Industrial strength

For a first home it’s quite the place. For an any-time home it’s still quite the place.

Optometrists Randy and Kelly Moffatt moved into their modern, industrial house outside downtown Spokane in 2006 and love it.

“We weren’t the prototypical househunters,” says Randy. “We were staying at my parents’ house, and found out from a neighbor that (the owner) was selling his house, and he thought we might like it. We got a quick look and went for it.”

It’s built into a hillside on steep West Pacific Avenue near Browne’s Addition, with the ground level accessible from all three floors. It was the only house the Moffatts looked at, and fortunately both admire the metropolitan style.

“It’s a great layout for us. And it’s close to downtown,” says Kelly. “We saw it and went, ‘It’s perfect!’

“We just liked how different it looks, how open it is. It has an urban, modern flair to it, which I like.”

The first owner had collaborated with architect Tom Thosath of Nordic Construction for the unique design. When the Moffatts moved in, it was the only finished house on the street. Now the fourth house with an industrial motif has just been built on the dirt lane.

“I could see that the neighborhood would be more appealing to people who wanted something different and artsy,” says Thosath.

“I was thinking of the first funky loft condos downtown. They were in an old warehouse and had a lot of industrial features. I thought that if it would appeal to people there, then why not in a house.”

Since the Moffatts moved in they have added only one more kitchen cabinet, built in the same style and again by Thosath. Truly one of a kind, the cabinets have a purely industrial style, with welded metal tube frames and wire glass inserts.

The theme continues with black concrete kitchen counters atop corrugated metal, and a galvanized steel stove hood. The powder room has a glass sink that glows with a blue light, placed in jagged black concrete over a piece of culvert.

“I like do things that take a little imagination,” says Thosath. “I also like fabricating things out of metal. So it sounded like fun to do some steelwork in the houses to make them stand out.”

Outside the top floor the Moffatts can see fireworks from their front deck on the Fourth of July, and a daily view of houses on the ridge above the Spokane River.

“It’s nicely centrally located. Plus, my family is just (over) that way, my niece and nephew and my Mom,” says Randy, gesturing to the west. “That was a big thing.

“And with just Kelly and I, the house is plenty well-sized.”

Leading down to the second floor, track lighting illuminates white stair railings, custom made with steel tube and heavy wire mesh. The landing is diamond plate metal, unique to this Thosath home and for a good reason.

“I guess the diamond plate was really hard to work with, because Tom abandoned that on his other houses,” says Randy, who especially enjoys the metalwork.

Kelly favors the clean lines of their home, apparent in the lack of any pictures on the walls.

“That’s a work in progress!” she laughs, eyeing a stack of framed photographs waiting to be hung.

In the second level bath is a motorcycle image on the lighting fixture over the mirror. Next door the office has a low-voltage cable lighting system with rotatable heads.

Unusual lighting fixtures dot the Moffatts’ home inside and out.

In one stairway hangs a long, narrow, white pendant light. In another is a reproduction factory light, faintly reminiscent of an old gaslight. Outside above the decks are high bay lights like one might find in a factory setting.

“A lot of the features, like those pan lights, give you that old-style, warehouse look,” says Randy. “I kind of like that.”

The bottom level includes a two-and-a-half car garage and a workshop, the latter of which has yet to be used except for storage.

Outside, the Moffatts have added a rock wall and recently installed an in-ground sprinkler system. A small lawn is beginning to grow, and will be accented with decorative landscape gravel and native plants.

Despite the diminutive size of their plot, they have seen deer and turkeys, and even a stray duck in the yard.

One day they might add a patio with brickwork and potted flowers, or another partial story for a bigger master bedroom suite. But for now the home is just right for Randy, Kelly and their dog Rigley.