The historic brick is framed with clean white trim. Elegant woodwork lines the half-rotunda front porch, speaking of an old type of wealth, the sort where memories are passed down house by house.

The casually dressed house manager, Nicole Moore, answers the door, and two Labradors, Huckleberry and Maddy, push their way through. The black and blonde dogs trot to the kitchen where the smell of sweet peppers and garlic floods the air.

For all its opulence, the estate melts into a home as the warmth of the red brick folds into rich woods. From the outside, it’s just another mansion in Madison Park. No one would suspect this recently renovated estate is UW property.

Living in Hill-Crest, which was bequeathed to the UW by the Walker-Ames family in 1931, is described as an additional perk to UW President Mark Emmert’s $905,000 salary. However, in 2004, it posed more of a dilemma to the Emmerts than a perk.

It had been decades since the home was remodeled. Stained, white wool carpet with random off-colored patches and decrepit furniture adorned the once-prized home, Moore said.

The Emmerts weren’t attracted to Hill-Crest at first because it lacked warmth. People within the University — those planning events, for example — often walked into the house without announcement. Visitors are now starting to view it as a home and not just a building.

“It’s definitely commanded the respect to be commended as a residence,” Moore said. “The presidents here before didn’t nest.”

The mansion was received under the agreement that the University’s president would live in it, otherwise the property must be sold, said Norm Arkans, the UW’s executive director of media relations.

In 2005, William H. Gates, a UW Board of Regents member, secured about $2 million in donations for Hill-Crest. Moore said the board avoided a whirlwind ethical debate by securing donations specifically aimed at remodeling the mansion.

Prior to the 2005 remodel, which according to The Seattle Times cost $800,000, the kitchen had yellow linoleum and a plethora of stainless steel. Although retro, it lacked the feeling of a home, Moore said. Now, white cabinets create clean lines against marble countertops and tiled floors. Although modestly spacious, the room is to be envied for its ease and “homey” feel.

Resident chef Peta Dyteen folds chopped bell peppers into a meatloaf. The Emmerts are expected to return from an international trip, and he wants to make sure they’ll have something to eat.

“They’re very comfort-food type of people,” he said.

Emmert usually gets about four hours of sleep per night, Moore said.

“I wouldn’t want their lifestyle for the world.”

In an area of the kitchen one might consider a butler’s pantry rests a black safe, original to the home and marked “Hill-Crest” with fading gold letters. It crowns its spot across from the breakfast room.

The carpets were torn up, and the dark wood floors hiding beneath were restored. Antique-looking rugs with flowers cover most of the floors, and most rooms have a view of the lake or the manicured lawn.

Light enters the breakfast room from three different angles, centering on the table. With lower ceilings and yellow walls, it’s the warmest-feeling room in the house.

In the dining room, Maddy and Huckleberry curl up beside a tray displaying the house’s silver serving dishes, which Emmert’s wife, DeLaine, had restored. An intricate chandelier adorns the 16-person table the Emmerts donated to the house, but the room is mostly lit from a sunroom added to the house.

Standing inside the sunroom with its steel beams, glass walls and tiled flooring, Moore points out that it was an afterthought. It doesn’t fit with the house. It’s an example of why DeLaine has been trying to make decisions that will be met with approval by future presidents.

Still, the square room is softened by the curves of the furniture. Elements of the UW are displayed in paintings from the Burke Museum and a student’s purple and gold glass bowls. Another student designed a purple and green rug that covers most of the tile, and a statue of a husky can be seen sitting on the patio.

Moore said it’s her favorite room.

Crystal bourbon glasses and antique furniture blend into a wood-paneled sitting room. It’s easy to picture wealthy men at the turn of the century sipping liquors and women with boas floating around the room, but it mostly feels unused, like a living room without a TV.

When the Emmerts started work, the library — with bookshelves lined halfway up the walls — had neither artwork nor books. Since then, framed family portraits from past presidents hang above the filled bookshelves.

DeLaine found a gardener, who was then hired by the UW, to clean up the weed-ridden lawn and spruce up the lacking rose gardens. Now, Dyteen works with the gardener to grow fresh vegetables and herbs. He then harvests the produce and turns it into sauces and spice mixes, which serve as gifts to visitors.

Besides housing a flat-screen TV the size of a projector screen and a pool table, the basement is unexciting.

In respect for the Emmerts’ privacy, the rooms upstairs are closed off to visitors. However, atop the stairs is a functioning pipe organ. Its pipes fill a room the size of a studio apartment. Outside the room sits a music box. Although dated Sept. 22, 1886, the antique box chimes familiar tunes.

“The house is lovely, and we’ve invested a lot of time and energy into bringing it up to speed,” said Emily Benjamin, Hill-Crest events manager.

[Reach reporter Celeste Flint at features@thedaily.washington.edu.]