Should I Stay or Should I go? Design & Permitting Process.

January 28, 2026

Ever wondered if it is better to substantially remodel and/or add-on to your existing home, rather than sell and buy another? Real estate values have gone up considerably, and in our current seller's market, it's the buying-back-in that can be costly if it's not timed just right.

Considering the resources involved in the design, permitting, & construction process, is it worth it to leverage the appreciation gained in your current house and transform it into your dream home?

The simple answer is: It depends. Each property is unique, and each family is different. The best thing to do is explore all options and make informed decisions with the help of your professional real estate, design, & build community.

We recently ventured down this decision-making process with our Mercer Island clients. They purchased a lovely 1,800 SF lakefront home a few years ago, but it didn't meet their family's personality & lifestyle. They selected Suzanne Zahr as their Architect to help lead them down a path of discovery that would ultimately result in an informed "go / no-go" decision.

With each phase of the design process, new insights were creatively explored and considered. Here's a brief summary of our collaborative journey in creating their 4,500 SF dream home.

Storybook Pond Residence.

November 17, 2025

Surrounded by towering maple and pine trees, a babbling brook leading to a frog pond, the scene is set for an Artist’s studio and family home. The extensive transformation in Duvall, WA is rooted in connecting an open layout to its natural environment.

Large gable-end windows compliment a continuous 30’ ridge skylight, flooding the main living space with warm diffused light. An expansive kitchen opens to the dining area and is booked-ended by a living room with a stone wrapped fireplace. This great room connects to a large outdoor deck, bridging the garden views.

This home is designed to the specific programming needs of our client, allowing for a tranquil primary suite with a floating tub and custom sauna. Other amenities include a dog-washing mud room, hydraulic elevator, art studio space with a private deck overlooking the landscape, providing ample inspiration.

From elegant detailing to larger architectural concepts creating clear axes and open flow, this design offers a nod to the previous farmhouse home, while introducing a modern experience. A carefully curated material palette brings natural elements inside and out, with stone wrapped walls, natural finishes, warm textures and accents of wood throughout, blending into its surrounding landscape.

Material Spotlight: CEDIT Compatta Collection.

September 2, 2024

A passion for earth as a natural material and for rammed earth, an ancient construction technique.

The COMPATTA collection, designed by Federico Peri, combines a passion for earth as a natural material and an interest in a very ancient construction technique. This unique catalog of porcelain stoneware slabs is created using the very latest ceramic product techniques, in which the “profoundly ancient” dialogues with the “state of the art”.

The primary inspiration derives from close observation of the many strata within the ground and the mixtures of elementary particles of which it consists. The design concept is completed by reference to the age-old rammed earth construction technique, used in northern Jordan since the eighth millennium BCE and widely applied in Yemen in many other desert or rural settings until the mid 19th century.

In this method, the raw earth is compacted inside wooden formwork to construct continuous structural walls, bearing walls or partitions inside homes, with a natural decorative effect due to the layering of the different shades of clay used.

When creating his project for CEDIT, Peri was also influenced by several design inputs: from rural African homes to the clear, simple geometric forms and curved lines typical of the work of Gio Ponti, the curves central to the modernist gardens of Brazilian landscape artist Roberto Burle Marx, and the three-dimensional mosaics of English sculptor William Mitchell. In his murals in concrete, glass and recycled materials, Mitchell seems to combine some of the typical features of a variety of artistic movements, from Modernism to Brutalism, and also shows awareness of the issues concerning the structure of the landscape and the relationship with nature at the heart of Land Art. COMPATTA thus embodies strong links to the world of art and architecture, while bringing natural impressions with a remote, primitive flavour into modern living-spaces.

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Mercer Island DADU (Guest House)

November 29, 2023

Late September, Suzanne hosted an Open House of her newly built Guest House on Mercer Island. Doesn’t take much to convince Suzanne to host a party, though our entire SZ Build team wanted express our appreciation for the dedicated sub-contractors who helped bring this vision to life. Our subs don’t always get to see the projects they work on, fully completed. Moreover, Suzanne opened her doors to any and all interested community members to tour her Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit (DADU), answering curiosities about its design and construction throughout the day.

We enjoyed a great turn-out - thank you to all who attended! And, what a treat it was having Khalil & Betty of Byblos Deli serve us lunch! If you missed it, no worries, other opportunities will come. In the interim, enjoy these photos of this lovely ‘Casita’.