Good design puts
people and place first.
Photography by Rafael Soldi
Dacha (pronounced DAH-chuh; IPA: [ˈdatɕə]) is a Seattle based design practice centered on the idea of home as a place of meaning. A dacha is a country house, popular in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, serving as a retreat from the city for gardening, relaxation, and escaping urban life. While our office is in the city, we interpret this as a place to slow down, create, and connect. In our case, it’s the home and life you want to build, no matter where it’s located.
Homes should feel intentional and expressive, shaped by the people who live there. Our work is guided by this belief, focusing on a respect for atmosphere and the quiet, subtle qualities that make a space feel like it belongs to someone.
We design across the full spectrum of residential work: interiors, renovations, additions, and ground-up builds. Our approach is consistent regardless of scale: attentive, collaborative, and grounded in thoughtful planning and material craft. We search for the story inside each project; the way light moves through a room, the rituals that define your days, and the opportunities hidden within constraints.
Why work with us:
We offer the focus and communication of a small studio with the rigor and quality of a professional architectural practice. We listen closely, design intentionally, and guide you through the process with clarity and care. Our goal is to create spaces that feel honest, warm, and deeply personal; places that grow with you, support you, and reflect the life you want to live.
Our StoryWe started Dacha Office because we wanted to build ourselves a home. Somewhere that made sense for the way we actually live. We had ideas about what that looked like, and none of them came from architecture school. They came from paying attention to what mattered to us.
That dream we called our dacha. It became the idea that guided our personal philosophy about what a home could be.
We've worked on everything from small remodels to ground-up houses in places that required careful thinking; steep sites, tight lots, remote land, neighborhoods with history. The scale changes project to project. What doesn't change is the approach: we start with how you live, not with what we think looks good.
Most people who come to us aren't looking for an architect to hand them a vision. They already have one. Maybe it's not fully formed yet, maybe it's just a feeling about a room or a view or the way they want their mornings to go. But it's there. Our job is to take that seriously and turn it into something that actually stands up.
We're a residential firm. That's what we do and what we're good at. We like the specificity of it; every house is for someone in particular, in a place in particular, and the work should reflect that. We're not interested in a house style. We're interested in getting yours right.
If you're thinking about building something, we'd like to hear about it.
