Budget Breakdown: Who Else Would Design Their Retirement Home Than Their Own Son?

Adam Lawler describes designing his parents’ home as the job of a lifetime. His mom and dad, a nurse and a retired judge, were looking to grow old in fresh yet familiar surroundings. They had their minds set on a new construction residence, and they asked their son to oversee it, all about a mile or so from his childhood home.

"It was an opportunity and a challenge," Lawler says. "But also, they didn’t really have a choice," he adds, laughing.

Lawler and his two siblings were raised in Lewis County, Washington, where the snowy peak of Mount Rainier is a backdrop as constant as the community. This is the type of place, Lawler jokes, where "everyone knows your sister, your cousin, and your grandma," and the social calendar follows the familiar ebb and flow of the local sports teams. Lawler moved about an hour-and-a-half south to Portland, Oregon, to eventually start his own firm, and his siblings moved away to follow their own pursuits, too. Over time, the ’90s house where they all grew up started to seem unsuited for their parents’ current lives.

"Their old home was about five thousand square feet, and they wanted something that was closer to three thousand," Lawler notes. His parents still desired a hub for their family and friends, and a place that reflected their interests. It just had to be more streamlined, with a clearer focus on their future.

It’s common for parcels of land in Lewis County to be divided into five acres a piece, and after beginning their search in 2018, Lawler’s parents found the right fit about three years later on an open stretch of land down a county road. The area’s landmark peak is visible to the east, just above a sweep of deciduous fir trees rising beyond a field. It was a blank slate indeed, but Lawler had a parental-approved plan to give it instant character.