“The house is graced with framed posters of many of my concerts with my alma matter’s symphony orchestra,” says the husband, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music in addition to his medical degree. Music is everywhere in the home: Even family boats have displayed musical names, starting with the Handelian “Water Music,” to the current “Sea Major, Opus 3.”

Just outside, the views of Puget Sound offer its own music of water and light. Another 1,500 square feet of decks and covered walkways showcase the spectacular location. To the west is the Sound—the fjordlike system of bays explored in 1792 by George Vancouver and named for Lieutenant Peter Puget, one of his officers. To the northwest are the snow-capped Olympic Mountains, peaking at almost 8,000 feet.

The couple stays about seven months in Arizona and five summer months in the cool Northwest weather. They take intermittent weekends occasionally as well, meeting with two of their three children, students at the University of Washington in Seattle; the children also drive up on their own occasionally, to respite from campus and city life.

“About a decade ago, we visited a friend in Bellingham during a vacation,” the husband says. “We immediately loved the area and decided to look into finding a lot here.”

They approached CCBG’s Kym Billington, AIA, who had designed the synagogue they belong to in Phoenix. A design process of two years followed, involving conversations from eco-sensitivity to spirituality to the home’s position on the site. Two more years followed for construction.

“We wanted him to create a life space that brought some of that same spiritual presence to our home,” Billington explains. “There are times that simply by either looking outdoors or standing on the deck, you can be drawn into nature in a way that approaches a religious experience. Watching the cloud banks drift by or the sun set over Vancouver Island can make it difficult to be an atheist.”