Matt and Sarah work as a team to provide their kids with a happy home. For Matt, that means privacy and the chance to enjoy being with his family and friends.
Featured Homes
Home Game
Matt and Sarah Hasselbeck made sure their Bellevue house could handle three boisterous children, visiting family members—and, of course, game-day parties
BY
Lindsey Rowe
PHOTOGRAPHY
David Papazian


To get the unique shade of shimmery blue-gold on the walls in the living room, interior designer Michelle Yorke applied different layers of blue and brown on top of each other. “Blue is a tricky color; it can look dated easily,” Yorke says. The shiny gold curtains help reflect the light that comes in across Lake Washington into the room, further lightening the blue.


The dining room is formal enough for guests, yet comfortable enough for the family of five.


The two chairs in the entryway were chosen to be dual-purpose; they can be moved to the dining room to act as head chairs when a lot of guests show up for dinner.


Having grown up playing football with his Dad and brothers, Matt knew it was important for kids to have lots of space to play. The big yard and playset gives Henry, Mallory and Annabelle room to run around with their parents.


Time for a family huddle.


On the wall in the basement are vintage football player cards given to Matt by a local sports-store owner.


Matt does radio interviews with his brother, Tim, in his den. The specially made bookshelves house football helmets from other greats, such as Steve Smith and Jeff Garcia, as well as Matt’s own.

The H on the front-door mat stands for “Hasselbeck,” but it could also stand for “home”—the one that Matt and Sarah Hasselbeck created for themselves 3,000 miles away from their families in New England.

Their home also stands as a testimony to the way life throws you unexpected passes. In 2000, the Hasselbecks finished building a 2,500-square-foot house on a golf course in Wisconsin. Soon after the couple had moved in, the Green Bay Packers traded quarterback Matt to the Seahawks, and the newlyweds found themselves on the move to Seattle. They had lived in their Midwest house for only three months, with boxes still unpacked. “We thought we had built a dream home,” Sarah says.

Instead of lamenting the loss, the Hasselbecks were eager to build anew, lessons learned and ready to try again. In their second shot at homebuilding, the Hasselbecks now had a complete playbook of strategies: must be close to friends, close to the Seahawks’ then–training center in Kirkland, close to a hospital (Sarah was then pregnant with their third child); must have a bathroom next to every bedroom; and they wanted to have 5-inch-wide plank wood floors, Shaker cabinetry, white wainscoting and a kitchen with room for everyone on the bench.

“We wanted a kitchen where Sarah could entertain, host other wives on game day and watch the game herself,” Matt says, noting that his mother couldn’t enjoy watching Matt’s father, Don Hasselbeck, play tight end for the New England Patriots or her sons play for professional teams (Matt’s brother, Tim, was a quarterback for the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins and the Arizona Cardinals) because she couldn’t see the television from the kitchen, where she loved to spend her time cooking.

When Sarah began to design the interiors for their expansive new home in Bellevue, which they found halfway through the design-build process, she made additions to that playbook: animal prints, kid-friendly materials and spaces welcoming for guests—when family and friends visit, they might stay for a week or more. “We felt overwhelmed, and we felt blessed by this house. If we were going to have a house like this, we wanted to use it,” Sarah says about her and Matt’s desire to share the space with others. 

Sarah had done much of the designing before she brought in interior designer Michelle Yorke to help her pull her ideas together soon after the 2006 Super Bowl. Yorke had also helped design homes for then–Seahawks offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson and then–offensive coach Bill Laveroni. “I like animal prints, but I’m afraid I like them too much,” Sarah told Yorke. But Yorke was delighted with Sarah’s design whimsy. “The home was more of a traditional style, but [Sarah] definitely wanted a playful twist to it. She didn’t want it to be traditional-stuffy, but traditional-fun,” Yorke says.

Glass crystals hanging from lampshades and passementerie on curtains and pillows highlight the natural elegance of the home. “It was the high-end look, but we wanted to keep it youthful and whimsical,” Yorke says. The pair contrasted jewelrylike touches with Sarah’s much-loved animal aesthetic—tiger stripes, giraffe and cheetah spots, alligator embossed leather, pheasant feathers—carefully placed throughout the house. Yorke helped Sarah blend these elements with football-player-sized furniture and photos of the kids—Annabelle, 6, Mallory, 5, and Henry, 3—in every room. “We really wanted the artwork in our house to be the kids,” Sarah says.

Matt and Sarah opted to forego a storage closet under the stairs in favor of using the space as a playroom—with animals painted on the walls. Though the formal living and dining rooms are mostly for company, in general the children have the run of the house; large sofas in the family room and the basement were chosen with young imaginations and energy in mind. “[We wanted] something the kids could sit on, use as forts,” Sarah says.

The gated fence around the property creates a large space for the kids to play safely. “Home is growing up, eating breakfast and then saying, ‘Mom, can we go play?’” Matt says. When it rains, the kids move into the four-car garage, where they find bikes, in-line skates, easels and chalkboards. Inside the house, many of the large drawers and cupboards open to reveal toys and art supplies. “It’s more kid-world than anything,” Sarah says of the house. “Nothing is untouchable or off-limits,” Yorke says in agreement.

Even Matt’s office, where he is often found early in the morning talking on Tim’s New York–based radio show, was designed to accommodate the children. The glass door lets the kids see Dad—Matt laughs when they press their faces up against the glass—and ask him via a thumbs-up or thumbs-down sign whether or not they can enter.

Matt’s say in the design process usually came in when Sarah and Yorke needed help making decisions; he chose the large framed mirror resting on the floor of the entryway, for example. “I’m not really picky; I’m easy to please,” Matt says, although he does reveal certain design preferences: “I like more of a masculine feel, but with a little bit of a woman’s touch.” His office features a houndstooth-printed ottoman, an overstuffed leather chair with brass tacks and black walnut bookcases made to house his helmet collection. 

Both Matt and Sarah concur that much of their inspiration came from Matt’s mother, Betsy, a woman who gave Matt a loving home and whom Sarah admires for her sense of style. (When making decisions, Sarah often thought: “What would Mrs. Hasselbeck think?”) What the pair love most about this house is the chance it gives to pass on that inherited sense of a welcoming home to their kids and their friends—the chance to take their blessing and bless others.

Design Details

INTERIOR DESIGNER
Michelle Yorke             
Michelle Yorke Interior Design
(206) 349-1239