We are thrilled to share that one of our most beloved projects, the Park Home in Ravenna, was featured on America ByDESIGN™, Season 5: Episode 7. For those of us at LEICHT Seattle who had the privilege of being part of this extraordinary home, watching it receive national recognition was a deeply proud moment.This project is a testament to what becomes possible when visionary clients, talented architects, and meticulous craftsmanship come together in pursuit of something truly extraordinary.

The Park home in Ravenna is an award-winning kitchen showcasing a dark and moody kitchen with natural light.

A Home Rooted in Place

Tucked into one of Seattle's most cherished streets, the beloved Candy Cane Lane in the Ravenna neighborhood, the Park Home tells a story of history and modernity in perfect dialogue. The street was master planned by Carl Good in 1922, and the home itself was built in 1926, making it one of the oldest on the block. On a lot of just 3,000 square feet, surrounded by a tight-knit community, the homeowners, architect Kejia Zhang and designer Xiaoxi Jiao, set out to create something that honored its surroundings while expressing their own craft and heritage.

From the street, the home bows graciously to its historical context: gable silhouettes, low eave heights, and simple cedar siding blend seamlessly with its neighbors. The private garden, framed by basalt columns sourced from Marino's Rock Center and set in a gradational arrangement, draws visitors upward onto the deck. Cedar half-round screens, operable for privacy at night, speak to the same thoughtfulness that defines every inch of this home.

The Heart of the Home

Step inside, and everything changes. The living, dining, and kitchen space unfold together as a single, luminous room, literally and figuratively the heart of the home. It is here that LEICHT Seattle's cabinetry takes center stage.

The kitchen features LEICHT's signature cabinetry in dark, predominantly monotone panels that pair beautifully with the home's exposed steel columns. But what makes this kitchen sing is the counterpoint: warm wood liners wrap the kitchen alcove and form the bar counter, echoing the wood wainscoting of the living room and bringing an unmistakable warmth to the space. The dark gray panels, when the light falls just right, reveal a subtle blue undertone, a quiet conversation with the blue hue of the glass block wall just beside them.

That wall, 648 high-performance glass blocks spanning the entire park-facing second-floor facade, is one of the project's most iconic elements. A modern reinterpretation of traditional glass block, it carries echoes of the shoji screen tradition from the homeowners' oriental heritage, while providing diffused daylight, ventilation, and transparent views of Ravenna Park throughout the seasons. In spring, cherry blossoms paint the view pink. In winter, it becomes, as the homeowners described on camera, "a winter wonderland right here on Candy Cane Lane."

The kitchen peninsula's centrally placed sink is a small but meaningful gesture: it offers access from both sides, and a direct sightline across the glass block wall to the park beyond. As the project description beautifully puts it, it makes even the mundane chore of kitchen cleanup feel theatrical. Being in this kitchen is simply a joy.

Craft All the Way Up

This Ravenna home remodel continues to surprise on its upper floors. The third-floor master suite is a calm, private retreat, shaped by the geometry of the roof itself. On the park side, a boxed volume inserted into the roofline creates interior ceiling height and integrated casework. On the neighborhood side, a carved-out gable opens to an outdoor patio, a perch from which the homeowners hang their Christmas decorations each year for the community below.

Every decision in this home, from the grand gesture of the glass block facade to the quiet detail of the wood-lined kitchen alcove, reflects an architecture of intentionality. It is a home that functions beautifully, feels deeply personal, and gives back to its community.

Recognized for Excellence

The Park Home in Ravenna has garnered recognition well beyond national television. It was submitted for the AIA Seattle 2024 Honors Award and was featured in Küchen Special, a prestigious German design publication, a fitting nod to LEICHT's roots and history of custom luxury kitchen design, with over 90 years of European craftsmanship tradition.

Project Credits:

Architecture + Design: Kejia Zhang and Xiaoxi Jiao
Photography: Lara Swimmer
Cabinets and Countertops: LEICHT Seattle
General Contractor: Valor Builds

The LEICHT Seattle Difference

At LEICHT Seattle, we believe a kitchen is more than cabinetry. It is the place where a home becomes alive, where design philosophy, daily ritual, and personal identity intersect. The Park Home in Ravenna is one of the purest expressions of that belief we have had the honor of contributing to.

If this project has inspired you, we would love to hear about your vision. Visit us at our kitchen showroom in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square, or schedule a consultation to begin the conversation. Your home's story is waiting to be told.

LEICHT Seattle | 314 Occidental Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 | leichtseattle.com