Thornton Creek Commons – Seattle, Washington

Thornton Creek Commons is located in the close-in, NE Seattle Olympic Hills neighborhood within a three-block walk to shopping and transit in Northeast Seattle’s Lake City Urban Village and a short walk to the future Sound Transit Link Light rail stop, opening in 2026 at 130th Avenue NE.

Nine, Built Green 5-Star/Net Zero possible, 3+ bedroom high performance homes cluster on the 2 ½ acre site that was the former home of St. George Episcopal Church, built in 1959. The nine homes cluster on approximately 1 acre of the property, while 1 ½ acres of rich, riparian open space bordering Thornton Creek become an arboretum-like private park for the community of nine home owners. Amenities include a fenced off-leash dog park, fire pit, Meditation Garden and access to Thornton Creek.

The decision to close St. George Episcopal Church was made in May 2011, when the congregation voted to close the church due to declining membership, and transferred the property to the Diocese of Olympia. The property was evaluated by the Diocese and determined the best course would be to develop the site as single family homes. In 2016 The Cottage Company entered into an agreement with the Diocese of Olympia to develop the property. Permitting was lengthy due to Seattle’s critical area designation of the site, given the proximity to the north fork of Thornton Creek. After a number of years of process, permits to build the nine homes at Thornton Creek Commons were finally issued in Fall 2022. Construction began in January 2023.

The existing 8,000 sf church structure was deconstructed in July 2022 by The Cottage Company working with Sledge Seattle. Over 90% of the church structure was salvaged and diverted from the landfill. Significant amounts of dimensional lumber from the church building were used in the framing of the nine new homes, plus more than 6,000 square feet of tongue and groove solid wood flooring was milled from the salvaged church wood, and used as wood flooring in four of the nine new homes. Plant materials, stone benches and other relics from the St. George Church structure and grounds were carefully salvaged and remain today in a peaceful Meditation Garden created in the community open space for owners to enjoy and reflect in the history of this special site.

The interior design features sun-drenched southern exposures, painted wood cabinetry in kitchen and baths, dramatic vaulted spaces, signature dining nooks, reclaimed solid wood flooring and natural pine paneled ceiling accents. Professional level appliances, richly detailed fit and finish, quartz counters and heated tile in the master baths complete the interior finishes. Six of the nine homes feature large, studio apartment sized ‘flex’ spaces with separate entry, that include separate baths, laundry and wet bar, enabling multi-generational livability and work from home lifestyles.

Many trees were retained including a large heritage fir tree and bespoke garden plantings. Homes are all-electric and target Built Green 5-Star. The homes perform at a minimum 30% energy cost savings as compared to a standard new home built to rigorous Washington State energy code requirements. With the addition of solar, these homes could become ‘Net Zero’.

Each home has a roomy single car garage outfitted for Electric Vehicle charging.

In a nod to the provenance of the historic property and in a Cottage Company tradition, the homes will be named by their owners. What would you name your new home?

Our Thornton Creek Commons community was designed by Charles Wenzlau AIA, Wenzlau Architects with Whitney Deines.