Accessory Dwelling Unit, or ADU for short, can be a great addition to your property. There are two variations: attached (ADU) and detached (DADU) and both offer many benefits to the owner. To inspire you for your own DADU, above is an SZ fly-thru rendering, featuring a SIRE (Structurally Insulated Rammed Earth) wall.
Read More
What is Design-Build?
So, you’ve decided to build a house and you’ve found an Architect that has created a design vision so lovely that it will see you into your old age (or young age, where ever you may be in life). Now what? Do you go out and search for a General Contractor (GC) to bring that vision to reality, or did you hire an Architect that is also a GC? That is the difference between Design-Build (D/B) and Design-Bid-Build (D/B/B). If you chose the former, then you will need to obtain multiple bids from GCs, choose one, and have them go back and forth with your Architect to align on project scope, budget & constructability.
Read MoreFirst Friday Art & Wine: Lucia Neagu - Self-Realized.
By Keith Imper, Mercer Island
The next artist in line to be featured at the Suzanne Zahr Gallery through the months of October and November is local painter Lucia Neagu (Nay-a-Goo). Ms. Neagu, a Mercer Islander, makes her residence in one of the condos behind New Seasons, which she states, “is convenient for a person my age.” However, the one problem with that statement is the 82 years-young artist hailing from Romania acts more like a 22-year-old as she bursts up her stairs with verve and vigor, making me think twice about my own health.
Read More
Meet Shannon Carver - Development Coordinator
If you have taken in one of the First Friday’s at the Suzanne Zahr Gallery or sipped your way through a few Wine Wednesday’s at Caruccio’s, then you have met, or at least seen, Shannon Carver. Shannon, one of the newest members of the SZ Team, brings a welcomed background in property management and a love for all things real-estate. Entering the Suzanne Zahr Gallery, Shannon is one of the first to welcome you to the gallery’s artistic embrace. I was able to catch up with Shannon to ask her some fun questions during an unusual day where not much was happening in the office. Through our conversation, her kindness was obvious, but I clearly saw her dynamism as she spoke with passion about real-estate and her work with Suzanne. What did we discuss? Life and the pursuit of real-estate.
Read MoreMoment of Inspiration - Passive House
Inspiration can be found anywhere: a poetry verse, a pithy comment a friend says, on the radio driving in our car, or an inanimate object as we just walk down the street. Well, a walk down the streets of Columbia City is where I found this week’s Moment of Inspiration. The small, funky and eclectic enclave of Seattle, Columbia City is not immune to the building craze that has dominated the local landscape. But it’s here that we find Pax Futura, the first Passive House apartment building in the state of Washington. Passive House building is all the rage right now. And no, it’s not a dig at the famed passive aggressive culture in Seattle, or the Seattle Freeze as it’s known, but an innovative standard for building energy efficiency.
Read More