Glass eaves brighten their new kitchen - family room

Sunset, Jan, 1985

Glass eaves brighten their new kitchen--family room

A glass-topped extension gains extra space and light for this shed-roof addition

Glass eaves lend a gallery quality to this kitchen and family room addition, bringing daylight and treetop views deep into the house.

Architect-ower Don Bowman of Mithun Bowman Emrich in Bellevue, Washington, continued the roof line at the back of his two-story house, creating a shed addition. But to gain extra space and light, he also extended it with an L-shaped periphery covered in glass.

Large beams that rest on painted Tuscan columns carry the load of the solid roof extension. The glass eaves continue down one side and around a corner of the addition, daylighting the entire corridor kitchen and brightening the rest of the 16- by 26-foot a space.

At one end, windows continue down to wainscoting near a dining table and fireplace enclosure; on the side, the glass stops above the kitchen cabinets. The backsplash and walls visible around these cabinets are faced with the cinnamoncolored marble tiles used on the fireplace, further unifying the elements in the rooms.

Built-ins also tie the rooms together. The kitchen island steps down to become a ledge that runs behind the L-shaped sofa and wraps around each end. Echoing the same stained oak detailing that's used in the kitchen, cabinets flanking the fireplace conceal firewood storage and a television set.

A change of level helps divide the rooms: one step leads from Swedish-finish oak parquet floor in the kitchen up to the carpeted family room. Heating ducts and wiring run beneath this raised floor space.

Three ceiling-hung fixtures shine on the kitchen island and sofa; track lights mounted on the outer side of the loadbearing beams provide nighttime lighting for the glass-roofed space.

Photo: Shed-roofed addition ends with glass-topped extension; glass continues around one side, daylighting corridor kitchen. Chimney juts through solid panel in bank of glass

Photo: See-through roof over kitchen cabinets lights small office area at end of counter. Track lighting hides behind beam

Photo: One large space is broken up by kitchen peninsula, which drops to become ledge around family room sofa. Three lights above counter hang from sloping ceiling