Bathroom of the Week: A Vintage Bath on Old Chaser Farm in Vashon Island, Washington

A few weeks ago, we featured the cookhouse outbuilding at Old Chaser Farm on Vashon Island, Washington—it’s the farm that supplies provisions to Seattle chef Matt Dillon’s restaurants (Bar Ferdinand especially). The space is used for everything from event rentals to farm chores, and plays an important role in the founding of Dillon’s restaurant empire, now five establishments strong (including the Corson Building and the London Plane, both featured on Remodelista): Dillon bought the farm in 2010, and describes the then-cookhouse as “an ugly, concrete-floored garage with a bathroom and a big closet.”

Today we’re taking a closer look at the reimagined bath, which is full of ideas to steal. Photography by Aaron Leitz for Remodelista.

Above: Dillon wondered early on if he might turn the cookhouse into a rental house someday, so he designed the bathroom accordingly. “I’m a real lover of taking baths and soaking,” he said, “so I wanted a place to feel like a spa.” The claw-foot tub was a Craigslist find, already painted black, with all its accompanying brass fixtures.

Above: Dillon added vintage mirrors, beadboard paneling, and “divided-light, English-style old windows.” His friend and contractor, Edward Pierce of Plumb Level Square in Seattle, added a large corner window with single-paned, mullioned windows. “We framed those out ourselves, mullion by mullion,” said Pierce. Dillon covered them with simple burlap fabric to provide privacy without blocking the light.

The concrete floor was preexisting—to add plumbing components, they had to cut it up. They then patched and polished it with acid etching, according to Pierce.

Above: The sink is from Signature Hardware and the green-glass-shaded sconce is from Y Lighting.

“We were implementing the art of wabi-sabi” in the cookhouse, said Pierce, “trying to make the best of the imperfections of the space.”

Above: In several cases, Dillon and Pierce bought new plumbing fixtures and hardware and “aged” them with an oxidation process. The bathtub is framed by a surround of white subway tile with a marble border.

Above: Dillon has two business partners in the farm, Jennifer and Christopher Roberts, who live in a house on the property (have a look in our Gardenista story, Old Chaser Farm: A Seattle Chef’s Garden on Vashon Island, Washington). Christopher is from Austria, and Jennifer brings art and homewares back from their trips; this vintage botanical poster is one of her finds.