"This is as close as possible to my ultimate 'dream house' for this period of my life," says O'Neill. No only does it feature a very desirable waterfront location, but also it combines living space and office space in one location. It is from here, that the O'Neills operate their 30-year-old design/build firm, The O'Neill Group.

The $1.4 million home's eclectic exterior features a pleasing blend of several architectural styles. Craftsman-style windows complement an overall eastern stick design that includes cedar shake siding and a dramatic, high-pitched roofline. An abundance of natural stone O'Neill used for accent, gives the home a "mountain lodge" character, which he says is the optimum style for the surrounding community.

Because he serves on the Baine planning and development commission, O'Neill was particularly sensitive to the local requirements dictating the preservation of the site's mature trees. Designed to have minimal impact on its surroundings, the home's style and exterior finish blends well within the natural landscape. "I purposely design and build new homes to look like they are not new," he says.

O'Neill's home is located in Semiahmoo, an exclusive golf course community north of Seattle, which attracts and active and affluent empty nester/retiree market in the Pacific Northwest.

Give Mother Nature A Boost

With its picturesque view of Puget Sound, Brad O'Neill's highly desirable site also presented him with a challenge. Although mountainside construction is not unusual for the locale, he was looking for a unique way to develop the surroundings for his own personal residence. "There is a tendency, when designing homes for steep lots, to fill the entire hill full of structure," says O'Neill. "I wanted to do something different here."

O'Neill's solution was to create a man-made mountain creek which serves as a visual divider between his home and his garage/office space. Actually a series of four ponds connected by a flowing stream that descends from the high point on the lot to the low point, its not a mere babbling brook, but a "real crashing mountain stream." O'Neill used local stone and vegetation to form a completely natural looking alpine tributary. In order to capitalize on the area's frequent rainfalls, O'Neill tied the drainage of the home's downspouts directly into the stream. This environmentally friendly drainage pattern augments the stream's water supply, which flows into a 500-gallon cistern. The water is then re-cirulated to the highest pond via a pump.

Just how real does O'Neill's stream look? He says that a deliveryman recently commented to him on how lucky he was to have such a beautiful stream to build his home around.