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architecture
MODEL HOME
Architects Joe Malboeuf and Tiffany Bowie prove that modern design can be affordable—and their own residence is Exhibit A.
Written by BRIAN LIBBY : Photographed by RAFAEL SOLDI
SEVERAL YEARS AGO, arrestingly eye-catching and highly
sustainable projects—such as the chevron-clad Palatine Passive House and a sculptural trio of stacked townhomes on 18th Avenue—began to attract notice around town. Before then, the architects behind these gems, Tiffany Bowie and Joe Malboeuf, were barely known in Seattle. Suddenly the couple, who’d started their firm, Malboeuf Bowie Architecture, in 2011 after relocating from New York City, were on the map. The pair first met while studying for master’s degrees in architecture at San Diego’s New School of Architecture and Design; he’d lived in Michigan and London, she in San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C. But in Seattle, where they were drawn by family and the chance to “really build our company from the ground up,” says Malboeuf, the designers feel that they’ve found themselves— as well as a deep connection to the landscape. “We have momentum as a firm,” Bowie says, “and we feel like we’re part of the Cascadia building community. We really gravitate toward wood and other natural materials available in the Northwest.” »
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Architects Joe Malboeuf and Tiffany Bowie (left) recently renovated their own home, a ’50s ranch house in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood. A new Douglas fir ceiling—“our biggest splurge,” says Bowie—plays well with the refinished original oak floors. The couple made the walnut-topped coffee tables themselves and sourced the rug from West Elm and the couch from Modern Design Sofas.