How Moulding & Trim Bring Eye-Catching Luxury to This Seattle Home

We love to see our products in action, and this stunning new home in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood is no exception. Built by R&R Development, it brings subtle transitional design with a Georgian touch to an area known for its residential architecture.

We sat down with Richard Rogers, owner of R&R Development, to get his take on the design influences in this home, and how Metrie moulding and trim worked hand-in-hand with the home’s other features to make a stunning new showpiece that locals and real estate agents can’t stop talking about.

Bringing Together Classic and Contemporary

R&R Development is a luxury custom residential builder, so they only build one to two homes per year. Rogers says this latest, located at 362 Ward Street, was one of the most challenging he’s worked on. 

“By far our most challenging home in terms of the level of detail that we put into it. And it made sense to challenge ourselves like that because it was such a large investment. With the price point we were hoping to achieve, it required a level of detail that we had not done before,” says Rogers.

The R&R team worked with architect Seth Hale, from MAS Architecture, to come up with a contemporary Georgian-inspired design that was well-suited to the property. 

“It's a very wide lot and relatively shallow. It played very well with the Georgian style of architecture, which was designed to be wider than it was deep. And the street appeal was extremely important on the project,” says Rogers.

And while Queen Anne is known for its classic-style homes, Rogers and Hale wanted to bring some modern touches too. 

“When we were going through and finishing the exterior as well as the interior, we were thinking about it from a transitional perspective. So while it was based on a traditional architectural design, it had enough contemporary elements and fell into a transitional style of home,” says Rogers.

Get Noticed With High-End Moulding and Trim

One of the notable features of the home is its use of panel moulding on the walls. When it comes to choosing moulding and trim, Rogers knew exactly what he wanted. 

He chose to use Metrie’s Very Square Collection for its clean and simple approach that focuses on strong lines and precise geometry. The minimal details on the baseboard provide a crisp transition to the wall, while the coved crown mouldings feature sharp details to provide a subtle accent to each room.

After the home was finished, Rogers hosted a holiday gathering in late 2019 for over a hundred people, where he says they noticed the moulding and trim right away. “They were very impressed with the home. The moulding collection, especially, people were extremely excited about. They wanted to know where we got it, who supplied it and how we chose the unique way that we installed the panel moulding.”

Rogers installed our mouldings in a ribbon-like fashion instead of using the traditional picture frame application. They used panel mould in a unique and artistic fashion that creates a continual line design and is never fully closed in like a box. The lines even stop connecting to each other at certain points, creating a break, before they continue down the wall. A beautiful shift from traditional box patterns.

In a home where every detail counts, moulding and trim are what makes a room feel finished, and signal to potential buyers the importance of a space.

Rogers says, “Especially some of these very large and sprawling estate-style homes, the moulding and the trim can help the house speak for itself. You go to the master suite or the great room and all of the mouldings that have been included throughout the home will be included in those rooms.”

Even without furniture, you know you’ve walked into one of the spaces where residents will spend the majority of their time or love to show off to guests, thanks to the use of moulding and trim.

“The more moulding in a room, the more important the room and the more finished and intricate the level of detailing in the room will be,” says Rogers.

Stay Competitive in the Luxury Home Market

For developers like Rogers, who are only building a few homes a year, each one needs to be not only a design success but a financial one too. He says his customers expect features like high-end moulding and trim, and it helps him meet his price point in a competitive real estate market.

“The more detailed moulding and trim, the more valuable the home should be. And I think that it's reflective of how much effort the developer or the designer put into it. When I look back at our portfolio, the more expensive neighborhoods we built in, the more luxurious homes that we're building include more details like these.”

Rogers says finishings like moulding and trim are expected in neighborhoods like Queen Anne: “It's a very Arts and Crafts-inspired community in terms of the residential architecture. Arts and Crafts comes with a lot of detail and we love it. Housing prices there are very high for a lot of reasons, but partially due to the level of detail that had been included in the homes, whether they were built a hundred years ago or homes being built now.”

Find Partners Who Get Your Needs

While Rogers says he often sees the type of moulding used in his latest project in custom homes, when it comes to building homes on spec, time is money. You need to make sure you have partners in your supply chain who are going to help you get to completion on time and on budget.

“We worked with Justin Pfeffer from Western Pacific Building Materials, and he's been great. I spoke with Justin about this house and how we needed to step it up. He referred us to Metrie and that's the only referral I needed. He showed me the cohesive packages Metrie offers. And once I was on the Metrie website, I didn't go anywhere else.”

When looking to work with a dealer, for Rogers, timeliness is critical: “Justin makes himself available, and we can communicate extremely efficiently, whether it's through text message, voicemail or email. I can text him on the weekend with a quick question or with the beginnings of an order. He'll field that and get things moving.” 

“When the rep is readily available and can be flexible on his schedule to help accommodate changes in our schedule,” Rogers continues, “then that will help that rep be head and shoulders above anybody else who he may be competing with.”

To find more information on how Metrie’s solutions can help take the guesswork out of choosing the right trim and moulding for your next project, visit Metrie.com.