This Seattle House is a perfectly poised modern family home
Sound House, designed by young architecture studio GO’C, is a Seattle family home with a view and architectural drama aplenty

Kevin Scott - Photography
Sound House by emerging Pacific Northwest architecture studio GO'C is not only a visually dramatic piece of architecture, perched on a leafy hill overlooking long views of sea and cityscape; it is also a carefully balanced family home, a Seattle house that brings together the needs of different users and looks perfectly poised while doing so. The project, named Sound House and set in the city’s Magnolia neighbourhood, is the work of the young practice, which is headed by founding partners Aimée O’Carroll and Jon Gentry, who got a call one day to design a base for a blended family of eight.
‘The programme for the house was unique in that it needed to house a large family of two adults and six children,’ the architects recall. 'The owners, Brandon Ebel and Sarah Jio, each had three children and combined families and homes for the first time with the build of this house. Each member of the house had unique needs and desires for how the spaces should function. For Brandon, a music lover and owner of a local record label, intertwining audio throughout the house and creating a space for his large record collection was a high priority. For Sarah, a New York Times best-selling author and chef extraordinaire, having calm refuges to write, a library to house her many books, and a large kitchen in which to cook for family and friends was key. For the kids, the aim was to create their own private spaces to escape to, and also a dedicated kids’ area, to play and do homework, with good connections to the family living space.'
Ensuring this is a home that can be enjoyed by every member of the family equally was key in the design development. The house’s main spaces are contained within two levels, in what is overall a fairly minimalist architecture affair.
The lower level is centred around a double-height living space that is also the heart of the home. Climbing up via a highly crafted metal staircase that wraps around the periphery of this void, users can reach the private areas of the house, including six bedrooms, a family room and an extensive master suite. Built-in furniture and storage at strategic places maximise the spatial potential.
The structure was placed on an existing plateau on the sloped, richly planted site, minimising disruption to surrounding nature, while orientating the building towards the Puget Sound and downtown Seattle. The architects wove the site’s natural terraces with architectural landscaping that creates an outdoor pathway across the garden, leading up to the swimming pool and the paved areas that spill out from the generous living space. This also gives the home impressive, almost 360-degree views (also counting the accessible roof terrace that tops the house). Meanwhile, vertical cedar slat cladding helps the building blend comfortably in its green environs.
Natural materials, such as timber and stone, are blended with cool concrete and metal, aiming to provide a space that feels sleek and modern but also homely. ‘It was important for the house to be both elegant and refined as well as withstand daily use from a family of eight that likes to entertain,’ the architects say.
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Dine within a rationalist design gem at the newly opened Cucina Triennale
Cucina Triennale is the latest space to open at Triennale Milano, a restaurant and a café by Luca Cipelletti and Unifor, inspired by the building's 1930s design
-
The collections you might have missed this S/S 2026 menswear season
Between the headliners in Paris, Milan and Florence, a few off-schedule displays are deserving of honourable mention – from Martine Rose’s sexually-charged portrait of Kensington Market to Sander Lak’s appointment-only namesake debut
-
Meet artist Michael McGregor, using hotel stationery as his canvas
Michael McGregor unveils an exclusive postcard set made with notepads from The Luxury Collection properties in Minneapolis, San Francisco and Savannah
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in California
A minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
A New Zealand house on a rugged beach exemplifies architect Tom Kundig's approach in rich, yet understated luxury
This coastal home, featured in 'Tom Kundig: Complete Houses', a new book launch in the autumn by Monacelli Press, is a perfect example of its author's approach to understated luxury. We spoke to Tom Kundig, the architect behind it
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpiece
Now hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside out
For the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think so
For some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summer
A Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bones
We step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
-
A refreshed Rockefeller Wing reopens with a bang at The Met in New York
The Met's Michael C Rockefeller Wing gets a refresh by Kulapat Yantrasast's WHY Architecture, bringing light, air and impact to the galleries devoted to arts from Africa, Oceania and the Ancient Americas