san juan

Seattle Area Stone Home Fits In Rocky Terrain

This rectilinear home works with its environment not through an organic shape but through a series of beautiful and tactical responses to the natural rock formations and greenery of the San Juan Islands.

Rocks frame the front view toward the water on the first level, creating a semi-enclosed channel preserving privacy as well as strategic lines of sight.

Inside, outcroppings of rock are integrated everywhere from the living-and-dining-room hearth to a beautiful bathroom sink of natural stone that connects directly to the outdoors beyond.

Exterior formations provide everything from a foundation for a patio that opens out toward the water as well as a walkway up to the green roof above.

Brought to you by Olson Kundig Architects, fans of their work will recognize the metal, glass and concrete detailing – combined with an unusual attention to natural Seattle-area surroundings.

San Juan County has most expensive Washington homes

San Juan County has the most expensive homes in Washington, among all the state's counties.

Puget Sound Business Journal by G. Scott Thomas , American City Business Journals

San Juan County has the most expensive homes in Washington, among all the state’s counties.

Among all the counties in Washington state, San Juan County has the most expensive homes. The median home price there (half cost more, half cost less) is $487,500.

That’s the 39th highest median price among all 3,143 counties in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. In King County, where Washington state’s second most pricey homes are located, the median price of a home is $398,600, the 68th highest price in the country.

The county with Washington state’s cheapest homes is Garfield County, where the median house price is $113,500, which is No. 1,322 on the list of all U.S. counties.

Where are the nation’s most expensive homes?

That would be Nantucket Island, a playground for the well-to-do in Massachusetts. Its status is confirmed by housing values.

The typical house in Nantucket County, Mass., is worth more than $1 million, according to the latest figures from the bureau’s survey. The median value of homes on the island is officially listed as $1,000,001, which is as high as the ACS goes. The actual figure is probably higher.

Nantucket is the only U.S. county with a median house value expressed in seven digits. The runners-up are Marin County, Calif. (a San Francisco suburb), at $880,000, and New York County, N.Y. (better known as Manhattan), at $800,400.

Another 31 counties — a mixture of affluent suburbs and upscale resort areas — have median house values between $500,000 and $800,000.