The listing was cancelled for listing agent non-performance. Due to the exclusive agency agreement (Form 1B) in place, we'll be relisting on the MLS in 2023. Happy home hunting, and thanks to any buyers who viewed the property.

See the Contact page to keep in touch with the owner about the home's availability. NB: Not for use by listing brokers soliciting new listings!

I cannot say for sure, but when I bought the home in 2006, my home inspector at the time estimated its age to be 3-4 years old (I bought it from a "flipper" who was not the one who reroofed). With cedar shake roofs, it's certainly easier to eyeball the age during the early years, and harder after the passage of time. 3-4 years in 2006 would make the roof 19-20 years old now. It has held up wonderfully, with virtually no maintenance.

With nearly all roofing types, the steeper the roof, the better it sheds water, and the less likely an imperfection in either the roof or underlayment will actually lead to water getting into the home/attic. Most of this roof has a 1:1 (45 degree) slope, which is excellent for water shedding. The neighbor's home at 5704 Winthrop also provides some shade in the summer during the mid-afternoon, which reduces the maximum temperatures experienced by the cedar surface. Finally, there is not a lot of debris that naturally gets dumped on the roof, which can be a common source of deterioration, if leaves pile up in roof valleys, for example. The large evergreen across the street to the south will dump a few needles, but only with a stiff southerly wind will they actually reach our roof.

Very little, but some. All of the wiring to electrical outlets, and hard-wired appliances (e.g. range, oven, water heater, etc.) has been upgraded to modern/Romex wiring. All outlets are also grounded, with the exception of a single 2 prong outlet in the basement, which is switched along with the ceiling lights. This kind of outlet is intended to be used with a floor lamp, which often has no grounding plug anyway.

The upstairs and basement lighting have also been entirely upgraded to modern wiring, as those can be accessed via the attic, or unfinished basement spaces. The most difficult wiring to replace is the ceiling light branches on the middle level, since they are sandwiched between middle and upper floors. Of those, I would estimate about half may still have knob and tube wiring. That makes about 1/6th of all lighting on K&T. However, as there are more electrical outlets and appliances than light fixtures in the house, I would divide by more than 2 to get the total share of K&T in the house. My educated guess is 5% of the wiring being K&T, with a maximum of about 8%. Of note is that the home now has very efficient lighting (mostly LED, a few CFL), which means that less current is drawn by these light circuits than would have been originally, with incandescent lights.

I have had the home insured both with State Farm, and Progressive, and neither had a problem with the K&T wiring (which I had more of in the early years). I believe one asked on their web form what percentage of the home was K&T, and the other didn't ask at all. You should check with your own insurer, but this is my second Seattle home that had some K&T, and neither caused a problem with my home insurance, or elevated my rates significantly. The home, of course, has a modern circuit breaker box, which is probably what insurers would be more concerned with if absent.

I used the one car garage to park my primary car for the entirety of my time in the house. The garage will fit some cars, and others not. There are two primary issues: ground clearance and bumper extent. For some cars with low ground clearance, the underside of the car between front and rear axles may scrape as the car backs down the driveway. However, my Model 3 is actually a fairly low ground clearance vehicle, and after a little concrete grinding to smooth the rough spots on the driveway, it now works just fine.

The second issue is that if the car's front or rear bumper stick out too far horizontally from the front and rear wheels, the underside of the bumper may scrape the ground. Luckily, the design styles popular now have shortened the distance from most vehicles' wheels to bumpers, which is what will allow you to navigate an incline without scraping your car.

Should any prospective buyers wish to verify the utility of the garage for their existing vehicles, I would be happy to help them test this. Because I need to explain a couple things, I'll have to insist that an appointment be made with me in person. But, I have a good system for testing the driveway with new cars that will keep my home, and your vehicle unscathed. Just ask!

Cars we've had while at this house:

Car	Fits?	Comment
2018 Tesla Model 3	Yes
2017 Chevy Bolt EV	Yes
2004 Subaru Outback	No	backing down the rear bumper hits the garage floor
2011 Nissan LEAF	Yes
2004 Honda Civic	No	backing down the rear bumper hits the garage floor
2004 VW TDI Golf	Yes
1999 Mazda Miata	No	backing down the rear bumper hits the garage floor

We bought the home with mostly the original galvanized steel water pipes, and they held up admirably. But, 100% of them have now been replaced. Virtually all the home is plumbed with PEX (mostly PEX-A), with just a few short stubs of copper, for example the pipes directly connecting to the main floor bathroom shower diverter.

PEX is an amazing material for water pipes, even better for retrofits, where threading pipes through existing walls is required. Several wall/ceiling panels have been left for future access to the piping. However, there are almost no connections in the plumbing system between the 2 distribution manifolds and the various water fixtures, anyway. With the exception of the master bath toilet and sink cold faucet, every fixture has its own dedicated piping (aka a "home run" configuration). This speeds hot water delivery, facilitates maintenance, and reduces pressure losses in more traditional pipe branching designs.

There's no standard definition of a Smart Home, but it basically refers to a home that includes network connectivity of a variety of devices to allow remote control, as well as automation. Automation can include turning things off or on based on a set schedule, or switching devices based on events (e.g. when basement leak detector is tripped, turn a multi-color light bulb on, and blue).

Many components of the home have been integrated into a custom smart home system, and nearly all of it will stay with the home. The main caveat is that it is assumed that Buyer will subscribe to their own internet service, which is required for any features to be available from outside the home. There are a few smart devices which I am taking with me, e.g. an air quality sensor, but light switches, fan switches, makeup air vent, hall shades, irrigation controls, garage door switch, remotely controlled sauna, and several controllable AC outlets will all stay with the home.

This system is a custom system, but is designed to work best with Apple's iOS ecosystem, and what they call HomeKit. However, an integration with Amazon's Alexa devices has also been setup, and just requires an extra step to configure when adding new devices. All of this will require my technical support to get working, so once the Buyer has their new home internet service activated and wifi enabled, I can come over to step them through everything to get the system working, and explained to the new occupants. You can even write this into the contract, if you like :)

As part of the home automation system, a hub is included and stays with the home. The hub itself contains a set of wiki pages to cover common questions about the system. I am also staying in West Seattle, and am more than happy to provide help post-sale. I still run essentially the same system in my new home down the road in Seaview, so if desired, I can continue to provide system upgrades and bug fixes.

The home doesn't use sprinklers, per se, but it does have 3 irrigation circuits. Sprinklers are actually not a water-efficient system, since they cause a substantial portion of the water to be lost to evaporation. Plants need water at their roots, not usually on their leaves. Especially in Seattle, with roses, they will have more disease and mildew if the leaves are continually wet. A better system is to use soaker hoses just under the soil, or a layer of wood chips/mulch. There are two soaker hose circuits in the backyard for middle and upper garden terraces. There is one circuit in the front yard running from the small azalea next to the entrance stairs, all the way to the red laceleaf Japanese maple.

These soaker hose circuits are less prone to breaks than rigid PVC systems, in my experience, since they flex. Occasionally, the small holes get bigger and require patching, which can be done much more easily than digging up a buried, broken sprinkler pipe. The 3 circuits are integrated into the home automation system, and controllable from any internet connected device. They also have a software-controllable automatic shutoff timer (e.g. 30 minutes).

Street parking at this house is quite good. Very good relative to most of Seattle proper. There are no permits required for street parking. Parking on the 57th Ave side street is legal, and lightly used. We personally prefer to park up the hill on Winthrop since it's substantially flatter. While Winthrop between 57th and 58th is quite crowded with cars, just going the other direction (East) we have never had problems parking either 1 or 2 of our cars that we didn't keep garaged. I believe access on that strip is much better because those homes have back alley parking that their residents use primarily.

Street parking in front of the home on Admiral was restricted a few years ago to make room for the new bike lanes, which does remove a little overflow parking for guests (if you have many!). However, of note is that during snowstorms, people who cannot get up the 57th Ave hill park there and the city has never to my knowledge ticketed anyone. This is a huge advantage for this home relevant to the dozens of homes up the hill. If your car cannot navigate the hill when it snows, no problem. Just park at the bottom of the hill on Admiral. My personal feeling is that you're unlikely to get towed for parking in a bike line with snow on the ground :). The annoyance of not being able to get up to Winthrop (if your car is small or not AWD) is minor compared to the advantage you get that Admiral Way is a major priority for clearing, and the city is excellent about plowing it when snow does fall.

The home for most owners will probably be the perfect distance of not too close to Alki beach to be nestled amongst party houses, but not so far that walking there for dinner takes too long. The non-local beach visitors, even in the summer, rarely result in anyone from outside the neighborhood needing to park all the way at 57th & Admiral to get to the beach. A couple times a year this happens for Alki events, but it never brings enough traffic to even restrict parking behind the home on Winthrop.

The home has an infrared sauna. The black panels on the walls emit infrared (IR) energy, which is absorbed directly by the body. It works via a completely different heat transfer mechanism than standard saunas. So, don't ask how hot it gets. Temperature is the wrong metric! Two main advantages of the infrared sauna are that it can use less electricity to make you hot/sweat, and as a result, can get to a warm enough state to use faster. We generally pre-heat the sauna for 25 to 30 minutes, but it feels warm enough to start removing clothing after only about 5 minutes, even if the basement starts cold.

This sauna has 9 panels totaling about 2.5kW. This is noticeably less power consumption than typically is required for normal resistive heater saunas. Also, the system was planned so that at least 2, if not 3 more 300W panels could still be added, if you find it's not currently hot enough for you. The sauna is only a couple years old, and Northern Lights still sells the same panels on their website. I've used them for two homes now.

The sauna is also remote-controlled as part of the home automation system, so you can ask Siri or Alexa to turn it on for you before you leave work, or while just coming home on your bike ride!

The sauna is not a wet sauna, though. I would highly discourage attempting to heat yourself more by spraying anything into the air (other than a little aroma if you really want). However, we find that especially during winter when indoor air gets dry, getting into the sauna with wet hair is actually perfect. That small amount of water does increase heat transfer, but has never been enough to cause moisture problems in the room after use. Western Red Cedar is renowned for its resistance to mold/mildew growth.

I guess there's 2 answers to that. The first crazy toilet is in fact not a toilet, but a bidet, and if you've never owned one, you're missing out. I'll let you google the instructions, but suffice to say, they are awesome and leave you feeling super clean. This one of course has its own hot water feed, so it's extremely comfortable to use.

The second crazy toilet is called a macerating toilet. It's used in situations where it's not convenient or desireable to let the drain go downward from the fixture. In this case, the basement bath was an addition, and to install a regular toilet would require breaking through the concrete slab and splicing a wye into the main cast iron sewer line. This is doable, the pipe is probably only a foot or two under the slab. But, breaking and patching concrete always leaves open the possibility that the repair isn't perfectly watertight, which could allow some moisture to seep into the basement from the soil, when wet.

The macerating toilet solution is to run the drain horizontally out behind the toilet, into a macerator box that sits behind the bathroom wall. The macerator is like a blender and pump that allows waste to be pumped a couple feet upward, then over, and down into the main sewer. No breaking the concrete slab required. This unit is about 3 years old. The manufacturer, Saniflo, advertises it as "no maintenance". However, essentially the pump box is like a very small septic tank that only holds a little waste, for shorter times. That said, not 100% of the waste is ejected every time the pump runs, so for that which remains, you have a small version of the issue people have with septic tanks. Though I have never smelled anything inside the bathroom, many users/plumbers online have recommended cleaning either with the "decaling" solution sold by Saniflo, or a homemade solution. Cleaning involves just pouring a solution into the toilet bowl and flushing, with the pump turned off (not actually opening up the pump box ... ew!). I'm also currently using some dissolvable packets that you drop into the toilet and flush (with the pump turned off), which will populate the pump box with a bacteria that digests waste (just like you'd use on an underground septic tank). The catch is that this will do nothing if you let the pump eject most of the waste a few seconds after flushing. So, I'm not using the bathroom for a couple weeks to let the treatment work its magic. This is the first time I've done this, but it's probably only something you'd do before leaving the house for a few days' vacation. I'd like to think I'm leaving the next owners with a clean system!

The same macerator services the sink, toilet and bidet, and is rated to handle a shower, too, if a future owner wanted to install one in the corner (we definitely sized the room to handle one, ask me about it if you're interested in what's required).

I used the home as my home office for 13+ years, and wanted to make sure network performance within the house was as fast as possible. I also have some so-called Internet of Things devices that work better with wired network connections (either faster speed or more reliable, responsive connections vs wifi). So, most of the home has been wired with ethernet cabling. The overwhelming majority is Cat 5e or Cat 6, capable of gigabit per second speeds. A couple jacks are only Cat 5 for simple devices like kitchen webcams/assistants. My workstation, servers, and backup devices all needed better than what wifi often provides.

There are ethernet jacks in the upper two bedrooms, two separate jacks in the main level bedroom, two jacks in the living room, one in the kitchen and two in the garage (used by EV charge station and security camera). All cabling runs to the workshop area, where I kept my internet service provider's network gear.

Yes, that Blink unit is one of the first commercial EV charge stations (aka EVSE) available in the US. This one is now 10+ years old, and occasionally needs resetting. A new owner may wish to upgrade this to a new unit, either one which plugs in to the existing NEMA 6-50 outlet, or is hardwired into the junction box.

The Blink EVSE uses a standard J1772 connector, which works directly with most non-Tesla EVs without modification, and works with Teslas provided the J1772-Tesla black adapter you get with the car. I have charged a Nissan LEAF, Bolt EV, and Tesla Model 3 with this unit over the years. The Tesla Mobile Connector, with NEMA 6-50 plug adapter can also charge directly from the wall without using the EVSE at all, at a rate of 7.68kW. The wiring for this circuit is rated at 40A, but per electrical code, only 80% of capacity can be used for long-running loads, which means the home's wiring can support EVSE or direct charging at up to 32A. This isn't as fast as most new owners would install today, but it allows even the larger EV batteries on the market like a Model 3 Long Range to charge fully overnight.

No idea, whenever the previous owner serviced it. I am a mechanical engineer by training, and this home has a ~80% efficiency natural gas furnace, which is an extremely simple model. While you should pick a maintenance routine that's appropriate for your skill level and time available, it has been extremely easy for me to take care of this furnace. Typical cleaning can be demonstrated in dozens of tutorial videos online on Youtube.

Basically, every year (I missed last year being in a new house, and keeping 5703 cooler this winter) I take off the furnace grill (power off!), remove about a dozen screws and pull out a gas manifold. With the manifold out, I can use a vacuum cleaner with a long pointy attachment to remove any debris from the 4 combustion chambers. I then use rubbing alcohol and a wire brush to clean any debris off the manifold itself in the laundry sink, and let dry a couple hours. A dozen screws to put back together, and the system can be fired up again. I suppose at some point more tuning could be needed, but I have never failed to instantly get a pure blue flame that suggests good combustion. I have also usually had a portable air quality meter (not staying with the home) to measure air quality in the basement. Never any indication that combustion is poor, and I closely monitor my gas consumption on my monthly bill, too. Over my ownership (2006-), this house (same furnace) has used less gas than it used to, owing mainly to the large amount of attic insulation I added.

The furnace also has an inline electrostatic air filter, with removable stainless steel filter assemblies. I normally take each of the 2 assemblies out, and run them in a standard cleaning cycle in the dishwasher (can only fit one assembly per run). Let the filters air dry afterwards, and slide them back in. I've had much less dust in this house than in my previous home, with a similar furnace, and traditional disposable paper filters. The oak hardwood flooring throughout also is excellent for keeping indoor dust levels low, especially compared to carpeted homes (poor for dust and chemical off-gassing!).

I don't know because I didn't do the original remodel, but I would guess the mid-1990s. Clearly, the room was taken down to the studs/joists, because unlike most of the home, the walls and ceiling are drywall, not plaster and lath. I haven't seen inside all the walls, but during the water repiping, I could see inside the East wall under the sink, and it does have modern fiberglass insulation. So, hopefully, by removing the original plaster and lath walls, the owners took the opportunity to insulate at least the exterior kitchen walls.

With the possible exception of the kitchen / rear entry lights, the original wiring would also have been replaced during this remodel. The 1990s remodel included the island pop-up fan that we have since decommissioned. That design is not an effective one, as warm, humid cooking air wants to quickly rise, not go downward. So, the stainless steel ZLINE kitchen fan is a 2019 addition. Original appliances from the '90s remodel would be the oven and microwave combination, and the Dacor dual fuel (2 gas, 2 electric) range. I have the gas turned off for safety during showings, but all burners do still work.

The Bosch dishwasher was replaced in 2021, and the fridge is from 2012-3.

I expect, but do not know for sure, that the tile countertop and travertine floors would be from that mid-90s remodel date.

Yes. We have an appointment on September 26 to have a stone specialist come in and polish and seal the travertine floor in the kitchen. We just never found time to do it while in the house, and the team we wanted was booked a few weeks out. But, this will be done, and can be written into a contract as required by closing. I installed new travertine in my previous Craftsman home, and it looks much better. Prior owners at 5703 Admiral obviously wore shoes in the kitchen, and over time, that will dull a stone's glossy finish.

I also plan on having a sewer inspection done, with the video shared with prospective buyers. I don't have a date for that yet. I have had the sewer scoped in the past, and don't anticipate any problems. I know how the side sewer runs to the city main, and in the past, there have been no issues with plant root incursions.

A few things, all of which the buyer can choose to have me get rid of, if they so choose. First, the basement shop was outfitted to allow me to continue working on this home, even after moving into our new home. So, I have lots of duplicate items. The shop bench, and smaller metal work desk both are included with the home. The bench grinder and drill press on the shop bench are also included. There are probably many tools I have in duplicate, and especially the tools associated with managing the fruit trees, so some of those would be available, too, just ask.

The antique leaded-glass cabinet in the kitchen stays with the house. It is actually not original to this house, but it is a Craftsman-era piece, harvested and refurbished from the outstanding salvage yard downtown at Second Use. It's not fastened to the wall, and could be moved around. But, the style matches that of this home (5703), so I was not planning to take it with me.

The home automation and security system both stay with the house. Both of them are custom systems built by me. Much like a 3rd party system from Comcast or ADT, you will need to have me come after closing to help you set things up. But, the systems are both designed to work with no ongoing subscription fees, aside from merely having normal home internet service. This is a major advantage over commerical systems. This includes multiple security cameras, which integrate into the security system. Smart Home devices installed permanently in the house will be released to the buyers where they have been associated with a personal email address of mine.

The picnic table in the back yard stays with the house. It's an excellent eating place with mid-day shade, and is an integral part of reaching those high plums in July!

I don't know, but suspect it was! This history all predates my ownership, so I'm piecing together what's available in county records, and what my first neighbor told me.

The land that's now owned by 5704 Winthrop (west neighbor) used to be owned by 5703 Admiral. I suspect the lot was just bigger, with more yard, and possibly trees to the west. I would also assume that there was a second garage at that time, detached from the home, and opening directly up to Admiral. Since the home also has a one-car attached basement garage, this garage was somewhat redundant.

About 20 years ago, a developer split the 5703 Admiral lot to make a large enough lot to build a new house, conforming to modern (at the time) Seattle building codes. After selling the lot, a home was built next door (again, all before I owned 5703 Admiral). In this process, I believe the concrete wall that abuts the Admiral (NW corner) steps probably used to be the side wall of a garage, and this garage was demolished, since 5704 Winthrop would now have garage access via the back street (Winthrop). That corner of the wall, and part of the stairs, sits on the property that is now part of 5704 Winthrop. However, the stairs do not lead to the 5704 Winthrop home, and they have always been a part of the home at 5703 Admiral. So, for the entirety of the time I've owned this home, this corner (stairs up to the wall) has been treated as part of my home, and I have always maintained it. It's only used sparingly, since we always enter the home via the garage, or side gate. But, occasionally we use it when walking down to the beach. We do any maintenance (just sweeping and repainting red concrete once every ~5 years). There have never been any boundary disputes of any kind between myself and any of the 3 neighbors at 5704 during my ownership (2006-). We've treated the stairs' edge as the effective boundary, and all the rock area in the side yard as part of 5704 Winthrop.

Buyers should go to King County Records online to view any history regarding the 5703 / 5704 lots and the easement that allows us to use the sideyard to maintain our home as necessary (see Form 17).

With both my prior home, and my new/current home, I bought the next home before selling the older home, and owned both for a period. All 3 homes have been in West Seattle, so moving has been a gradual process both times. However, for the most part, 5703 Admiral was my primary residence from about 2008 until Fall 2021, when I moved to Seaview just 5 minutes away.

Having done this before, I'm totally aware of the pitfalls of owning a home that you don't occupy, but being so close, it hasn't been difficult at all to visit 5703 Admiral regularly. The primary reason for not listing the home right away (in addition to wanting to "wait out" the pandemic) was that I wanted to finish several major repairs and upgrades, and that took a few months. But, occasionally running appliances like the washer/dryer, dishwasher, and garbage disposal was done carefully so that no premature failures occurred from certain devices that don't like to sit unused. There were no leaks to go unnoticed, either.

Yes, a whole-home inspection was done August 2022, and the report is available in full for serious prospective buyers. A side sewer inspection is also planned, but has not yet been scheduled.