Paxson Fay is a full-service marketing and public relations firm specializing in the architecture, design, and arts industries.
Paxson Fay
2309 E Madison Street
Seattle, WA 98112
info@paxsonfay.com
SHED Architecture & Design’s Lake Washington Remodel in The New York Times
The House Was in Bad Shape. But It Was On a Lake in Seattle.
Sure, the home still had its original knob-and-tube wiring. But for the lake view, they could overlook a few shortcomings.
In Seattle, a Lake House That’s All About the Views
Finding a home that feels right isn’t easy. Sometimes, as Jeremy and Jen Lewis discovered while hunting for a place in Seattle, it can take years.
The couple, who had been working in finance in New York, moved to the West Coast in 2006 with their children — Ben, now 24, Sarah, 22, and Margaret, 19 — after Ms. Lewis left her job and Mr. Lewis accepted an offer to help build a Seattle-based video-game company.
“We wanted to go and explore a new part of the world with our family,” Mr. Lewis, 53, said.
At first, they moved to Bainbridge Island, drawn by its lush beauty and short ferry ride to Seattle. The scenery was breathtaking, but Mr. Lewis quickly discovered that commuting to work was more time-consuming than expected. After a couple of years, they began renting homes in the city and looking for a place there to buy.
“It hadn’t been renovated for many years. It had knob-and-tube electric; it had a chopped-up floor plan,” Ms. Lewis said.
But it also had good bones worth preserving and features they hadn’t found elsewhere. “The view is expansive,” she said. “You can see Mount Rainier.”
The property also had direct access to the water, and the Lewises weren’t the only ones who saw the appeal of that. With a listing price of $4.75 million, the property drew multiple offers. The couple ultimately won the bidding war with a bid of $5.8 million, and closed in July 2016.
Then they called Prentis Hale, a high school friend of Mr. Lewis’s and the principal architect of the Seattle-based firm Shed, who shared their enthusiasm for the site. “It’s a beautiful piece of property that’s hard not to like,” Mr. Hale said. “But the house had a lot of deferred maintenance. It needed so much work.”
Many people would have torn it down and built something bigger, but the Lewises wanted to work with what was already there. Mr. Hale developed a plan to transform the house inside and out while leaving the original structure mostly intact.
To get the family into the house as quickly as possible, he split the work into two phases: The first would be a gut renovation of the interior; the second would be a transformation of the exterior, with a new outbuilding and landscaping to tie everything together.
In the first phase, walls were removed between the kitchen, living room, dining room and solarium to create one free-flowing space with the casual sense of togetherness the Lewises envisioned. Upstairs, six awkward bedrooms were reconfigured into four generous ones. Downstairs, the media room in the walkout basement was remodeled.
Throughout, the Lewises chose materials they wouldn’t have to worry about, while aiming to add a little Japanese wabi-sabi, which they had admired during a trip to Kyoto years earlier. “We wanted it to be practical,” Ms. Lewis said. “You might be coming in off the lake dripping wet, so we wanted to embrace that idea of using the house in a comfortable way, where nothing was overly precious.”
That line of thinking is common in the area, noted the couple’s interior designer, Jennie Gruss. “In the Northwest, people want their spaces to be beautiful but super functional and durable,” she said. “But on top of that, they wanted this layer of serenity.”
The furnishings she used included a pair of living room sofas upholstered in indoor-outdoor fabric that looks and feels like white linen but resists moisture and stains, and a pair of vintage chairs by Jindrich Halabala that already had timeworn wood arms.
The family moved into the house after the first phase was completed in September 2017, in time to enjoy it before their oldest child left for college. They moved back out again in June 2018, and the second phase began. This time, their contractor, Whelbilt Homes, updated the exterior appearance of the house, replacing old windows with new high-performance ones and recladding the structure with shou-sugi-ban charred wood siding on the top floor and slender white bricks on the lower floor.
Beside the house, they built a 1,100-square-foot outbuilding with a garage and guest suite at street level, and an outdoor shower and storage space for paddleboards below. (Mr. Lewis is a paddling enthusiast who has competed in long-distance races.)
Construction was complete a year later, in June 2019. Altogether, the project cost about $500 a square foot.
When their youngest child left for college earlier this year, Mr. and Ms. Lewis became empty nesters. But the home they built still serves as the family’s main gathering spot. “It’s a really lovely place to be,” Mr. Lewis said. “We live outside as much as inside, getting exercise or just sitting by the fire pit and telling a good tale.”
“Or,” Ms. Lewis added, “sitting in the hot tub on a rainy day.”
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meet the team
We’re a team (and a dog named Evie) inspired by diverse design perspectives, innovation, technology, art, and the world around us. We live for the chance to create and disperse powerful, genuine messages that resonate.
amy golden
principal
amy@paxsonfay.com
Growing up in Seattle, Amy was always exploring the great outdoors but she found a particular thrill in traveling. During a visit to New York City at age 10, she knew that was where she wanted to live. After high school she left her home in the Pacific Northwest behind for the great unknown to attend Fordham University in the Bronx. Upon graduation, Amy received a phone call from CNN offering a job opportunity of a lifetime working in television ad sales at Manhattan's Time Warner Center. When a job opportunity in Los Angeles opened up a few years later, Amy couldn't say no to a new adventure back on the west coast. But Seattle eventually called her back home and Amy returned to pursue a Master's degree in Business Administration with the hopes of learning the skills she needed to feed her entrepreneurial spirit. Before graduating, Amy co-founded Paxson Fay with Tessa Andrews in 2015. Amy focuses on marketing strategy, public relations, social media, and partnerships.
tessa franchini
principal
tessa@paxsonfay.com
Tessa graduated from Fordham University in New York with a dual bachelor's degree in Communications and Political Science. During her time at Fordham, she worked for an interior designer and at NBC News where she developed her love for both design and communications. After graduating, Tessa managed marketing at 3form, a pioneer in the sustainable building products industry. During her tenure, 3form was repeatedly named one of the most recognized manufacturers in the design industry among architects and designers, and the company won multiple awards for its innovative product launches. After 3form, Tessa consulted on marketing efforts with leading product manufacturers in architecture and design before starting Paxson Fay with Amy.
claire butwinick
senior account coordinator
claire@paxsonfay.com
Claire Butwinick specializes in marketing and social media strategy, copywriting, and public relations. Formerly the Assistant Editor at GRAY Magazine, an international architecture and design publication based in Seattle, Claire brings to Paxson Fay her editorial background and a passion for all things design. In addition to her writing experience, Claire is a seasoned public speaker, moderating a number of panel discussions with IDS Vancouver and Be Original Americas, and hosting the 2019 GRAY Awards. Last year, she took her speaking skills virtual, conducting several Instagram Live interviews with designers amid the pandemic. A graduate from the University of Washington’s School of Communication: Journalism, Claire was honored with a Pioneer News Group Excellence Award for Visual Journalism, selected for the Communication department’s prestigious Career Exploration scholarship, and nominated for a Hearst National Journalism Award. Her work also appears in GRAY Magazine, Office Insight, SagaCity’s Jewish in Seattle Magazine, and more.
colby wood
senior account coordinator
colby@paxsonfay.com
After graduating from Fordham University in New York City with a major in Communications and Media Studies and a handful of marketing and PR internships, Colby moved to Boston to manage marketing for a small, women-owned, creative consulting agency. While in that role, Colby managed public relations and marketing efforts for some of Boston's most prominent events and public art initiatives, including the Boston Pickle Fair and The Bulfinch Crossing Projections in downtown Boston. Colby gained experience crafting brand stories and identities through social media marketing and creative copywriting, seen through the successful launch of a premier Massachusetts adult-use dispensary and the revamp of her agency's own website. After two years, Colby decided it was time to figure out what the West Coast was all about. Looking to blend her marketing experience with her passion for design and architecture, Colby found Paxson Fay, where she focuses on social media strategy and management and public relations.
Chloe Edwards
account coordinator
chloe@paxsonfay.com
Chloe Edwards is a PNW native and recent Summa cum laude graduate from the University of Washington, where she studied Communication and Anthropology. While interning with the strategic communications firm Parsons + Co. Chloe developed skills in messaging and branding development, media outreach, and social media management. Chloe joined the Paxson Fay team as an intern in the fall of 2020. At Paxson Fay, Chloe creates social media content for a variety of client campaigns and profiles and leads engagement on several accounts, coordinates internal communications efforts, and assists with media outreach. As Paxson Fay's full-time Communications Assistant she uses her experience to achieve social media marketing, content strategy, and media relations success for clients and for the Paxson Fay brand.
Ryan Hulsey
digital marketing manager
ryan@paxsonfay.com
Originally from Las Vegas, Ryan (they/them) graduated from the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!) and considers Seattle to be home. Ryan’s career has shifted many times - from being a campaign organizer in politics to being a professional photographer and wedding planner - but they have always gravitated towards the art of marketing and know it's their true calling. After working at multiple start-ups and building digital campaigns for companies like Google and Amazon, Ryan is excited to be a part of a team that aligns with their passions for architecture and design. Ryan is bringing years of marketing, data analysis, and social media experience to the team and is thrilled to start supporting clients in achieving their marketing goals.
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what we do
We are a communications firm founded in our passion for good design. Our unique approach to marketing and public relations in the architecture and design community has elevated our clients work to the next level. We’re backed by a talented community of creatives. From copywriters to social media experts, we provide a complete package of customized services. We strive to create a personal experience with each client, integrating teams and tackling your biggest marketing and public relations challenges from a high level. Then we help execute those plans ensuring lots of reporting along the way, with lots of coffee breaks in between because we’re from Seattle and that’s what we do.
marketing
marketing strategy
brand strategy
project management
partnerships acquisition and management
e-mail blasts
public relations
media strategy
content production
media communications and outreach
awards: strategy, content development and submissions
social
platform strategy and management
content production
targeted campaigns
results + reporting
advertising
advertising strategy
budget strategy + negotiation
calendar management
creative coordination
content
storytelling
copywriting
website and e-mail marketing
video: sourcing, storyboarding and scheduling
photography acquisition + curation
events
event management
sponsorships + partnerships
tradeshow coordination
press tours
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clients
Here is a little taste of who we love to work with and what we love to do.
