4 minute read
A Note from the Editor
Your favorite Treasure Valley magazine may look somewhat familiar yet different this month. Take heart and grab this inaugural issue of IdaHome & Garden because I have no doubt the stories will engage, surprise and inform you about one of the most important aspects of your life: your home. Not just your physical residence with a roof, window and walls- but the feeling and value of the space where you find solace and seek reprieve from what can and cannot be controlled in everyday life. This is our purpose in creating IdaHome & Garden magazine. These pages offer readers a source to understand, appreciate, learn about our shared home of Idaho, as well as words and ways to define, decorate and examine the personal place we call home. To me, as publisher and editor, IdaHome & Garden is about what home means to each of us.
When I was a child, the first and best home I remember had a backyard as long as a city block that ended at the back door of my grandparents house, where every Sunday night we ate roast beef with brown gravy from an envelope and canned Green Giant peas. That yard was more my home than the actual house because our family was nothing like a peaceful sitcom. My brother and I lived like banshees until dark with no parental oversight. My love of the outdoors began in that backyard and gave rise to memories filled with jars flickering full of lightning bugs.That yard equaled freedom, adventure and peace. The nostalgia associated with my wild childhood kingdom half explains why I’m more comfortable in wide open spaces like Idaho, than suburbs or cities. It also explains why I’m fascinated by magnificent homes- the “dream homes” that we see from afar or in magazines with interiors aglow with golden appliances and a fire warming a room that looks too beautiful to allow entry to people or pets. IdaHome & Garden delves into who and what makes our houses, our yards, our communities and our environment a beautiful home and great place to live. In this magazine, we are all considered neighbors.
So read on. Discover how the Zamzow family’s mastery of Idaho lawns and fauna began as a business of hand-stirred animal feed in 1933. Readers are also invited to “Ask Callie” questions to solve their problematic grass and flowering mysteries. Where and how to “throw” a pillow or make your home a castle can also be learned by reading about Catherine Anderson and her beautiful interior design and home furnishing store, Robert & Wallace. Enjoy a rare opportunity to meet some of the biggest land and housing developers like Ahlquist Development, builder of the Ten Mile District, and the Oppenheimer brothers, partners in the new and tallest apartment building in Boise, The Arthur. Stereotypically, the more successful a developer, the more rapacious they are labeled. That myth will be dispelled by the common thread of integrity and dedication to community that steers these Idaho-based giants and our skylines. Corey Barton graduated from Capital High and has built 17,000 homes since. His success can serve as an inspiration to anyone who picks up a hammer to make a living. True to the wishes and legacy of the pioneering McLeod family, Avimor is developing and preserving their 50,000 acres ranch as an outdoor paradise with a small town atmosphere. Dan Richter, the Avimor visionary, elaborates on their legacy and “The Art of Living” that pervades life in the rolling hills north of Eagle.
There’s beauty and knowledge in these pages, produced by a great team of writers, designers and editors. We created IdaHome & Garden to celebrate our shared home on every page. Welcome to the neighborhood. We’re glad you’re here!
