“Canoe Trails Residence” is a home art gallery designed with velvet gloves and without velvet ropes. For decades, Ken and Jane Friedman have been serious curators and creators of art. Jane formerly co-owned Friedman Oens Gallery on Bainbridge Island, acquiring notable pieces from around the Northwest and world. Their collection includes Cognitive Dissonance, which won Best of Show at the 2024 CVG Awards hosted by the mayor of Bremerton. Jane created the piece with hope of a peaceful resolution to the nation’s political disharmony.

The Friedmans gamely set themselves up for a different sort of cognitive dissonance by commissioning a comprehensive overhaul of their longtime Kitsap County home. They rejected the idea of a somber and static archive for their collection, opting instead for an interactive exhibit targeting their most prized patrons.

“We wanted to live seamlessly, where the art enhances the architecture, and the architecture enhances the art,” Jane says. “We wanted a home our grandchildren could visit with a happy heart, and not be told, ‘Don’t touch this. Don’t touch that.’”

The Friedmans engaged Rhodes Architecture + Light, which had won an enthusiastic recommendation after a home gallery installation at the Kessler estate in Indianola. The jobs were similar in that the respective families each had the means and motivation to execute a first-class gallery build, a creative treat for his 28-year old West Seattle firm, Tim Rhodes says.

“It was an amazing experience for us to work with such collaborative, artistic, and free-thinking people,” he says. “They kept pushing us, expanding the boundaries of what architecture could achieve.”

Having all the two- and three-dimensional artistic elements in hand before completing a design is a windfall, allowing full use of architectural dodges and potions, including form, space, color, texture, platforms, cubbies, structural supports, anchors, as well as natural and artificial lighting.

So it was with great anticipation that Rhodes first arrived at the Friedman home via a narrow, steep, drab asphalt drive. The 6,880-square-foot, 1930s structure had interesting lines and boasted 550 feet of waterfront on Port Orchard Inlet, but showed its age.

The interior had endured a number of dissolute remodels through the years, leaving behind a warren of disconnected spaces. Advanced Revit software (which allows for model-based building designs) illustrated how an open floor plan might transform their home. “They began to get very excited,” Rhodes recalls.

There was a major engineering roadblock to the breezy proposal, however. The home’s infrastructure was such that it required a substantial two-story support post near the center. A conventional solution would be to construct a bearing wall, accept the interruption to flow, and move on. Rhodes Architecture had another idea.

“We nervously, somewhat sheepishly, proposed a support not unlike the mast of a ship, and they loved the idea,” Rhodes says.

Phil Ohmes, superintendent of Fairbank Construction Co. in Winslow, fashioned a red maple casing to hide the six-inch-by-six-inch steel post, cleaving 26-foot-long slabs together, similar to a cooper’s barrel. It has become something of a maypole, with visitors drawn to its waxy finish.

“It’s a work of art,” says Ken, a noted attorney.

A ponytail palm that had languished many years in residence at The Brothers Greenhouses now serves as an exclamation point to the cascading white oak staircase, which floats on a hidden steel frame.

Steel also reinforces the cantilevered kitchen island, to better withstand foraging bands of offspring. Jane and Ken drove the design process hard, flipping through many iterations on Enscape, which allows realtime 3D modeling. The kitchen is now their favorite hangout spot.

They are never alone. Standing sentry are The Scholars, two 1-ton granite Korean (Joseon dynasty) grave guardians that had arrived at the gallery. “I fell in love with them. I thought, ‘Hmm, maybe I ought to become my own customer here,’” Jane says.

The Friedmans had assumed the architect would position the soothingly worn sculptures outside, but Rhodes suggested them as an informal divider between the dining room and kitchen. Steel bases were fabricated to allow placement with a forklift and hydraulic jack.

Jane expanded her knowledge of sculpture at the gallery. One favorite is a heavy red marble bust, which she sited on a very short pedestal. The Friedman’s 2-year-old granddaughter was delighted to come face-to-face with the bust, tracing her fingers along its carved braids.

Jane spent her early career in Alaska, and nature inspires much of her current work. A family heirloom is “Rooted,” a fantastical rendition of an old tree growing on the property. Jane was drawn to how the oak’s lateral branches seemed to reach out and hug its dual trunks.

Snowy owls in the encaustic, oil, pastel, and graphite work represent Ulysses and Penelope in Homer’s Odyssey. Their unmovable bed was shaped by a firmly rooted tree — a symbolic testament to the couple’s long-lasting marriage.

The dullish driveway was replaced with a paving system, and punctuated with a plaza at the refreshed three-bay garage. The third bay is Jane’s new art studio, which she designed under the watchful eye of Sir Winston Churchhound, the family’s Golden Retriever.

At the push of a button, the door lifts, sweeping inspiration in and toxic encaustic paint fumes out. For the first time, Jane has all of her art supplies together, and can scoot a table outside on nice days.

Nothing could be done about the narrowness of the drive, which proved problematic with the construction traffic. “If I didn’t make it out by 6 a.m., I was stuck here for the day,” Jane recalls.

They suffered for their art. The home had to be tented over one winter and the Friedmans went 30 months without a kitchen. (Cognitive dissonance: You want food, but you can’t have it.)

Rough, chipped, almost found elements are carefully positioned throughout the installation. “It’s a great contrast to Jane’s very refined art,” Rhodes says.

Large antique Mexican columns in the Friedman collection were repurposed as planters, framing the south end of an al fresco dining area, anchored by a custom glass and steel table suitable for ping-pong when family visits.

One outdoor panel features lyrics to the John Sebastian song “Darling Be Home Soon,” water-jetted into marine bronze.

Ken had recorded Joe Cocker’s version of the song on a CD for Jane to listen to while traveling. “He didn’t want me to be lonely in the car,” Jane says. Nearly every element of the home is artistic, including artichoke and cloud-inspired light fixtures. Rhodes fashioned a custom floor splash beneath a hanging oval Ortal gas stove.

At locations designated for hanging two-dimensional art, sheetrock was backed with solid plywood, eliminating the need for wall stud Whac-A-Mole. It’s a big time-saver when rotating art.

“That’s kind of what we do around here,” Ken adds.