Seattle Story: Take My View and I’ll Take Your Roof

If you know Seattle, you know views have a premium. Therefore, when one neighbor built a home that exceeded the one-story height covenant, thereby blocking the views of neighbors, a lawsuit was likely. And now, at the end of a nearly 10-year-old dispute over blocked views and a three-year-old lawsuit, one neighbor will have to remove their roof and install a flat one.

To summarize the front-page article in today’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Turpens purchased a lot in 1997 near the Baumans in West Seattle. The lot the Turpens purchased had a covenant, which was placed by the owner, George Gilbert, that stated “nothing could be built taller than one story.” After the Turpens argued with neighbors about their plans to build, they went ahead and built in 2004.

According to court documents, the entry, a bedroom and a powder room are on the house’s upper level at the highest point of the land. Below that, another level has a kitchen and the dining, living and family rooms. A bottom level has three bedrooms and a recreation room.

In 2005, King County Superior Court Judge Michael Hayden ruled in favor of the Baumans and wrote that the term one-story “must be interpreted to effectuate the intent of George Gilbert in 1949.” To rectify the situation, Judge Hayden ruled the roof must be replaced by a flat roof. Now, after three years of appeals have been exhausted, work began yesterday on removing the roof (photo above).

Photo courtesy Seattle Post-Intelligencer