Country Charmer Winning Architect Melds Vision Of Simplicity In Pullman Suburb

A ladder in Paul Hirzel’s bedroom leads to an overhead alcove furnished with carpeting, a light fixture, two windows … and nothing else.

“The rule is, whatever you take up there, you have to come back with,” he says, “and the ladder limits what you can take up there.”

Some might consider leaving one room bare an extravagant use of space - particularly in a home that’s 500 square feet smaller than the average American residence. But the so-called “empty room” was high on Hirzel’s priority list when he designed his family’s four-bedroom Pullman home. “There’s something about being able to go into a room that’s empty and clean that does something to my head,” explains the Washington State University architecture professor.

Also high on his list were saving energy, keeping construction and maintenance costs reasonable, and designing a house that reflects both its suburban setting and a relationship with the surrounding Palouse countryside.

Hirzel’s design didn’t make his neighbors happy - “Every move I made was perceived to be in defiance of their values,” he says - but it so impressed the five jurors in The Spokesman-Review’s 1995 residential design contest that they gave him an Honor Award in the category of new homes 1,800 square feet or smaller.

“I like the way the architect used vernacular design elements and modest materials to create a fresh, functional home that is well-suited to its site,” commented Seattle home design writer Fred Albert. “A nice alternative to the ‘ranchburger.”’ Hinzel borrowed the proportions for his house from “a wonderful old shed outbuilding on the way to Colton-Uniontown,” he says. “It actually has a sign on it that says Palouse Country.”

The cedar board-and-batten siding and metal roof also suggest its agricultural ancestry. But decorative columns, white-trimmed French doors and other details reflect the home’s suburban setting.

You approach the entrance by way of a”perspectival” stairway - the steps narrow toward the top, creating the impression that the stairway is longer than it actually is. Next you encounter a “rain pool,” a shallow, rectangular water feature filled with small river rock and black bowling balls, and replenished by rain falling from two overhead gutters.

The pool, the columns, two solid fences and the landscape reinforce the impression that the yard is an extension of the home’s modest interior space.

The house itself consists of four levels. The earth-sheltered lower level includes two bedrooms, a bathroom and sitting room for Hirzel’s two teenage daughters. The main floor has a combination living-dining room with wood stove, the kitchen and a separate laundry room-pantry. Upstairs is the master bedroom-bathroom, plus an office that doubles as a guest room. The pitched roof contains an attic and the empty room.

“If we (parents and teenagers) want to get away from each other,” Hirzel says, “we can go to our respective floors and the main level becomes an acoustical separation. The girls can have their stereo and TV going, or a party going on downstairs, and we can be on the second floor.”

There’s also a two-car detached garage with two apartments above.

The home sits on a pie-shaped lot overlooking Pullman, closely flanked by two other homes - one 4,000 square feet, the other 6,000.

Hirzel says the advantage of building smaller houses goes beyond the substantial cost saving. “It forces you to be more efficient with what space you have,” he says.

Hirzel’s house doesn’t feel small. Interior details - executed in fir trim and floors - are clean, the decor is uncluttered, and views out the carefully placed windows seem to go on forever. Hirzel did sacrifice the two-story ceiling he wanted in the living room, and his wife, Dorcas, points out that large parties are restricted to summertime, when guests can overflow into the courtyard.

Most visitors are surprised by how much variety Hirzel squeezed into 1,800 square feet. At the same time, Dorcas says, “They like the simplicity of the floor plan - how easy it is to understand.”

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