up with four choices that would work. Instead of looking at hundreds or thousands of choices, she had it narrowed down. It was so much easier, so much less stressful. And it fit the house.
Dave: They also had something called a ‘Marathon Day’. So prior to the project, when they're getting the bids from all the subs, there's a day when all the subcontractors show up at the house. They tour the house, ask a bunch of questions, look at stuff, look at everything. So you have a chance to meet them and they have a chance to meet you. Questions were answered. Everybody knew what they were getting into, which helped smooth the bidding and schedule process.
That felt pretty thorough. I've not seen that with other companies.
A1DB: Were there any delays to speak of?
Dave: Not a lot. There’s always some delays in projects. But A1 always communicated with us, and kept us in the loop, which was exactly what we wanted. Which speaks to the value they provide.
Value to me incorporates quality as well as price. So the cheapest is not the best. It may be more expensive, but if it has the quality component behind it, then it still may represent the best value. That’s what we look for, and when you look at the total package of value that A1 brings, they rate very highly. I think the quality of work that they did was outstanding.
Teresa: We’re very happy with the end result, very happy. I mean, it is really top-notch construction quality. But hopefully we don’t have to do any more construction for a while. (More Laughter). I think we really did nail it all down.
A1DB: And the best hike in Whatcom County? You promised to enlighten us on this one.
Dave: Wow, picking a favorite hike is like picking a favorite child. Any of the myriad of hikes along Mount Baker Highway or Highway 20 can be stunning. It is often more dependent on “the day” than it is “the hike”.
That being said, Table Mountain or Sauk Mountain would be my picks for the best “exertion to reward” ratio as they are two relatively easy hikes with tremendous views.
Teresa: But you can’t go wrong with any hike that puts you on the top of a mountain with views of the Cascades on a brilliant day. That’s my favorite hike.