When Mike and Stephanie Albaeck, the owners of Proleteriat Pizza in the up-and-coming White Center neighborhood needed to reimagine their 1940s home, they reached out to Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape. The restaurateurs are avid chefs and wanted their kitchen to be an expression of their love of texture and flavor.  The compact space needed maximum functionality to make cooking and serving food easy for the family of two small children. Wittman Estes connected with local furniture and cabinet maker Steve Withycombe to build a sculptural series of walnut built-in cabinets and shelves that allow for an easy flow for cooking and display of books and objects. 

"The compact main living floor was under 700 SF and the kitchen was cutoff from the living and dining area" says architect Matt Wittman. “We wanted to open up the kitchen and make it the focus of family life.” 

Originally built in 1945, the home was a simple midcentury ‘war-box’, typical of the simple worker housing built in West Seattle above Boeing field. Wittman Estes re-imagined the property, designing a main floor kitchen expansion, a lower floor addition with new bedrooms, and a backyard studio along the alley.  

 
Project Credits 
Architect: Wittman Estes Architecture+Landscape 
Design Team: Matt Wittman AIA LEED AP, Jody Estes, Naomi Javanifard 
Structural Engineer: Josh Welch Engineering 
Builder: Steve Withycombe 
Photography: Andrew Pogue