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Overview

Initially, the Hansmans hoped to make an addition to their Seattle ranch house built in 1951, but as the design process continued, they decided on only using the previous house's foundations for their new, 3,000-square-foot residence.

Building History

As per a 08/24/1997 article in the Seattle Times.com, Robert Hull worked as the Miller Hull partner in charge with John J. Hansman and Loretta "Lori" S. Taylor on their house in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. The author, Michelle C. Buetow, said of the design: 'The Hansmans built on the foundation of a rather ordinary dark-sided ranch home, which they purchased for its west-facing, 60-feet-wide-by-120-feet-deep lot. As they planned their house's overhaul, remodeling turned into a project more akin to rebuilding. The home's basement and foundation stayed, but the rest of the structure, and the surrounding landscaping, disappeared. 'We had every intention of adding a second story, but as the design evolved we determined demolition and rebuilding was a better solution,' said John Hansman. 'The old house had too many walls and barriers.' In the new layout, the front-of-house area that had been the old kitchen became a study, and the roomy new kitchen, with granite countertops and a chef's island, moved to the rear of the house, opening onto the dining and living area and capturing a west-facing panorama. The bottom story of the home, which is daylighted by the slope of the property, was redesigned to house a children's playroom, a substantial portion of the home's storage area, and a guest room with pleasant views of the newly landscaped garden behind the house. The home's new second-story construction was separated into two parts to keep the wide house from visually dominating a street of traditional box and Queen Anne homes. The master bed and bath reside on the upstairs section of the north side of the home. The southern section contains the boys' bedrooms and bath. The two parts are joined, internally, by a steel-and-cable bridge with wood flooring, which stretches across the main floor's vaulted center space. The perfectly aligned bolts on the underside of the span, which visitors see as they enter the home, are testimony to the exacting craftsmanship of Lori's brother, Steve Taylor, whom they hired as general contractor for the remodel." (See Michelle C. Buetow, Seattle Times.com, "One Home, Two Parts -- In Between, A Rolling Door Blurs The Lines Between Inside And Out," published 08/24/1997, accessed 11/20/2024.)

John Joseph Hansman (born 06/23/1953) married Loretta Susan Taylor (born 01/1959) on 08/11/1984. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013; Reference Number: kingcoarchmc840821_07612, accessed 11/20/2024.) Hansman was a 1971 graduate of Shoreline High School, while Lori Taylor graduated from Seattle's Roosevelt High School in 1975. The couple had two children and divorced on 07/30/2015 in King County, WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington State Divorce Indexes, 2015-2017, accessed 11/20/2024.)

The Hansmans purchased the 1951 ranch house from Norman M. and Catherine R. Lebetter on 06/05/1990 for $460,000. As part of a divorce settlement of 05/06/2015, Hansman ceded the house's deed to Taylor as part of a divorce settlement.

Building Notes

The Hansman House won a 1997 Western Homes Citation Award from Sunset Magazine.

In 2024, the Taylor House occupied a 7,200-square-foot (0.17-acre) lot. The dwelling contained 1,580 square feet on the first floor, 1,560 on the second and 800 more in a finished basement. (See King County, Department of Assessment.gov, "Parcel Data for Parcel #186060-0775," accessed 06/13/2024.)