My Houzz: A Musical Couple's Home Strikes a Personal Chord

Creating music can be both artistic and exacting — not unlike decorating a home. When musicians Flip Breskin and Zeke Hoskin acquired their first home together, each had very specific requests. Breskin wanted "rooms with light coming from at least two directions." Both she and Hoskin needed an open space to play their music and a yard where they could garden and entertain.

Over the past 14 years, the couple has tweaked, refined and added their own slight alterations to the 1905 home. They installed two bump-out windows to showcase Breskin's collection of colored glass, introduced lots of unique vintage finds, and changed bulb-heavy gardens to a mix of plants and trees that provide year-round color, interest and fragrance to their Bellingham, Washington, neighborhood.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Flip Breskin, cofounder of Puget Sound Guitar Workshop; Zeke Hoskin, a songwriter; and their cat, Vortex
Location: Columbia neighborhood of Bellingham, Washington
Size: 1,250 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an office/songwriting studio

Breskin describes the style of the house as an "older folk-Victorian farmhouse." Surrounded on three sides by mature trees, including a yellow Sango-kaku Japanese maple and a garden mix of edibles, flowers and ornamentals, it's a colorful oasis in the Columbia neighborhood. Breskin and Hoskin painted the exterior — originally light blue with white trim — a deep red with forest green trim to "vibrant it up," she says.

Exterior paint: Heritage Red (MoorGlo finish), Benjamin Moore; trim: Heritage Chrome Green (MoorGlo finish), Benjamin Moore


A tall privacy fence surrounded the front of the house when the couple moved in. Breskin and Hoskin immediately replaced it with a filigreed metal fence assembled from pieces of wrought iron salvaged from East Coast buildings. A custom-made rounded metal gate with a Celtic knot design completes the more welcoming new enclosure.


The high ceilings and open floor space provide an ideal area for Breskin and Hoskin to play their folk music and for Breskin to teach guitar lessons. Whimsical bird wall hooks hold the couple's collection of stringed instruments — everything from a ukelele to a unique 1890s harp guitar (seen directly to the right of the window). A headboard passed down from Breskin's family gives an electronic keyboard greater presence.


The sun-washed living room features tall windows and the original fir flooring. The 1905 fireplace got a facelift with a reproduction cast-iron surround made by Fires of Tradition. A framed photo of Breskin's grandmother hangs above the mantel.


A string bass seems to stand guard at the doorway between the living room and kitchen. Various vintage carpets are draped over mismatched sofas, and some carpets have been turned into durable pillow covers. The foyer and front entrance are through the French doors at rear.

Custom stained glass windows by Karen Seymour adorn the tops of four of the windows. A stringed instrument is depicted in the center of each design.


The kitchen combines vintage cabinetry and freestanding finds with new built-ins. The wainscoting is cedar.

The homeowners found the trough sink at the Northwest Tub Company in Centralia, Washington, and paired it with an antique faucet. Breskin's collection of rainbow-colored glass lights up both sides of the kitchen.


Breskin worked with Lyndale Glass and local artisan Terry West to create the two bump-out windows displaying her glass collection. West cut the holes, Breskin says, "and together we figured out how to display the glass in such a way that I wouldn't be constantly dusting it."

Gray mesh roller shades mounted inside the exterior windows help block the light without obscuring the view of the glassware or the yard.

A live-edge wood slab sits on top of a cast-iron pedestal, forming a small table where one can admire the glass at close range while dining.

Roller shades: Walls & Windows


Glass shelves are sandwiched between the exterior windows and interior sliding glass doors. Shelves are arranged by color and hold just a portion of Breskin's collection — the rest is seen throughout the house. To help support the shelves, Breskin filled slim glass vases with colored beads that correspond to the colors on each row. "It worked beautifully," she says.


This 1938 range was found on eBay. "Many of these do not have a thermostat, which can make cooking on it very ... exciting," explains Breskin. "But we found one with a thermostat, then took it to Bee Jays Appliance in Portland who restores these ovens. He reassured us it is now in good shape and most definitely will not explode!"


This 1915 Hoosier cabinet was another online find. When closed, the unit looks like a built-in cabinet with a shallow counter (see previous photo). But the counter pulls out to table width, and built-in mixers and flour sifters lurk inside the cabinets, along with ample storage for baking supplies and spices. "It's a baker's dream, really," says Breskin.


The master bedroom upstairs is furnished with meaningful family pieces, like this walnut bed that Breskin says "originally arrived in the Northwest from ship, and then mule train." The carved wooden side table is the bed's original companion piece.

A billowy white canopy frames the bed, while the couple went with their yellow hand-dyed bedding "because we could have sunshine on our bed all the time," says Breskin.

Bedding: Lou Ellis of Coco Loco, Salt Spring Island


Just steps away from the couple's bedroom is Hoskin's office, where he writes songs under a west-facing skylight. This cabinet was handed down through the family and is used to store recording equipment and accessories.


The windows in this ell were tiny and did not take advantage of the sun-soaked orientation. "I've dreamed of bigger windows all the years we've lived here," says Breskin.


AFTER: A bump-out window projects 1½ feet from the building's face. "It looked like a Spanish galleon to me," says Breskin. "I thought it looked like the side of the Nina or the Pinta or the Santa Maria, so we chose decorative accents that helped bring that feeling out." This includes a thick, rugged rain chain, a mariner's lamp and gaily-painted corbels.

The side yard includes fragrant plants such as mock orange, dark purple lilacs and a white Parisian rose called Blanc Double de Coubert.


The side yard path opens up into a lush backyard with places to lounge, eat and putter. Hoskin and Breskin painted the existing garden shed to match the main house and topped it with a blown-glass weather vane.

Old bricks laid in a basket weave pattern run a straight line from the back fence to a large witch hazel tree. "The smell of it when in bloom is amazing," says Breskin.

The garden shed is surrounded by Fuji apple trees, blueberries, camellias and a variety of bulbs.


"Mossheart," an iron-and-moss elk sculpture by Oliver Strong, watches over the yard and house from its shady corner. "The moss is alive and growing," says Breskin. "The squirrels love it so much that it keeps getting ruined. They get in there and dig in it. They ate the first set of antlers, too; my neighbors brought me a new pair."

The kitchen door opens onto a concrete patio covered by a mature arbor of wisteria and kiwi vines. "We have dinner parties with our neighbors out here, and it's beautiful," says Breskin.


Hoskin, pictured at left, Breskin, center, and Breskin's mother, Maryann Breskin, right, settle in for some lively music-making. Maryann lives a short distance away. Hanging to the right of the ukelele is a clock Breskin bought "because it looks just like the one in my childhood home."

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