The Loyal Captain is a new addition and landscape update to an historic landmark-designated 5,000 square foot residence built in 1933 in Seattle by ship captain Ole E. Nelson as a copy of his boyhood home in Bergen, Norway. The original house was constructed with a very high level of craftsmanship in a style consistent with Scandinavian vernacular building traditions and has been maintained in excellent condition.  Throughout the house can be seen examples of Norwegian folk art and the family story is that Capt. Nilsen personally selected all the wood used in the house, sending back the pieces that did not meet his specifications.

Heliotrope was commissioned by the current homeowners—a young family of discerning taste—to design a kitchen addition to replace the too-small original galley-style kitchen. The new design is a contemporary, heavy timber, post and beam structure that complements the original house while allowing both to stand on their own as distinct characters in relation to each other and the surrounding landscape.  

The new 500-square-foot addition is connected to the south side of the house via a six-foot glass-walled hall that establishes the new building’s autonomy from the original house. The addition extends into a large yard that was re-landscaped as part of the project, and replaces a tennis court built in the 1940s.