In-Kind House / GO’C

Architects: GO’C
Area: 1,900 ft²
Photography: Kevin Scott
GO’C Project team: Jon Gentry AIA, Aimée O’Carroll ARB, Ashley Skidmore
Structural Engineering: J Welch Engineering
Contractor: Treebird Construction
City: Seattle, Washington
Country: United States

In-Kind House, a residential building designed by GO’C in Seattle, Washington, rethinks the structure of a 1950s home by retaining its original footprint while transforming its spatial experience. Built on the existing concrete stem walls, the project replaces an inefficient plan with a refined interior layout focused on daylight, garden connection, and material cohesion. The design enhances livability through clerestory windows, a high shed roof, and large openings to the outdoors. Completed for clients who prioritized restraint over expansion, the house integrates layered planting and natural finishes to reinforce continuity between interior and landscape. A reconfigured basement, previously avoided, becomes a usable living space, unified with the rest of the home through thoughtful spatial sequencing and light-driven design.

In-Kind House by GO’C reimagines a mid-century residence by preserving its footprint and replacing a dysfunctional interior with a spatially efficient and light-filled plan. The project was conceived not to enlarge the structure or add amenities, but to create just enough space tailored to the clients’ needs. The original 1950s home, despite its size, had limited usability due to poor layout and a dark, underutilized basement.

The details that are unplanned—those delightful surprises that emerge during construction or in the way a space is experienced over time. It might be how light passing through a skylight refracts into a rainbow and is cast on a door, the unexpected texture of aggregate revealed in a dry concrete mix, or a craftsperson making a subtle, thoughtful adjustment during installation.
Interview with Jon Gentry and Aimée O’Carroll of GO’C

GO’C addressed these challenges by working within the limits of the existing concrete stem walls while reordering the interior to better serve the clients’ lifestyle. A key goal was to establish a direct relationship between the interior spaces and the mature south-facing garden at the back of the property. A west-facing window from the original house, which framed a maple tree, was reinterpreted in the same position to introduce daylight into the new entryway and central stair, allowing light to extend to the lower level.

The basement was transformed into an integral part of the home, no longer a separate or avoided space. Large lift-and-slide doors open the main living areas to the garden and outdoor kitchen, blending the interior with a layered landscape of moss-covered rockery, ferns, and native trees that ascend the small hill beyond the deck.

The front of the In-Kind House was reengaged through landscaping and a cantilevered stair that lightly touches the existing rockery, grounding the new volume in the original site. A high shed roof, exposed timber beams, and clerestory windows were introduced to expand vertical space and bring daylight into compact areas, giving the house an open and connected feel despite its modest 1,900 square feet.

The interior palette was kept consistent across both floors. White oak cabinetry, plaster walls, and hardwood floors establish continuity, while specific design choices introduce variation. In the kitchen and dining areas, the oak cabinetry is stained a deep blue to emphasize its social function. A Japanese-style recessed entry, complete with a built-in bench and storage, offers a defined threshold into the house. A white oak screen filters views and softens transitions between the entry, stair, and living areas.

In-Kind House demonstrates how architectural precision, material clarity, and landscape integration can elevate a modest structure into a highly functional and cohesive home, without relying on expansion.