See inside six Seattle modern homes this weekend

The Seattle Modern Architecture and Design Society and the Seattle Architecture Foundation will be giving their annual peek into six Seattle homes the last weekend in April, both brand-new construction and modern takes on older homes. The eighth incarnation of the self-guided tour gives participants a chance to speak with not just architects and designers, but the occupants, too—giving a glimpse into day-to-day life in the homes and buildings.

It’s kind of like when you go to a real estate open house for fun, only no price tags and more education. Plus, with modern homes popping up everywhere, it’s a great opportunity to demystify their interiors.

The tour is Saturday, April 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; tickets are $40 or $50 day-of, available on the Modern Architecture and Design Society’s website.

Here’s a look at four of them.

Big Mouth

Best Practice, Hybrid Design, and Steven Lazen | Interior: Kailin Gregga, Steven Lazen, Rob Humble

Eirik Johnson

We toured this house, a dream project by architects and life partners Kailin Gregga and Steven Lazen back in February, called “Big Mouth House” because of its giant, pink protruding front window, which a friend once Photoshopped teeth onto. Big Mouth stands out from a lot of its boxy brethren not just by putting color first—a theme that continues throughout the interior—it’s also part of a clever multifamily configuration with two other townhouses and has its own ADU.

Victorian Redux

E. Cobb Architects | Landscape: Erin Lau Design | Interior: Tanya Brunner

E. Cobb Architects

This Victorian home on Millionaire’s Row—a collection of ornate, more than century-old homes by Volunteer Park—survived to the modern era, but had lost some of its original features. Its latest occupants wanted a way to preserve the vintage parts of their home, but streamline it with a modern sensibility without doing too aggressive of a remodel. The end result preserves the grand entertaining spaces and, with upstairs rooms that show the roofline from the inside, unlocks more of the home’s shape. The frontage combines a more modern entry surrounded by original details.

Recessed guest house

E. Cobb Architects | Landscape: Alchemie

E. Cobb Architects

We haven’t seen a lot of earth-sheltered homes lately, but looking at this recessed home on the southwestern shore of Lake Washington makes us wonder why we don’t have more of them in Seattle. This is a one-bedroom guest house for a much larger (and above-ground) home still under construction behind it, but it stands alone. While it’s low-key from the outside, it’s built for some big indoor-outdoor living.

Magnolia modern home

Stan Hanson | Landscape and interiors: Heidi and Rick Ward

360 Modern

This one resists the stark look that can happen in modern homes with bright built-ins, sometimes with an almost midcentury aesthetic, like wood-slat dividers and sliding wood cabinetry. It built as the family home of Rick and Heidi Ward, both modern home professionals—Heidi Ward is the broker behind real-estate blog 360 Modern. The late Stan Hanson of Stillwell Hanson designed the home in 2007, and the Wards say the home is “in loving memory” of him.