Living on the Peninsula - Spring 2011 by Port Townsend Leader

SPRING 2011

Home is where the heart is Pg.10

Carving a niche in irondale C

Pg.17

TThe house of small

Pg.22

S Sailing home

Pg.30

N Normandy Conquest TThe castle captures Charlee Sandell

Pg.36

Westlands: W HHistorical rural West End home restored to former glory

Pg.44

A Happy Home at H Holly Hill House

C Comfort in an English LIVING ONE THE PENINSULAfarmhouse | SPRING | MARCH 2011 Pg.50

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

10 30

8 44

DEPARTMENTS Recreation 8 Spring Springtime? Time to hit the Spit Gardening 13 Good Permaculture 101 & Spirits 20 Food Polenta Good Eating

& Soul 27 Heart Looking through the “Only God Knows” windowpane

& Entertainment 40 Arts Artistry in craftsmanship Three Sequim men share passion for hand-making wooden instruments

54 Events Calendar Living End 56 The Of Hearts and Homes & Then 58 Now Photographic journal

SPOTLIGHT a niche 10 Carving in irondale

Conquest 30 Normandy The castle captures Charlee Sandell

17 The house of small

36 Westlands: Historical rural West End home restored to former glory

22 Sailing home 28 The Healing Art

Happy Home at 44 AHolly Hill House in an 50 Comfort English farmhouse On the cover: Massive oak beams form three arches in the great room of a Clallam County couple’s English country manor. Photo courtesy of Ken Hays Architect

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Contributors

Patricia Morrison Coate is the award-winning editor of Living on the Peninsula magazine. She has been a journalist since 1989 and earned degrees in Spanish from Eastern Michigan University and Indiana University. Coate joined the Sequim Gazette in 2004 as its special sections editor and can be reached at patc@sequimgazette.com.

Chris Cook is the editor and publisher of the Forks Forum and a resident of Forks. He is the author of “The Kauai Movie Book” and other regional bestsellers in Hawaii. His book “Twilight Territory: A Fan’s Guide to Forks and LaPush” was published in May 2009. Cook is a graduate of the University of Hawaii.

Michael Dashiell is editor of the Sequim Gazette. A graduate of Western Washington University’s journalism program, Dashiell has won numerous regional awards for photography and sportswriting. Dashiell can be reached at miked@sequimgazette.com.

Karen Frank

received her master’s degree in transforming spirituality from Seattle University. She is a writer and spiritual director in Port Townsend. Reach her at karenanddana1@q.com or www.yourlifeassacredstory.org.

Beverly Hoffman writes a gardening column for the Sequim Gazette that appears once a month. She is an enthusiastic longtime gardener. She can be reached via e-mail at columnists@ sequim gazette.com. Elizabeth Kelly

has lived on the Olympic Peninsula nearly a dozen years. She has worked for three newspapers as reporter and freelance writer. She also wrote as a technical writer. She has traveled to all seven continents and continues to be curious about the world around her.

Jerry Kraft is a playwright, poet and theater critic. He reviews Seattle theater productions for SeattleActor.com and the national theater website AisleSay.com. In addition to his writing and photography, he teaches memoir writing at the YMCA in Port Angeles where he lives with his wife, Bridgett Bell Kraft, and their daughters McKenna and Luxie.

Viviann Kuehl has been a landowner and resident of Quilcene since 1982, although her family ties go back to homesteading in Jefferson County in 1905. She has written about the Quilcene community and Jefferson County over the past 20 years. Kelly McKillip has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Marylhurst College in Oregon, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Hayward State University in California. She works as a nurse at Olympic Medical Center and volunteers at The Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness Clinic.

Ashley Miller is a former Sequim Gazette reporter and now is a freelance writer with a journalism degree from Washington State University. She’s a stayat-home mother of two energetic young boys, ages 1 and 3. Contact her at ashley. lavon@gmail.com.

Design: Melanie Reed is the awardwinning lead designer for Living on the Peninsula. She has been a graphic designer for the Sequim Gazette since May 2004. She earned a bachelor’s degree in drawing from Western Washington University and also enjoys painting.

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Spring RECREATION

Springtime? Time to hit the Spit

By Michael Dashiell

Hiking Dungeness Spit and Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge How long: 11 miles (spit, round-trip to lighthouse); other trails vary in length How hard: Easy to moderate How to get there: From U.S. Highway 101, turn north on Kitchen-Dick Road and follow it for three miles. Soon after it doglegs east, it turns into Lotzgesell Road. On the left is the entrance to the Dungeness Recreation Area and Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. Leashed pets are welcome in the recreation area but are not allowed in the 8 refuge or on the spit.

Above: Rock-stacking is a popular activity on the Dungeness Spit. Top right: The beach to the south/southwest of the spit trailhead offers a majestic view of the Olympic Mountains. Photos by Michael Dashiell

ike many other Olympic Peninsula residents, I’m one of those hikers easily fooled into thinking I fully appreciate all the region has to offer. About a half-hour outside of Western Washington slaps me back into reality. That’s why I find it so dumbfounding and humbling each time I revisit the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, home to bald eagles, harlequin ducks, harbor seals and upwards of 250 species of birds, more than 40 land mammals and marine life aplenty. The three-eighths-mile trail to the spit — at 1.2 million square meters, the longest natural sand spit in the United States — and the 5.5-mile long spit itself is just part of the refuge. The site offers camping (66 sites), horseback riding, fishing and shell fishing, jogging (in certain areas) and more. For a nice day hike or tromping around by horse, start at parking entrances/trailheads just off Lotzgesell Road or a quarter mile into the refuge on Voice of America Road. Foot trails to the northwest take hikers along the bluffs toward gorgeous views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and North Olympic Peninsula coastline toward Port Angeles. Equine and foot trails to the northwest meander through the grassy meadow and into densely thickened woods. Or one can use both as a large loop, good for a day hike with varying terrain.

I prefer the beach hike, depending on the temperatures and wind. Gusts can get downright blustery on the spit, so make sure you layer properly. Park use is $3 per group — reasonable fare, considering the cost of movies these days — and is payable to park rangers at the refuge’s northernmost parking lot. Youths 15 and younger are free and annual passes are available. Most of the trail toward the water is easy-level grade with plenty of shade and several resting spots — not that most folks will need them. An overlook structure with a free telescope gives views of the lighthouse, nice for those visiting and not interested in making the 11-mile round trip by foot to the New Dungeness Light Station. The trail gets steep abruptly and then levels out at the spit itself. To the southwest, a little less than a mile of beach is open for hikers, wildlife watchers and, by reservation, horseback riders. Along the Dungeness Spit to the northeast, about five miles of beach is open to hikers and walkers, but only on the north (Strait of Juan de Fuca) side. To the Dungeness Harbor and Graveyard Spit side, the spit is closed to all public access to protect wildlife. Minus a chilly spring breeze, the spit is a great spot to stretch the legs or take some out-of-town visitors. On one spring afternoon, my wife,

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Patsene, and I ambled down to the sandy shores for a quick hike. Despite it being mid-afternoon on a school day, the beach was packed with visitors of all ages, many of them doing what we had planned: teetering on the driftwood, taking pictures of impudent seagulls, sharing a picnic and making rock stacks. (That rock-stacking thing seemed to be quite a fad a few years back, showing up along U.S. Highway 101. Wonder why it stopped?) Knowing full well we weren’t going to make the full trek to the lighthouse, we had to be content with views from afar. The refuge is open from sunrise to sunset. For the most part, the spit is look, but don’t touch. Visitors are asked not to remove any plants, animals, driftwood or other items from the spit. That includes the occasional decaying marine animal carcass, of which we saw more than a few. For the most part, despite the crowd, Patsene and I felt like we were alone as we watched waves lap up against the rock-strewn beach, jockeyed around the sun-bleached logs and had a staring contest with our winged seagull hosts. Not a bad day to spend a couple of hours. And here, right in our backyard!

Spring RECREATION

Michael Dashiell is editor of the Sequim Gazette. He continually forgets to unroll his pants after hikes like these and therefore dumps sand all over his living room each time he returns. Reach him at miked@sequimgazette.com.

Refuge area renovations

Above: I know of worse places to catch an afternoon nap. Top right: The Dungeness Spit stretches out about five miles to the north/northeast. Photo by Michael Dashiell

Plans are under way for the renovation of the main entrance kiosk and the rehabilitation of the pedestrian trail at Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. Work began on Feb. 2 and is expected to be finished by the end of March. A new covered kiosk structure will be built with educational signage and an expanded trailhead area. Portions of the pedestrian trail are slated to be resurfaced and regraded to prevent erosion and increase longevity. During this time hikers will be rerouted to the equestrian trail in order to access the spit and horses temporarily will be prohibited from using the trail within the refuge. This will not affect the usage of the equestrian trail on the adjacent Dungeness County Recreation Area.

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MIke Ryan stands in front of the house he’s shaped over the past 40 years in Irondale.

Carving a niche in Irondale

Story and photos by Viviann Kuehl

The

Carver Mike Ryan’s masterpiece, “Adventure,” is a carousel horse made of more than 100 pieces of basswood. Photo by Mary Fran Ryan

home of carver Mike Ryan, 63, and his wife, Mary Fran, sits on a quiet corner in Irondale, tucked among some pines. At first glance, it seems like just another ordinary house, but then you start to notice all the details behind the picket fence: the carvings, the artful birdbath, the bottles in the wall, the totems, the glow of the back fence. “I always wanted a cabin in the pines,” said Ryan. “I had to plant the damn trees myself, from little starts, but I got it.” The back fence he made from stacked bottles in masses of color, creating privacy and letting in light to the couple’s garden. Ryan’s creative energy has been steadily transforming the place since he bought it in the 1970s. Originally Irondale’s general store, the house had been a residence for two different families when he bought it. At $11,000, it was cheaper than a rental for his family with five small children and he didn’t expect to stay for more than a year, he explained.

“Everything was cheap in those days,” recalled Ryan. “It was just a shack, really.” About a month after they moved in, a fire nearly burned the place down. The babysitter got all the children out and a lot of reconstruction followed. Ryan divorced and raised two boys as he worked in the construction trades. He made improvements to his home with leftover job materials and continued to do the woodcarving that he learned from his father as a boy. A couple of life-sized forest gnomes he carved became part of the family. Ryan, who likes to keep busy, has kept at his carving through other jobs and in the 1980s he even made carving his own business until he got a job as a firefighter. Now retired with a disability, he has found a way to work around his bad back enough to put in some carving time every day. “I can’t work, but I hate not having a project,” he said. He has accumulated about 100 pieces of carving. Some of his work is in public spaces, such as a dragon at the Jefferson County Library, the seals carved from logs on the beach in

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Left: Mary Fran and Mike Ryan pose with one of Mike’s carvings at their home in Irondale. Above: The sunshine through the bottle wall in Mike and Mary Fran Ryan’s yard. The blue bottles are saved from a Japanese restaurant’s rice wine.

Port Townsend, and a bear and a cougar on a crumbling maple log at H.J. Carroll Park in Chimacum. “I’ve done my share of bears and eagles,” he said. Ryan keeps track of his carvings by numbering them and he has just completed No. 508, working about three hours a day over the past year. Its name is “Adventure,” a carousel horse of striking detail, made of basswood, or to be more precise, of more than 100 pieces of basswood. It’s constructed using a coffin technique that allows for strong construction with all the smooth grain to be on the outside of the work, explains Ryan. “That way, the carver is always working with the grain,” said Ryan, “and basswood’s the easiest wood I ever carved.” Still, it challenged his woodworking skills, said Ryan. What began as a pile of planks 16 inches wide, 2 feet thick and 20 feet long is now a hollow piece weighing 135 pounds. “I had to work from a center line and everything had to be symmetrical. I had to do things I’ve never done before.” He used a bag of sand to fill in around carved shapes

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

so they’d withstand clamping, and made a few new tools. He started with a life-size drawing, using it to cut the blocks, but then researched exact details by checking out a neighbor’s mule as she rode by, visiting a tack store to see how saddles fit and watching horses wherever he found them on his daily bike rides. “Adventure” is carved all the way around; even her belly has a latigo with a buckle. She carries a pair of squirrels behind the saddle. “By tradition, carousel horses carry something dead, but I don’t like dead things. I decided to put a pair of live squirrels going along for the ride,” said Ryan. Now Ryan’s masterpiece stands in the living room on a little cart, waiting for her adventure to continue. Ryan, who describes himself as color challenged, is looking for a special painter to finish it, painting over the carefully carved wood with colorful detailing. “It’s too nice a piece not to

share and it needs to be out there,” said Ryan. Sometimes he eavesdrops near his seal carvings in Port Townsend and enjoys the intimacy that people express near his work. “That’s the greatest success an artist can get,” he said. As he waits for his “Adventure” to be complete, he is working on his next project, a small eagle in wood so hard, it doesn’t make shavings, it sends shrapnel, said Ryan. Carving is satisfying no matter what, he said. “I like everything about it,” said Ryan. “It’s a challenge to bring out whatever’s in the wood. I never heard of any famous carvers. It’s just a good thing for people to do.” Ryan is proud of all his carving and the house he’s worked on with Mary Fran. “I feel like I’m on vacation all the time. I’ve got the beach right over there, good neighbors, the garden, everything is close. I cycle, snorkel and carve.” Their home is an expression of all that and they are used to people coming around to take pictures. Mike Ryan steps back to give a critical eye to his carving of a carousel horse. Photo by Mary Fran Ryan

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GOOD Gardening

Below: The Bullocks grow all of their vegetables and use their beds as a means of continual experimentation. Right: Three brothers — Doug, Sam and Joe — live on the 10-acre Bullock Farm on Orcas Island with their families. They teach classes on permaculture.

Permaculture C

ertain concepts or definitions can be learned and fully understood in a minute. Other ideas, however, need more time and effort to grasp. One way to tackle a complex subject is through a series of questions, much like Socrates’ method of educating his students. Permaculture is one of those big ideas and I find myself continually playing with what it is and what its applications imply. Permaculture has such flexibility that it can contract and give direction to something very small, such as organizing a closet, or it can expand to its entire set of principles and can then organize a city … or even the world. So, with your permission, we’ll use aspects of Socratic questioning to get to the heart of a word used quite often in gardening, farming, agriculture, architecture and worldvision circles.

What exactly is permaculture? Permaculture is a contraction of two words: permanent and (agri)culture. It was coined by Bill Mollison, an Australian ecologist, in 1978. The concept mimics nature, places credence in its ability, over time, to have constantly adapted to provide sources of food and water to our planet. Permaculture centers its main focus on land use. As support, it is a community building movement to integrate all resources — people, homes, plants, water, animals, microclimates — to create a harmonious setting.

How does this relate to Clallam County in the 21st century? The ethics of permaculture, while simple, have broad applications to our situation, as well as setting up guide-

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

lines that will help us find ways to produce food, water and energy to our area. There are three tenets when designing: 1. Take care of the planet. When we perform any task, we either restore, sustain or degenerate our earth. Permaculture’s efforts work toward restoration. Simply by reducing our consumption of “stuff ” we reduce our impact on the environment. 2. Take care of the people. Psychology professor Abraham Maslow said that if we care for people’s needs, they can then care for the planet. We begin with ourselves and then extend outward to our family, neighbors and the larger world. 3. Take care of the process. Much of permaculture’s strength lies in the way each of us works, even on the smallest scale, in self-regulation. The process is long-term. It challenges us to be patient with failure and to constantly readjust as we proceed.

Could you give an example or two? Permaculture works on both a simple and a grand scale. A simple example is that many of us buy groceries at Costco. We look at a supersize package of mustard — two quart-size jars. We have no place to store the second one nor will we go through two quarts that quickly. The ethics of permaculture suggests we might share the surplus — take one jar to the food bank. Another small example is turning out

By Beverly Hoffman Photos by Bruce Von Borstel

our lights when we’re not in the room or turning off our computers at night. An example on a grander scale: how we discard our refuse. I heard on NPR radio the other day that paper takes up half of our landfill. If we all would simply recycle our paper, landfill usage would not be crippled. Further, we can ask ourselves if we are doing the most possible in the recyclng effort. Both Jefferson County and Clallam have recycling stations that are easy to use. (Look in your 2010 Dex phone book, pages 18-19 for a wealth of information.) Also, recyclables can be picked up by the trash company. And what about your table scraps? They can be composted and used in the garden to restore its natural pH balance rather than using expensive fertilizers.

Can we break down the definition into smaller parts? Twelve principles: 1. Consider the location of things. Most of us understand this implicitly because we keep a television remote by our recliner rather than in the kitchen! If we want to use herbs in our cooking, then it makes sense to Left: The Bullocks have about 10 interns each season to help on the farm as well as to study permaculture. One of the interns had his master’s degree in genetics and loved experimenting with different grafts, providing a bit of natural art in his craft.

GOOD Gardening have that garden nearby the kitchen, preferably just outside it or to have pots of herbs on our kitchen windowsill. Wood piles should be near the back door, close to the woodburning stove, rather than in a distant shed. The more often we need to use something determines how close it should be to us. We need to observe our habits/needs and then arrange objects so they support our tasks. 2. Elements should have many functions. Most of us want attractive gardens. Among the perennials, we can plant edibles. Think of the frilly parsley or the red-stemmed chard. Our gardens can be shared with our neighbors, giving away our surplus as well as adding beauty to our neighborhood. When we cut flowers and bring them inside, we are decorating using natural elements. As we compost and turn dirt into healthy soil, we also are feeding all the microbes that live there, and they, in return, burrow, oxygenating the soil to a fuller health. 3. Functions are supported by many elements. Even though this principle seems a bit abstract, it simply means to do everything we can think of to keep the process, or plant, alive. In planting a tree, read the needs of the plant rather than imposing our set of whatit-must-do-for-me standards. Water it well the first week and then taper off as its roots begin to grow. Mulch around the perimeter so it retains water. Don’t weed whack close to it, where bark could be damaged, which then opens the possibility of disease or decay. The same holds true for a process. Work together to keep communication open and agree on definitions and the next steps to reach the goal. Integrate ideas than working in a segregated way. 4. Be efficient with your own energy. Think of your space — a closet, a kitchen, a garden, a piece of property — in zones. Observe actual usage/need. Zones radiate out to the areas farthest from reach. Then, obviously, the first zone should be nearest to us and should have the items we use the most. Again, I’ll use an example that most of us can relate to: the man cave. Picture a recliner, the TV remote near it, the little refrigerator to the left that’s stocked with beer. That is Zone 1, where his most urgent needs are met. In the most distant area, say a Zone 5, he might store the stamp collection that he has meant to organize for 10 years. 5. Use biological resources as nature does. Value human work more than technology. Remember the time we all sighed because our children had no idea how to give change because computers did their thinking. We can manually weed (which whittles down the waist and keeps us flexible) rather than dousing plants with pesticides that seep into our water tables. 6. Begin on a small scale. Start with an herb garden on the porch rather than a huge garden of herbs. If it fails, the dollar amount lost is insignificant. We easily can get overwhelmed with a huge project and then are ready to

14 14

Right: This unusual colored broom adds a bit of brightness and shares space with hydrangeas. Below: Even though this hugel kulter looks messy, it is a working greenhouse. It is really a compost bin with an additional 6-8 inches of soil on top. As the compost heats up, it allows earlier germination of seeds.

pile, there is little work and a big payback. Think of both short-term and long-term yield. 12. Leave no waste. This is a biggie. It is both an attitude and a task. We always must be asking what we can do so that we leave as little waste as possible. We can buy in bulk at Sunny Farms rather than buying items that need lots of packaging. We can shred paper and use it in the compost. We can save water when we brush our teeth by turning on the spigot only when we need to rinse. Vegetable water can be used to water plants.

What is another way of looking at permaculture? ditch the whole idea. Again, we can apply this to cleaning out a storeroom. Rather than tackling the whole area, start with the top drawer. Then move to another. It’s easier to think of cleaning out a drawer than it is to clean out a storeroom. 7. Accelerate a succession and evolution. Expect mistakes. Dream bigger than you have before. Rather than simply planting rhododendrons around the perimeter of your house and barking heavily, can you set up a habitat for birds and butterflies? 8. Diversify in a dynamic stability. The communal is more effective than the individual. Rather than dictatorially designing an outcome, solicit input and let an outcome flow from the rich diversity of the group. Find a natural pattern — like a spider web or a nautilus shell — and utilize its design. 9. Maximize the edges. Edges can be boundaries or opportunities. Where a pond meets land, there is an edge, a unique area where only cattails grow. Every edge offers a new possibility. A friend of mine uses the drainage ditch between her road and her garden to scatter wildflower seeds. Even in meditation, there is an edge in breathing, that moment between the out breath and the in breath … where a perfect peace can be felt. How do you treat the edge between a berm and your lawn? Between your property and the road? 10. Create problem solving. Expect things to go wrong and use those moments as opportunities rather than setbacks. When the shed roof collapses under a heavy snow, do you need a new roof or should the shed be moved to a different location to better serve tasks at hand? 11. Consider the yield. What do you have after you’ve worked … whether it is a garden or a process to create a relationship? Consider a lawn versus a compost pile. With a lawn, there is a lot of work and little yield. With a compost

Permaculture has a spiritual element to it — be stewards of the earth. Treat it as kindly as it has sustained you. It has an intellectual component — constant problem solving. It is a continual analysis of all working systems. It has a sociological mandate — to live in a frugal way so that we can help those who need help. It also organizes in a way that every voice can be heard —no dictatorial mandates. When we honor people, bonding on a deep level occurs. And, of course, there is the philosophical: what happens if we hoard and covet in this era? What is our role in keeping the earth healthy?

What are its weaknesses and strengths? It takes effort to set up a harmonious structure. It’s slow. It can be frustrating when things go wrong. Its strength is that it awakens a mindfulness in us. It is a hopeful philosophy that draws the best constructs possible so that life in the future can be sustained and honored. It is a holy way of living.

How can I look into this subject in different ways? A few books: “Gaia’s Garden: A guide to Home-Scale Permaculture” by Toby Hemenway “How to Make a Forest Garden” by Patrick Whitefield A few websites: www.permacultureportal.com www.seattletilth.org www.Permaculturenow.com

How does this affect me? Quite simply. You are a person on this planet. Everything you do affects it. Everything I do affects you.

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The house of small Story and photos by Elizabeth Kelly

Top right: Patricia Earnest on the porch of her small home. Below: Earnest stays snug and cozy inside her 720-square-foot home. Right: A fireplace crafted from a space heater and a window frame gives warmth to Earnest’s living room.

The

importance of living with and being a part of nature is prominent in the life of Sequim resident Patricia Earnest. Her home epitomizes her minimalist way of living, as her personal philosophy of life is evident in her surroundings. “We are all one and our actions impact others,” Earnest began. “I live an eclectic life that pleases me. I don’t try to live for others,” she continued. Approaching her home, one sees a quaint little pathway lined with short bamboo stakes leading from the driveway to the porch. The first thing you notice when you enter Earnest’s small 720-square-foot home is her handmade fireplace consisting of an energy-efficient space heater that operates with a 40-watt light bulb. Earnest has built a mantle from a used window frame topped with a piece of scrap polished granite. She calls it “shabby chic.” The small heater has the appearance of burning coals and even has a pattern of flames ascending from them, but the only heat being emitted is from the light bulb. “A fan blows the heat from the bulb out to my living room area and keeps it warm,” she said, adding that she had her first utility bill over $100 in December 2010. Having lived in her well-organized, compact home for only four years, Earnest is not a newcomer to the Olympic Peninsula. She first lived in Sequim in the late 1970s and worked for the Jimmy Come Lately Gazette (renamed the Sequim Gazette in 1990) as a garden columnist. Before moving again to Sequim, she lived on a farm in Maine for many years, Earnest said. She explained that she became aware of environmental issues when she was about 25 and has tried to live her life as an ecologically conscious citizen ever since. One of the ways she does this is by actively promoting an awareness of organic farming.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

A pathway lined with short bamboo stakes leads from the driveway to the porch.

She is on the board voice of one can make a difference. “It’s really a disconnect with nature that leads to a of the Sequim Open Aire Market and actively sense of loss in our lives,” Earnest continued. “We expect supports the organization. “It it will never end and it will.” What society calls consumcreates community and encourages ing, she calls “devouring.” To live up to her own standards, Earnest leaves a very people to buy locally grown foods,” she said. She also sits on the board of COGS (Com- small ecological footprint on the ecosystems of the Earth. (One definition of an ecological footprint is to munity Organic Gardens of Sequim) compare the usage of one’s available resources and enjoys that role because “everyone has a with the Earth’s capacity to regenerate them.) common goal.” She turns off and unplugs all appliances when On her Maine farm, Earnest had 50 acres not using them; she grows many of her own of “mixed wood and fields” and raised goats, vegetables in raised beds in her small yard; pigs, chickens and Jersey cows, she said. “We she recycles everything, saving all dry refuse also had bees,” she added. “I had a struggle with to take to the landfill three times a year and the Central Maine Power Company who were composting the rest in her garden; and she spraying to keep the foliage down around their everything as much as possible. “I’m power poles,” she remembered. She believed EARNEST reuses aware of what I buy when I shop and always the toxic spray was harmful to her bees as well as the whole environment and adamantly marched into carry my own shopping bag,” she smiled. A native of England, Earnest said that all plastic bags the office of CMP one day with her two small children. She explained her situation and said she was determined have been banned there. “People are expected to bring to stay there until they agreed to stop spraying. The story their own bags,” she said. Concluding, Earnest smiled and said, “I am a Caprihad a happy ending. “They honored by wishes and put up NO SPRAYING signs around my property.” Even the corn. I use my resources wisely and I like structure.”

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FOOD Spirits

Polenta Good Eating Thee fo Th ffollowing foll olllloow ow ng recipe owin reci re cipe is is a creation crea cr eati tioon on off Chef Cheff Brian Ch Bri riiaan ria an Lippert of Lipperts’ at 134 S. Second St. in Sequim.. As As a master chef, Lippert enjoys creating unique dishes. hes es. He is the recipient of multiple culinary awards, includud d-ing Armed Forces Chef of the year. Lipperts’ serves es a bistro-style lunch from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. MondaydaayySaturday and offers casual fine dining from 4:303030 8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Lemon Grass and Goat Cheese Polenta Cakes Ingredients 6 cups unsalted vegetable stock 2 stalks lemon grass 1 small white onion, finely diced 1/2 cup medium-grind polenta 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 tablespoon butter 3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

VOTED B E S T CHINESE FOOD

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Directions D irections Bring lemon grass, onion, vegetable stock and white wine to a boil. Boil 5-7 minutes and remove lemon grass. Gradually add polenta while stirring over medium heat with a wire whip. Add water if it gets thicker than cream of wheat and whip until all lumps are gone. Whip 4-6 minutes. When tasted, it should be creamy and have no lumps. Finish with butter and place half of polenta mixture in a greased non-stick loaf pan, top with crumbled goat cheese and the rest of the polenta. Chill three hours covered at minimum. Remove and slice to desired thickness (approximately 3/4-inch). Sear on both sides in a non-stick pan with light oil and finish in the oven. The dish should be crispy and golden on the outside, light and creamy in the center and ribboned with melted goat cheese. Makes six servings.

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TOP 100 Award Winner for 2009 Featured in ASIAN RESTAURANT NEWS magazine, Sept. 2009 Read the article at: www.a-r-n.net/jin_e Tendy Deng, Owner/Chef, Has studied at Martin Yan’s Chinese Culinary Arts Enrichment Workshop LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

920 E. First St. Port Angeles

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Right: Bill and Kristen Larson have led amazing lives of wide-ranging adventure and experience and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve brought it all back to their Port Angeles home. Above: Their Zen meditation practice is enhanced by many objects in their yard, where fellow meditators gather for weekly sittings.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Sailing home

The Scrimshaw was their home for years as they traveled up and down the Pacific Coast, as well as living aboard while they were moored in Port Angeles Harbor.

Story and photos by Jerry Kraft

ven when first walking up to the door of Murre Cottage, on the bluff overlooking Port Angeles Harbor, one is immediately aware that this is a special and distinctive home. The opposite of grand real estate, what makes this modest house so compelling is the intimacy, the personality and unique detail of every object in the house and yard. Nothing is arbitrary or conventional; everything has been selected for its meaning to the inhabitants and that gives each thing a spiritual nature that transcends being a simple possession. The character of all this embodies the lives of the couple, Bill and Kristen Larson, who live in it and who have made it their safe harbor, their refuge and sanctuary. The inside presents a long, narrow room leading to windows overlooking the harbor and out to Vancouver Island and Mount Baker. It feels almost like the long, narrow hull of a ship, and like everything else, that is far from coincidental. “We came to this house from the harbor,” says Kristen Larson, a bright and energetic woman. “We were living in the harbor on our boat. We lived on the boat, in this harbor for seven years, from 1992 to 1997.” Prior to that they had been sailing up and down the Pacific Coast, from Mexico to Alaska. “It was a 47-foot , square topsail ketch named Scrimshaw,” Kristen says. “The best boat I ever sailed,” Bill adds. “I’ve always been a sea captain,” Bill Larson added, “since I got my Master Seaman rating when I was 18.” With that, the first hints of the extraordinary life of this man and the shared adventures of these two begin to emerge. In addition to that early introduction to the life of the sea, Bill had a full career in the Army as a infantry officer and also a later career as a university professor in California and at the University of Washington. It was while he was teaching that he met Kristen, who was a Right: The labyrinth they’ve built on a terrace in their yard is used for “walking meditation” and has special meaning to the Larsons.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

they managed to get a signal and what was being broadcast was a program on labyrinths which included a particular design for meditation which they’d first found in San Francisco. That is the design which now covers a terrace just outside their house and overlooks the harbor. Their most recent construction in the yard is a sand garden built in a corner on a stone terrace, with large, carefully selected stones, benches and walls. When the proper sand is installed it will be finished and the decorative raking of fine sand will become another contemplative practice. Statues of the Buddha, bells and other subtle ornamentation also are carefully placed around the exterior of the house. Inside, there are objects, books and pictures everywhere, but nowhere is there any sense of clutter.

Murre Cottage ... does not so much display many items from the world as it creates a world to contain all these items

graduate student and a widow at the time. She also was a woman willing to set sail on the high seas to explore the world and also to explore the richness of Zen Buddhism. Now a teacher, Kristen and Bill have shaped their home into a spiritual center for a devoted group called No Sang Ha, which has been meeting there on a weekly basis for meditation in a room they have built for sitting meditation, and in the yard where they have created a labyrinth for “walking meditation.” Again, nothing by accident. “When we first moved into this house we could only occasionally get a television signal if the cloud layer was just right to bounce it to us,” the Larsons said. On the night before they were going to take over the house

“When we first moved in we didn’t really have any furniture, coming from the Scrimshaw, and the people we bought the house from sold us much of theirs very inexpensively. They were moving from this house into a travel trailer, so the exchange was very natural.” Because they both have been academics, books play a very prominent role in the home’s decor. “One of the first things we did in moving in was to make sure we had good chairs and good places for reading,” Bill said. Kristen’s parents had been actors and she spent much of her youth backstage, and ultimately performing herself. In addition to their mutual interest in theater and the arts, Bill has a deep passion for history and has researched this piece of land and this particular house in depth. The land goes back to the earliest settlement of the town,” Bills says, “and the actual house has been in place since 1920. Prior to that, in 1917, there was a tent here.” Bill and Kristen can tell you the history of every single object in their home. If not the history of it in the world, then at least the history of it in their lives. Everything is deliberate and significant. Take their bedroom.

Above: The bathroom included a leaded-glass window which they admired for years, and which was purchased for them by their Zen sitting group as a gift. Left: The Murre Cottage was named after “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” a favorite story of the Larsons.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

“When we first moved in, Bill promised me a real bed of my choosing. Of course, on the Scrimshaw we really only had a bunk, very narrow, so the idea of a bed was very appealing,” Kristen said, “I think this room is very special, and the same for our bathroom, which was quite a luxury. That leaded glass window has quite a story of its own. We had loved and admired it in a studio downtown for years, but the woman who made it (a friend of ours) said she would never sell it, and priced it so that she could be sure it would never sell. Well, to make a long story short, our sitting group managed to get it from her and presented it to us as a gift.” One more detail, one more specific that contains a wealth of information, experience and personal meaning. More than anything else, what makes Murre Cottage so amazing as a home is that it does not so much display many items from the world as it creates a world to contain all these items, to reinforce their importance to the Larsons. And as for that name? “Both Bill and I have always had a very special place in our hearts for “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” which was a wonderful, early 20th-century novel about a widow who falls in love with the ghost of a sea captain, who inhabits a house overlooking the sea,” Kristen explains. While Bill and Kristen actually performed a stage adaptation of that novel, which Kristen edited and prepared for them, perhaps the very best adaptation is this remarkable home in which they contemplate, display and define their lives and experience.

A bed was a maj Port Angeles Ha or purchase when the Larsons rbor. moved from thei r bo

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overlooking

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

HEART Soul

hen I was in theology school, my advisor drew a visual image for us that illustrates our knowledge of self, others and the world around us. The Johari window is divided into four panes. In the upper left hand corner is the public arena in which I have information about myself and you have the same information. In the lower left hand corner is the façade in which I possess information about myself that I can either hide from you or share. In the top right hand corner is the blind spot — the place where you can see things about me that I am not aware of. And the lower right hand corner is the unknown, the place where knowledge is hidden from me and from you. It’s the “only God knows” windowpane. The history of most religions is a history of schisms and truth claims. An initial transcendent experience leads to the foundation of a religion or a sect. Over time hardening of the spiritual arteries leads to a closed heart and certainty that the individual or group possesses The Truth. And science is the same, claiming to possess The Truth. Scientific fundamentalism leads to closed minds. But no religion or scientific theory can guarantee that its view of reality is full and accurate. And neither can answer the questions I had for my minister when I was 12 years old. Where did the universe come from? What was before God? Now I would ask scientists, What created the cosmic egg and led to the Big Bang? How did so many somethings come from nothing? Only God knows. There are a lot of 50-50 situations in life, where I’m indecisive, not sure about the best answer. For example, we’ve been trying to decide whether to encourage my partner Dana’s aunt, at 95, to move from Port Angeles to Port Townsend to be closer to us. We’d like to visit more often and provide better support. It’s easier to connect with her frequently if we just have to drive a few blocks. In any emergency, we can be right there to help out. On the other hand, we wonder whether it’s better for her to stay in Port Angeles where she has lived for most of her life and where she has several friends her own age. (It’s only when you’re around a 95-year-old that you start to feel like a young whippersnapper even into your 50s and 60s). She visits friends weekly for sewing, knitting, coffee

and conversation and plays pinochle once a month with her buddies. She cherishes her independence and likes to think of herself as one of the “tough” Norwegians. But she’s dizzy a lot and weak, and we worry. We’ve left the decision up to her because we don’t know what’s best for her. But, I’m not sure whether she knows what the right choice is either. Is it a comfort to have family nearby or more life-giving to stay close to longtime friends? To me, it’s one of those “only God knows” situations.

I’ll never forget the 80-year-old Congregationalist minister who was in my Ecumenism class during the first Gulf War. He had been a conscientious objector during World War II, believing that all life is sacred and that the injunction “Thou Shalt Not Kill” applied to him in every situation. Yet, while the professor and I fulminated about the disgraceful slaughter of Iraqi soldiers and the way in which the war was fought and described like a video game, he remained silent. Finally he commented. “Who knows, maybe the people who decided to go to war made the right decision.” First we gaped at him, stunned and silenced. Then we challenged him: How could he think that? C omfor table with his views, he replied “I don’t know what God’s plan is. I could be wrong.” It was the ultimate in openmindedness, a position I haven’t reached. He had the strength and the integrity to take his pacifist stance to the limit during World War II when it must have been even harder to be a conscientious objector. Yet he also had gained the humility to consider By Karen Frank that he could be all wrong about the intentions of a Higher Power who remains a great mystery to us despite all our doctrines. I’m reading a novel in which a medical researcher tries to prove that near-death-experiences — in which people report seeing angels and relatives — are not evidence of life after death but merely brain processes. His subjects report on their experiences during simulated near-deathexperiences, but anything they report which does not fit with his theory angers him and is dismissed. Another investigator in the same hospital tries to prove that these experiences are assurance that bliss awaits people after death. He leads people into giving him the answers that support his theory. But at the end of the book, as in life, only God knows.

Looking through the

‘Only God Knows’

windowpane

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

I can be as belligerently dogmatic as anyone. I’m sure that my politics are correct. I’m equally certain that there is a Presence infusing every tree and person and grain of sand with a plus-factor that is indefinable, a wordless music of the spheres that constantly thrums life and joy and love. That’s my vision. I also see a parade of other men and women through the centuries who had different transformative revelations and shared them with others. Male and female shamans back from vision quests. Confucius with his orderly system for living an ethical life. Julian of Norwich, the nun locked in her tiny cell who brought forth a theology of compassion and joy. Buddha, Muhammad, Black Elk, Margery Kempe and Rosemary Ruether all show us their pieces of the puzzle. Or, as Robert Frost put it: We dance round in a ring and suppose. But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.

Karen Frank, M.T.S. is a spiritual director, writer and photographer in Port Townsend. Her photographs are currently on view at Northwind Arts Center, 2409 Jefferson St. in Port Townsend. If you want to contact her, e-mail karenanddana1@q.com or go to her website at www. yourlifeassacredstory.org.

serves as “a focal point, a distraction for people,” she says. In the OB unit at Olympic Medical Center, they have an ingenious way of using art to provide a distraction, too. A sliding panel with an image on it covers the lines for the gasses and other equipment that hospital staff might need for patients. Patients don’t have to look at the technical stuff, but it is easily accessed by staff. Donna Davison, administrative director at OMC, believes that generally “artwork can be soothing and we can keep a calm environment that contributes to healing.” Besides its permanent collection of photographs by Port Townsend’s Keith Lazelle and Sequim’s Ross Hamilton, which is in public areas, such as main lobbies and corridors, OMC is putting up new directional signs that continue a Northwest nature theme by including a small picture from the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce at the top of the sign. “It all contributes to patients and visitors feeling better when they are here,” Davison notes.

The Healing E Art BY K ARE N FRAN K

Clockwise from top left: “Up the Calawah” by Jeanette Gilmore, watercolor “Hull Pottery” by June Bowlbey “Ruby Beach Evening” by Jeanette Gilmore

very six months, Ginger White sends out a call to a select group of artists from the Port Townsend area. “I need new art for the hospital,” she e-mails. The response comes back from watercolorists and oil painters and photographers telling her how many works they can contribute. With the help of Laurie Perrett, White takes down the old art from Jefferson Healthcare’s rotating collection and puts up new selections. Approximately 60 new pieces of art are mounted on the walls of patient rooms, therapy rooms and corridors at Jefferson Healthcare in May and November. Patients on the Olympic Peninsula are lucky — they get good medical care that includes attention to beauty at area hospitals. Each of the peninsula’s three facilities has a slightly different system for selecting art, but similar rationales. As Camille Scott, CEO at Forks Community Hospital notes, “The art plays a very positive role. It fills the space and gives people something to look at — staff, patients and the people who wait for them.” She mentioned the emergency room and the maternity wing as places where individuals are highly stressed. Art

Academic research supports her. It shows that patients who view art, particularly nature images, are less stressed, more pain tolerant and likely to heal faster. Even their blood pressure is lower than patients in barren environments. Colors also affect both staff and patients: blue promotes calm, while green calls forth compassion. Not all art is equal, however. Jefferson Healthcare does not use abstract art or art with disturbing themes or colors. OMC only uses Northwest nature images. Some art styles can have a negative impact on patient recovery. According to Roger Ulrich’s research at Texas A&M University, abstract art actually makes patients more anxious with its chaotic imagery. Given these facts, the selection process is important. “The first selection is by the artist because they have the criteria for hospital art,” White notes. “When people bring their work, I turn some down because I already have too many pieces or because the work is just inappropriate for the hospital.” Once she hangs the pieces, the only reason they might be replaced is if Suzy White, executive assistant to CEO Mike Glenn at Jefferson Healthcare, decides they aren’t suitable or gets complaints from patients or staff. Generally she either

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

will try to replace the piece, find a blank wall or switch pieces. Neither Ginger White nor Suzy White seeks to impose her own artistic taste arbitrarily, but the focus is on the contribution art can make to the hospital’s goal. For Suzy White, “healing is the arts’ primary purpose. We choose soothing, inspirational pieces for patients, public and staff.” She mentioned that she believes that the art is uplifting and helps people feel hopeful. Much of the permanent collection — which includes many works by local artists — already was there before she was hired. The original impetus for Jefferson Healthcare’s program was the Planetree organization and philosophy. It is a patient-centered approach that emphasizes addressing body, mind and spirit during the healing process. The Planetree philosophy has been recognized by many publications, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Prevention magazine and Health Facilities Management. Its founder, Angelica Therriot, started the organization after a hospital stay where she spent many hours staring at cold blank walls in her hospital room. She took the name of the group from the tree where Hippocrates — founder of modern Western medicine — sat and taught his students.

Medical Physical Therapy Center, the Olympic Medical Cancer Center and the Medical Services Building, all in Sequim. Hamilton’s photography is in the Olympic Medical Physical Therapy Center in Port Angeles All the hospitals feature local artists. At OMC, the focus also is on photography depicting the local environment, including pictures of Olympic National Park, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and wildlife and forest scenes. The artists themselves are inspired by their contribution. In Forks, members of the Far West Art League select and hang their prints. Their first motivation is altruism. Although they periodically sell prints to members of the community, their primary goal is to “make something for people to look at when they’re in the hospital,” Jeannette Gilmore said. “People come up to us and tell us that they enjoyed seeing the work when they were in the hospital. Sometimes people who are waiting walk the halls and just look at the art.” “It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement,” Scott said. “It’s a good venue for artists if they want to have exposure for their work and it helps me and helps the community. I’m very grateful to the Far West Art League for doing it.”

“Our Past: This Side of Quinault” by Elaine Norbisrath

Now Planetree is an international organization focused on patient-centered care, which includes design, art on the walls and art programs for patients. Ginger White says that some of the staff of Jefferson Healthcare attended Planetree training many years ago. “After training, Dana Michelson and a few others started an art program.” At OMC, there is a committee that looks at all furnishings for the various facilities when there is new construction with an eye toward promoting healing. Sometimes a designer works with the architect, but it is the committee that makes final decisions on aesthetics. Decisions were made to hang Lazelle’s photography at the main hospital in Port Angeles as well as the Olympic

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LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Normandy Conquest The castle captures Charlee Sandell

The

Story and photos by Kelly McKillip

“The

house has its own personality,” declares Charlee Sandell of her family’s home for more than two decades. “… and it’s had many incarnations … and there are lots of stories.” She named the French Normandy-style house Mustard Seed because of the faith and willingness it took to save the edifice from ruin and restore it to its former glory. The house did its part, too, reaching 3,000 miles across the country to an individual with the tenacity to take on such a Herculean task. The Sandells made quite a stir in Sequim during their house restoration as did the Godfreys when they built the place. Personal accounts, clippings from the Gazette in Sequim and information from the Museum and Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley (MAC) reveal a fascinating story about a remarkable house where faith, family, community and a bit of mystery play the leading roles.

1936: A showplace on Maple Street In 1936, prominent local hardware merchant George Godfrey and his wife, Mildred, built a grand and unique house on the edge of town. Long-time resident and MAC volunteer, Zella Speece, remembers well the spectacular brick showplace with figurine statues and a

Top: George and Mildred Godfrey built a French Normandy-style house in 1936. This photo was taken before the 1945 remodel. Photographer unknown Charlee Sandell says her family’s home of over two decades has its own personality.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Normandy Conquest The castle captures Charlee Sandell

The

Story and photos by Kelly McKillip

“The

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

H that Mrs. Haller never felt at ease in the house and after her husband’s husband’ death in 1953, she exchanged residences with the Brev Brevik family who were living on Bell Street. Brevi home became a favorite of the neighborThe Breviks’ hood child children who played tag and hide and seek in the man nooks and crannies and seven bedrooms many of the house. Tom Boyd belonged to the S Sequim Presbyterian Church and remembers h youth group meetings in the very cool his h house with lots of rooms upstairs. Another ne neighborhood child said the best part was th the swimming pool that the fire department wo would come and fill at the beginning of each su summer. In 1962, the Breviks left the area, eventually se selling the house to the Sequim Bible Church which had just been started by a few former parishioners of the Sequim Presbyterian C Church. To create a house of worship, modifications to the place in the late 1960s included opening up the living and dining areas and closing off the swimming pool. Caroline Baumunk has fond memories of services in the impressive house with the choir singing on the steps during Christmas programs. In the early 1970s, the house took on a new role as the Bay View Boys Home, which continued at the location into the early 1980s. After that, stories abound about the role of the house. Some say it was a boarding house or retirement home and possibly a funeral parlor. One fact is sure: The house fell into disuse and became more dilapidated with each passing year.

Below: The flowering mustard plant, designed by Charlee Sandell is depicted in the small stained glass entryway window.

1988: The castle captures Charlee

swimming pool in the backyard. Mildred later would write that people came from miles around just to get a glimpse of the house and pool. Hard times fell on everyone in those Top inset: This fixture’s previous days as they struggled through the Great life was spent hanging in a Depression. George joined the Navy, Maine lighthouse. serving throughout World War II while Mildred did her best to make ends meet at home. The family moved to Farragut Naval Station in Idaho for a time after the war, but otherwise the couple and their four children lived on Maple Street until 1950, adding a western extension to the house in 1945. Few people remember that distinguished educator and grade school principal, Helen Haller, and her husband, Walter, bought the Maple Street house in 1951, using their farm as part of the payment. It’s been reported

Above: This newel post and railing came from the Yale Law School library. The kitchen in the background was completely remodeled.

In 1988, Kurt and Charlee Sandell were a sensible, young couple contentedly raising their three children, Hadley, Cody and Harasyn Ruth (Roo) in Stratford, Conn., when a package arrived from Kurt’s mother in Union. Although the item in the parcel is long forgotten, Charlee has a vivid memory of a sheet of packing paper that had been ripped from a magazine of historical homes. She gazed at the side view of a featured Sequim house that was reminiscent of a medieval castle. Never having seen the house or been anywhere near Sequim, she nonetheless said to her husband: “I know this house and we’re supposed to live in it.” Charlee promptly dispatched her mother-in-law to the Sequim property to assess and report back. Completely aghast at the wreck she found, her mother-in-law advised Charlee that the place was unlivable, nasty and deplorable.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Undaunted by the negative account, Charlee made her own trek across country, arriving in Sequim in the midst of the May Irrigation Festival Parade. “This is a strange place,” she told her husband on the phone. “All the businesses are closed, there’s a large crab rolling down the middle of the street and they seem to worship irrigation ditches … but I like it.” The house was everything that her mother-in-law had described — which seemed all the more reason to do something to save it. An architectural review was commissioned which relayed a stunning list of problems in the house but ended with the comment that there also might be real value. That was good enough for Charlee. By that time, the property was owned by the Mary Black Wells estate. Knowing that it would take a small fortune to restore the house, the Sandells offered a low bid and initially were rejected. It became apparent that demolishing the house would be far more costly than selling and a price was agreed upon. Kurt had complete faith in his wife’s decision and although he had never seen the house, he quit his job, packed up their belongings and moved the family west. Placing most of their possessions in storage, they set up a temporary household in a ramshackle hovel down the road. The weeds were as tall as the roof, skunks had moved in, the pipes froze and the place caught fire. Also, Kurt was dealing with a diagnosis of lung cancer. Somehow, they still managed to have fun. The next task was to find a contractor willing to tackle the impossible restoration. Phil Roberts remembers walking up to the house and feeling very reluctant to go inside. Supporting timbers had been removed during the church phase and the upper floor was about to cave in. He also thought the initial framing must have been completed when supplies were limited during the Depression as small segments of lumber had been used to make up the supports. Roberts accepted the challenge, stripping the house down to the framing, jacking up the foundation and adding steel beams to beef it up. There were additional problems such as 18 inches of water in the basement. Sidewalks had been built up around the house over the years, causing water to drain inside. They also were unaware that a swimming pool was in the backyard until a tractor drove over it and sank to the bottom. The tractor was pulled out, the pool filled with concrete and made into a basketball court. Charlee wondered about the kitchen

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

A Above: A marble angel from Tuscany watches and protects the house. w C Charlee Sandell named her house Mustard Seed because of the faith and M willingness it took to restore it. w

which was completely unusable with a refrigerator at the far end. She received an answer from Mildred Godfrey Fox who was living in Sunland at the time. The Godfreys went out for meals. There were good surprises as well. The house boasted beautiful woodwork and built-ins and Roberts was able to find well-matched boards to replace and complete the finish work. Under the many layers of carpeting were wonderful fir and oak floors. To add further character, carved doors from a burned house in Connecticut were found as was an East Coast chandelier. A bookcase, newel post and railing were acquired from the Yale Law Library. Glass door knobs from the demolished Sequim Presbyte-

rian Church were installed. A lighthouse fixture from Maine was hung in the entryway. It was imperative to the Sandells to keep the house true to the original spirit and also make the environs as ecofriendly and non-toxic as possible. No vinyl, laminate, pressboard, wall-to-wall carpeting or anything with off-gassing was installed. Fifty-three windows were replaced with double-paned glass. Kurt felt pretty good most of the time and took a job as the economic development director for Clallam County. Charlee says the house was a great project for the family because everyone could focus on something other than Kurt’s illness. Roberts agrees that it was a fun and interesting job and the Sandells were a great pleasure to work with. Although the house wasn’t completely finished, they moved in on May 15, 1989. Sadly, Kurt Sandell died two days later.

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Wood carver Gene Davis had just expanded his repertoire to include marble carving when he created this Madonna for the Sandell Mustard Seed home in 1990.

The castle reveals its personality

After they had been in the house awhile, Charlee put up curtains because she would find strangers with their faces pressed against the windows peering inside. Then they started to hear stories about the history of the place and supernatural events. Occasionally the children would get lost in the convoluted rooms upstairs. They noticed strange noises and often heard footsteps sans feet. A remote control car scurried around without an operator. Overnight visitors would ask about the woman in the white gown with long hair who walked around the house between midnight and 6 a.m. Despite the odd goings-on, the Sandell children always wanted to be home. They felt safe and accepted even when the house expressed its displeasure. Such a time was when Charlee hung a photo of an unknown but interesting looking family member from the 1950s. At midnight the picture crashed to the floor, breaking the glass. Charlee replaced the glass and hung the picture again. Two days later as she and the children were gathered on her bed talking, the picture fell off the wall breaking the frame. A new frame was added and once again placed on the wall. The picture was found awhile later across the room smashed against the fireplace. She didn’t hang it again. Another time, the children were upstairs in the toy room bickering over what TV program to watch. Charlee called them all down to lunch and while eating they heard a crash upstairs. The family ran up to discover the TV across the room, broken and face down on the floor. “Well,” son Cody remarked, “they fixed it for us — no more arguing.” With all the unusual activity, Charlee decided a protective spirit in the yard would be a good idea. Wood carver Gene Davis recently had expanded his repertoire

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

to include marble and made her a lovely Madonna relief carving. It was too small to leave outside, so she asked for something bigger and received a whitewashed carved wooden angel that stood higher than the eves of the house. Vandals eventually destroyed the work and she replaced it with a marble angel from Tuscany. In an interview in a December 1988 Gazette, Mildred Godfrey Fox dismissed the idea of ghosts ever being in the house. The next month the former director of the Bay View Boys Home, Dennis Blank, wrote a letter to the editor expressing his delight that the elegant home was being remodeled. He also commented that the boys often would speak of a friendly ghost and although he did not subscribe to the haunted theory, he and his wife and the staff frequently heard footsteps on the stairs and jiggling keys when no one else was there.

2011: no regrets Charlee has never regretted her decision. Except for the death of her husband, there always has been much joy and laughter in her castle. She started an All American Sports Exchange business to support her family and spent many happy hours as a soccer coach. The house always has been filled with family and friends and she can remember coming home at times to find 15 cars parked around the house. She currently works as a consulting nutritionist and is busy making dresses for her daughter’s wedding. Over the years, Charlee Sandell has discovered that people generally fall into two camps about her historical home. She says: “They either feel affection for the place or they don’t. Like I said … the house has its own personality.”

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A few finishing touches are all that are needed to complete the renovation and restoration of the landmark, Connecticut foursquare-style Rixon House located in Sappho on the West End, north of Forks. A home office with a view. A back porch was converted into a sun room/home office with a view of hills and pasture in this Sol Duc River valley.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Westlands

STORY AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS COOK

Historical rural West End home restored to former glory W

estlands is once again an elegant, three-story home set in the wilderness of a Sol Duc River valley in Sappho, a former booming logging camp town about 11 miles west of Forks. The home, owned by John and Michelle Simpson, burned almost to the ground on March 21, 2009. Firefighters from Beaver and other Clallam Fire District stations battled the blaze for seven hours. John says in the aftermath of their disaster, the couple Top left: The West End Historical Society paid a visit to the restored circa 1913 Rixon home in early February, hosted by homeowner Michelle Simpson. Here the group poses in the home’s dining room, which features a boxed framed ceiling, period replica wall paper and casement windows. Top right: The living room of the Rixon House is tastefully decorated with furnishings that recall the rustic, yet stylish, lifestyle of its owner and timberlands manager Teddy Rixon and his family. The river-rock fireplace was completely rebuilt following the fire that devastated the home in 2009.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

were given the choice of building a new, modern home on the site, taking a cash insurance payment, but chose to rebuild the historical home along its original lines, the most difficult path to go down. “It took a lot of time to make it look a lot like the original house,” John says. “There were a lot of older homes lost to fire in the West End; this may be the only restoration after a fire.” Work began in June 2009 and the Simpsons were able to move back in during the spring of 2010. Today the home restoration is finished. John, knowledgeable about fine woodworking and quality lumber selection, chose Port Angeles-based woodworkers Ben Simmons and Curtis Hansen for the framing and finish carpentry. The Smith side of John’s family, pioneers of Port Angeles, are noted for his grandfather Chet Smith’s donation of strait-front land now used as a park at Freshwater Beach and for the striking “cord houses” the family built on Place Road using short, 16-inch-long logs placed outwards, as compared to a log cabin with long logs extending the length of a building. To utilize local products for rebuilding the house, the fine, straight, vertical-grained fir for the interior wood-

work came from the mill of McLanahan Lumber south of Forks. Sequim cabinet maker Jesse Bay crafted the Douglasfir cabinets and milled the beautiful interior woodwork. Mason Pete Bliven of Blitz Masonry in Sequim replicated Westlands’ original river-rock fireplace and chimney by copying details found in old photos of the home. The history of the home travels back through several eras of West End history. One owner was the timber company of Ted Spoelstra and his brother of Forks. Spoelstra, still active in his 90s, is the noted West End collector of antique vehicles and a multitude of vintage objects. John said Spoelstra, in the post-World War II era, once planned to demolish the home and use the Westlands parcel for its plentiful supply of gravel. Spoelstra described the home to the couple as a foursquare, a practical and comfortable-living architectural style that predates the fine woodworking Craftsman era of the 1910s and 1920s, while moving away in styling from the fancy Victorian homes found in Port Angeles and Port Townsend. When first built, Westlands had an outhouse and

a kitchen building out back. Today, 21st-century kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures are in place, part of the Simpsons’ plan to retain the original look and feel of Westlands while adding modern touches for safety and enhancing the livability of the home.

The Rixons

The chimney of the home is a close replica of the original, with a redbrick top and riverrock base. Wooden shakes reflect the century-plus-old West End shake and shingle mill industry.

Gertrude, “Bunny” to the family. The house had a garden and lily ponds stocked with fish. A scaled-down version of the main house was created in the backyard for use as a playhouse by Bunny. During the time the Rixons lived at Westlands, the home almost burned down but was saved when a crew of road workers camping at the river, formed a bucket brigade, dousing the flames with water from the Sol Duc River and nearby Beaver Creek. Repairs were made and the home lived on. The Rixons later moved to Port Angeles and Bunny attended an elite private school in Victoria, British Columbia. Bunny Rixon returned Below: Fine woodworkhome, too, after marry- ing is apparent in the pocket doors, door trim, ing Ted Rixon’s nephew. wainscoting, wood floor They built vacation and front door of the rentals along the nearby Rixon House.

Westlands’ colorful past is reflected in its other sobriquet, the Rixon House. Theodore “Teddy” Rixon, an English gentleman, was hired to survey lumber for the Clallam Lumber Company. He moved into the home with his wife, Caroline “Carrie” Jones Rixon, a woman whom West End-born authors Gary Peterson and Glynda Schaad headline as a “Frontier Firebrand” in their book “Women to Reckon With: Untamed Women of the Olympic Wilderness.” Rixon first came to the West End where he played a key role in launching the timber/logging industry on the Olympic Peninsula. Peterson and Schaad detail his three-year, rugged wilderness exploration for the U.S. Geological Survey that showed the immense potential for timber sales, estimating that 2,882 square miles of harvestable timber stood in the dense western Washington forest, with only 16 square miles logged in 1900. Rixon later met and married his wife, who then lived in a rough-hewn, cedar-shingled cabin on the western shore of Lake Crescent at a place she called Fairholme. Caroline Rixon was immortalized when an Olympic Mountains peak towering south of Fairholme was named Mount Carrie. The Rixon home first served as a headquarters in the West End forest for the Clallam Lumber Company, a lumber conglomerate rate with offices in Seattle an and d Chicago. The Simpsons’ files contain a set of letters, provided by Jacilee acilee Wray from m ervice, detail-the National Park Service, ing the construction and purposee of the home, which is 46 miles from downtown Portt Angeles. By the spring of 1914, let-ters requesting itemss like brasss corner plates for interior erior stairss and furniture orderss were be-ing sent. Not long after thee Rixons moved in (about 1920), eventually replacing the Clallam Lumber CommMaster carpe Master M carpenters Ben Simmons and Curtis Hansen pany officials theyy shared thee of of Port Angeles Angele left behind this wooden surfer home with, they gavee the estate the as as a reminder of who rebuilt the historical d adopted an n name Westlands and home h me and of ho o the love of surfing they base their their annual annua work schedule around. d 8-year-old daughter they named

Sol Duc and years later, the McStott family lived and worked at Westlands. Michelle has taken a cutting of the Virginia creeper that can be seen in Rixon-era photos growing up the chimney and brought the woody vine back to life, preserving a tie to the original home.

‘Twilight’ ties West End “Twilight” followers, who link locations mentioned in author Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling series of books and films, point to the home as the author’s model for the home of the Cullen family of vampires. During the time Meyer was writing the first book in the four-book “saga,” Westlands was for sale and photos were posted on the website of local Realtor Carrol Lunsford’s Lunsford & Associates company in Forks. “Twilight” fans and those seeking a quiet getaway with a fantastic West End landscape as a backdrop, can book from the Simpsons a vacation rental cabin. The couple have constructed and furnished the two cabins now available (two larger, two-story cabins are under construction) and designed and furnished with all the care they put into their restored Westlands home. Studio cabins with gas fireplaces and private decks are located right along the banks of the Sol Duc River. Check out the cabins at Beaver Creek vacation rentals at www.thecabinsatbeavercreek.com.

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ARTS Entertainment

Artistry in craftsmanship Three Sequim men share passion for hand-making wooden instruments Story and photos by Ashley Miller

usic is an important part of American history, present and future. Songs are written every day about current events. Musicians regularly inspire the country’s youth. The sound of music continues to bring people together. What about the people who make the instruments? Who are they and what are their hopes and dreams, trials and tribulations? It should come as no surprise that Sequim — a well-known haven for talented people from all over the world — is home to several instrument makers, a few of whom are willing to share their stories.

Welcome to the flute shop By day, Dave Toman is in charge of campus security for the Sequim School District. Students refer to him as “Mr. T” and go to great lengths — unsuccessfully — to make him smile. He’s tall, serious and has large, powerful hands. But at night, Toman retreats into his flute shop where his strong hands delicately carve woodland flutes. When he finishes one, Toman brings the wooden instrument to his lips and, with a soft exhale, breathes

Rigth: Dave Toman marks each of his flutes with his Yeti Flutes design and the number of the instrument it is that he’s made.

the sound of music. Because they’re hand-carved, every flute is one-of-a-kind. They’re traditional, not concert-style, and are designed for people to play and enjoy. “I don’t know what a flute will sound like until it’s done,” Toman said. “When a person gets their flute they breathe life into it.” How does someone make a flute with their hands? It’s easy, Toman said. First, you cut the wood to length and then in half. “Mark out” the chambers and holes and then carve with a straight gouge and carving knife. Drill the holes, sand the chamber and then glue the pieces together. Left: Among the tools Dave Toman uses to make hand-carved flutes is a real deer antler, used to burnish the wood. Far left: Dave Toman has made 179 hand-carved wooden flutes. He refers to the instruments as “love flutes.”

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Opposite left to right: Dave Toman plays a song on one of his handcarved wooden flutes.

Clockwise from right: A variety of handmade instruments hang from the ceiling in Chris Burt’s shop.

Chris Burt plays a tune on a mandolin he made the color of red wine from the bookshelves of his favorite uncle.

Chris Burt uses a variety of tools to make wooden instruments.

John Pete Barthell holds an almost-finished guitar.

ARTS Entertainment

Chris Burt builds violins, violas and mandolins for a living and as a passion.

Toman burnishes the wood using a real deer antler and then coats it with beeswax. Using a wood planer and hand sander, he cuts the grooves for the channel. With the exception of cutting the wood into planks and drilling the holes, everything is done by hand. “I try to keep the process as close to traditional as possible,” he said. Working on flute No. 180, Toman takes pride in his craft. “I don’t want these to sit on the shelf and collect dust,” he said. “I want people to play them. When you’re watching TV and it’s a commercial break, hit the mute button; pick up a flute and just play.” According to Toman, anybody can learn to play the flute. “Don’t tell me you can’t play one of these,” he said. “If you can breathe, you can play.” Toman has his own collection of six songs, “Echoes of the Spirit,” recorded live at multiple Olympic Peninsula locations. “The songs you hear were inspired by the surroundings and what I was feeling at that moment,” Toman said. “A great flute player once said, ‘You have to search your soul to find your own song,’ and that is what I have done.” For more information about Yeti Flutes, send a note to Toman at PO Box 951, Carlsborg, WA 98324.

Violins, violas and mandolins, oh my! Chris Burt claims to live in his own little world conjuring up wood, metal, shell, glue and varnish into amazing marriages of dreams, sculptures, history and music. He makes wooden instruments using hand tools, specializing in violins, violas and mandolins. Burt’s interest in building instruments began at just 16 after attending the concert of a well-known acoustic guitarist who said that sanding the lacquer from the face of a guitar and finishing the exposed wood with linseed oil would improve the instrument’s tone.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

It’s not a home project he recommends, Burt said, but was the starting point for where he is today. A few years down the road, Burt was on his way to work — running late — and cursing the weather. He ducked inside what he thought was a men’s apparel store to catch a break from the Oregon rain and was pleasantly surprised to see it was a new violin shop. Soon after, Burt was hired as the owner’s apprentice. “I took one smell of the wood and the varnish and that was that,” he said. “I was hooked.” Following in his leader’s footsteps, Burt has built modern and baroque violins, violas, cellos, viols d’amore, viols da gamba, guitars, a stand-up electric bass and mandolins, and has repaired nearly every type of instrument

with strings. Burt’s interest in mandolins came about recently after an unusual ailment involving his left hand that prevented him from playing his usual instruments with ease. “Suddenly I couldn’t play the fiddle or violin anymore and I was really depressed,” he said. Until Burt saw one of his friends playing the mandolin and asked to give it a try. “I have more than 100 fiddle tunes in my fingers and spent years playing the guitar,” he said. “Within 30 minutes I was playing dance tunes and even some Bach.” During construction, Burt uses only high quality and well-aged woods. Each piece of wood is stored for at least one year at 40-50 percent relative humidity. Using

Clockwise from left: John Pete Barthell started making guitars as a young man and continues to do so at 83 years of age. John Pete Barthell follows careful instructions that he’s perfected over the years when building guitars. The rosette is original and different on every guitar John Pete Barthell makes. When John Pete Barthell moved to Sequim 20 years ago, he designed a home shop especially for making guitars, a huge step up from building instruments in his basement in Chicago.

only instrument-grade glues and his own concoction of varnish, Burt brings slabs of wood to life in the form of instruments. “It’s a great life,” he said. For more information about Sunny Skies Mandolin Company, go online to www.chrisburt.com.

Barthell Guitars John Peter Barthell aka “Pete” spent his career as an engineer in the northern suburbs of Chicago. In 1976, he found relief from the everyday stress of life in his home shop building classical guitars. At 83, he still

makes and sells guitars with a boyish passion. He works alone and makes every aspect of the instrument except the tuners and strings. If you ask Barthell, building guitars from scratch isn’t an extraordinary feat. “I also mow my own lawn,” he said in good humor. With all joking aside, Barthell swears he’s “just an ordinary guy dedicated to building fine instruments.” The quality of his work, however, speaks for itself and outshines his modesty. Using Indian rosewood or sometimes curly walnut, Peruvian walnut or mahogany, Barthell relies on a straight-forward seven-strut fan system for building the “guts” of each guitar. A transverse support is located just below the sound hole, as to afford the sound board maximum vibration freedom, and the rosette is reinforced at all 360 degrees. Most of his instruments are made using a single-

side slab of wood with no joints or internal reinforcing blocks. The heel cap is extended down the length of the guitar for support. If the body color contrasts nicely with ebony, then that’s what he uses, otherwise he sticks with the same color of wood as the body and adds a few decorative accent lines. Each guitar has a unique rosette design, one of Barthell’s favorite parts about building guitars. First he constructs the design on graph paper and then constructs it on the guitar. As a finishing touch, Barthell pastes a label on the inside of the guitar reading, “In the hands of the wind I sighed; At the hands of the woodsman I died; By the hands of the luthier I came alive; And now, in your hands, I sing.” Barthell makes and sells six to eight guitars a year. He works from a little bit after lunchtime until just before dinner most days. Making guitars has become such an ingrained part of who he is that it’s more a hobby than work and not something he foresees giving up anytime soon. For more information, go online to www.barthell guitars.com.

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Left: Holly Hill House is a historical Victorian bed and breakfast in Port Townsend. Below: Nina Dortch shows off a plate of her famous Mama Nina Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies.

A Happy Home at

Holly Hill House Story and photos by Viviann Kuehl

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Nina and Greg Dortch are happy to be off the couch, now in the parlor, and enjoying their ninth year as proprietors of Holly Hill House B&B.

couch and a dream got Holly Hill House and its proprietors, Greg and Nina Dortch, together nine years ago. In 2002, the Dortches finally had quit their jobs to start their own restaurant, but the deal fell through at the last moment. “After that, I was laying despondent on the couch,” recalled Nina. Even the offer of her old job back didn’t get her off the couch. “I had a travel/sales/marketing/management job, but after six years I was tired of travelling. I didn’t like the traveling,” recalled Nina. Greg suggested they pursue their other dream, a bed and breakfast, and brought home stacks of listings. That got Nina off the couch. They wanted a Victorian, somewhere on the coast or near water, and couldn’t afford California. They narrowed their search to Washington and Oregon. When Greg brought home a listing for the Holly Hill House, Nina remembered taking a day trip to Port Townsend years ago, and intuiting, “I’m going to live here someday.” They came Thanksgiving week, looked at and rejected a couple places in Sequim, then spent four days at Holly Hill. It had a comfortable feel, like coming home, recalled Nina. Grandly modest, Holly Hill House was built in 1872 by J.J. Hunt, but got its name from its first occupants, R.C.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

and Elizabeth Hill and their four boys, who moved in during 1882, and from the 23 holly trees surrounding it. The classic Victorian woodwork, including a picket fence lined with 88 rose bushes, emphasizes the proportions of house and garden. It was just what they wanted. Soon the Dortches sold their house and by Jan. 28, 2003, they were owners. “Not a door closed on us the whole way,” said Nina. “It was like destiny.” The first weekend in February they were on their own and it was a baptism by fire, said Nina. na. The previous owners had a guest system set up and the Dortches walked into it with just that to go on. “It was fun, but a whole lot of work,” said Nina. It still is, with just the two of them to do everything, explained Nina. From May to October they ey don’t get a day off. Every day there’s cleaning, laundry, aundry, cooking, grocery shopping, menu planning, ng, yard work and maintenance and irregular hours. urs. Still, after nine years they are going strong. “Last year was the best year we ever er had,” said Nina. They get a lot of repeat business. People ople come for a rest, to get away, with no TV, no phone. Guests read, sleep, walk, go to the movies, she said. If they fall asleep on n the couch, she covers them with a blanket. “When people are comfortable, it

makes me feel good,” said Nina. “When someone has a great experience, it makes it all worthwhile.” A nurturing attitude, perhaps from her nursing background, helps her guests feel comfortable and her cooking skills add to the experience. “In the first month I used a menu book, but when I had a guest say he was hungry after breakfast, that was the end of that,” said Nina. Most requested by guests are her Poached Pears, Crusted French Toast, O Ooey Gooey Brownies and her Mama Nina Choco Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, which also have been sold in Aldrich’s Market. While Nina cook cooks every day, Greg keeps busy with maintenance. The holly trees, now n more than 100 years old, reportedly were made into re trees by a Chinese gardener who trimmed the trunks. They were all overgrown when the Dortches arrived. Greg paid pa $1,400 to have them trimmed and watched every tr move m the arborist made. “I swore I’d never pay that again, ” he recalled. “Now I a do all the trimming myself. It’s I easy to get to them. They are so thick, I can just walk

Left: Nina and Greg Dortch share a laugh near a personalized version of a favorite movie poster at their Holly Hill House B&B.

across the tops to all 14 in front.” Greg also tries to get at least two sides of the house painted each year. They both enjoy decorating and collecting items original to the house. Lizetta Richardson married one of the Hill brothers and lived in the house from her marriage in 1924 until 1967, living alone after her husband’s death in 1938. She enjoyed painting on china as well as making pictures for the walls, and some of her work is in the house, along with a few pieces of the heavy furniture that filled the house when she lived there. Greg also is a World War II aviation buff and has paintings of planes and other memorabilia in the parlor. There also are Victorian hats to wear and three cats to pet. Still, routinely having guests in your home can be taxing, said Nina. “You always hope they’ll be really nice and 90 to 95 percent of the time they are,” she said. They have learned to read people better and sometimes refuse people, said Nina. Only once did they have to call the police for guests who simply wouldn’t leave.

Right: Nina Dortch stands by one of the original fireplaces in her Holly Hill House Bed and Breakfast. The plate on the mantel’s right was painted by one of the home’s early occupants.

Nina gets excited when guests come back and enjoys annual events that have become traditions. “It’s kind of fun when groups take the whole house and I get to cater dinner.” She also offers a 10-percent discount for local residents who need a place for visiting relatives and friends to stay. Of the 10 B & Bs in town, seven are networked in an informal support system and that really helps, too, said Nina. “The hard part is the limitations on your life,” said Nina. “You’re tied to it, from early in the morning to night. Checkout time is 10:30; check-in is from 3 to 6; and you

have to get everything ready by 3. We can’t go to dinner if people are coming, sometimes we just sit down and then someone comes. The majority of festivals I miss out on, but I do get to see all the parades.” You can’t call in sick and you can’t leave when it’s your business, explained Nina. “Hospitality is a state of mind you have to choose to be in. You have to think that it pays the bills and it allows me to live here.” Still, in spite of the challenges, the Dortches are happy with their life. “No, I don’t have any regrets,” said Nina. “I’m glad the restaurant didn’t happen. I’d much rather be doing this than working for somebody else.”

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A curved stone-faced stairway leads to a home office and several bedrooms. At right are pastoral murals of the English and Irish countryside. Kay, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of Irish heritage, asked for them to be tucked in nooks and crannies as an unexpected design element.

Top: Kay, Carl and their friends and family gather often in the English farmhouse kitchen. At left is the imported AGA stored-heat stove and cooker and in the foreground is a copper pan rack designed by architect Ken Hays. Above: Between two of the archesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; columns was a perfect place to position a wrought iron bench.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

Architect Ken Hays of Sequim designed every detail for this English country manor in Clallam County. The homeowners wanted the charm of an Old World farmhouse with natural materials.

Comfort in an English farmhouse Stor y b y Patricia Morri son C oate • P hotos courtesy of K en Hays Archi t e c t , S e qui m Editor’s note: Due to privacy concerns, the homeowners asked to be called Kay and Carl.

hen seasoned Sequim architect Ken Hays met a couple who wanted to remodel their 10-year-old house into an English-inspired home, he got excited. “We took a very simple structure without much character and reshaped the space and redid the surfaces,” Hays said.

liked putting together that style and from our discussions with Ken and our ‘wish’ portfolio, we have turned it into the house we love today.” To Carl, the style “looked good, it looked bold and it’s got a lot of character lines.” The couple loved the idea of featuring natural and repurposed materials in their home because it was reminiscent of how English farmers gathered stones and wood from their fields and forests to build cottages and manors. They and Hays decided on a set of certain materials, among

about was what the English valued in the 18th and 19th centuries — and that was space and proportion, plus a fascination with the Orient. Hays designed the master bath with a strong Asian influence, incorporating a deep square soaking tub for serenity and hundreds of small stones as a tactile wall and floor covering. In the original house, there had been a bridge or catwalk joining the two halves of the upper story and above it a scissor truss stretching from one side to the other, which

“It’s a terrible thing to live in an ordinary home.” — Ken Hays, architect “Kay and Carl wanted to create a modest country manor house because they entertain a lot and it was important the space was appropriate for that,” Hays said. “They really recognized the importance of giving me as a designer full control over the process. The building is really well-detailed which keeps it from being overdone — it’s the continuity of details that I find most exciting.” “I wanted an English farmhouse because I’ve traveled in Europe and I loved the warmth of them,” Kay said. “I

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

them natural cedar siding and shingles, plus tumbled and broken-surface stone outdoors with Honduran mahogany, antique reclaimed chestnut, black walnut, soapstone, copper and wrought iron indoors. “Everything is authentic in the house — there are no faux materials,” Carl said, noting Sequim mason Peter Bliven and a crew from Richerts Marble & Granite set some 60 tons of rock inside and out. One of the myriad things he, Kay and Carl talked

Hays didn’t like because it didn’t shape or define the spaces. In his design, he pushed out the walls and reshaped the ceiling planes, adding a trussed vault over the living and dining area and an entry canopy inside the redefined foyer. He also allowed for a wrought iron bench, creating a nook in the center of the bridge overlooking the airy, but warm great room. Allform Welding of Sequim fashioned all the wrought iron. “The columns of the bridge add weight, strengthen

52 5522

This great room view is from the Rumford fireplace looking toward a stunning black walnut table reclaimed from an 88-year-old tree. The great room’s floor is antique reclaimed chestnut.

the axes of circulation, cueing people for movement through the home,” Hays said. For the trussed vault, Carl said they found oak trees that had been downed 10 years ago by storms. Hays sent a CAD drawing to a mill in Wisconsin to cut the beams to within a one-eighth-inch tolerance. “Five or six guys put three sets of arches together in one day with pegs and bolts for the arched beam ceiling,” Carl said. “They started at the top and worked their way down.” The theme for the great room was the warmth of copper and wood. Kay and Carl searched for two years to find the antique chestnut planks from an old New England barn for its floor. The trim around the windows, doors, cabinets and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves is Honduran mahogany, meticulously constructed by finish carpenter Chas Bridge of Sequim. “I think we bought every piece of Honduran mahogany in the state, which Edensaw Woods in Port Townsend facilitated,” said Hays. After the magnificent arches, the two other dominating features are the mammoth dining room table and stone-faced Rumford fireplace crafted by mason Peter Bliven with a copper shroud that soars like a piece of sculpture. Hays designed it as well as a copper pan rack in the kitchen. The copper theme continues in the coping, flashing and downspouts outside. The amber bowl lamps were hand-crafted and add to the feeling of an airy but not overwhelming space. The matched-center black walnut table was repurposed from an 88-year-old tree that fell in a storm six years ago. Carl said Urban Hardwoods of Seattle reclaimed the wood and turned it into a rich, earthy centerpiece, complete with .22 and .38 caliber bullets still embedded from target practice after the first third of its life. It seats up to 16. Of the 5,500-square-feet in the four-bedroom manor, Kay and Carl’s favorite room is the farmhouse-style kitchen/dining area, with Hays’ hand very evident in its design, from the routered drain area in the greenish black soapstone counters to the locally milled bead board, hand-painted for texture. “My favorite is the kitchen because we have company quite often and there’s a sense of community coming together,” Kay said. “The kitchen and family area are driven by the enameled monolithic AGA cast-iron stored-heat stove and cooker and all the cabinets, by Endless Efforts in Sequim, that are flush inset face frames,” Hays said. The couple had seen AGAs in English farmhouses and liked that they can heat the house. “We were visiting Europe,” Carl said, “and it’s been a common way for cooking and heating for 100-plus years. It heats with propane, weighs two tons and took

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

two people about four days to put it together. It required a special foundation and had to be level.” Carl explained it has four burners, a plate warming tray, 700-degree hot plates and four ovens, each with its own set temperature. If you need to cook something at 450 degrees, you put it in that oven. “The house is meticulous as far as its lines and that’s all Kenny’s doing,” Carl said. “There’s an enormous amount of balance from every side.” “The fun thing about this project was how involved they were,” Hays said. “They and I and all the tradespeople were totally involved and we all ate lunch together and discussed details. It was an exciting dynamic with all the cooperative interaction. This is a great example of how exciting a project can be, involving the architect, contractor and owners in all phases of the project. Kay and Carl’s house is not meant to be an icon but part of a working organic farm. It’s just great to have them Hays designed the master bath with a strong Asian influence, incorporating a deep square soaking tub for serenity and hundreds of small stones as a tactile wall and floor. in the community.”

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Events CALENDAR EC to Forks

April 2

Sequim

March 18-20 • Victorian Heritage Days, Port Townsend, sponsored by Victorian Society in America — Northwest Chapter, victorianfestival.org. Bus and walking tours of historical Port Townsend, presentations by preservation expert; quilting display and workshops; Victorian Tea and the Grand Ball.

March 19 • Midnight in Paris. Dinner and auction — 5:30-8 p.m. C’est Si Bon, 23 Cedar Park Drive, Port Angeles. $80 per person, First Step Family Support Center fundraiser. 457-8355 or www.firststepfamily.org.

Center Boatshop (Chandler Building). Port Townsend’s new Northwest Maritime Center and Redfish Custom Kayaks invite the public to participate in the construction of a cedar-strip wooden kayak. www.redfishkayak.com.

March 26, April 23, May 28 • Washington Old Time Fiddlers — All players jam, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., performance 1:30-3:30 p.m. Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road, Chimacum. Free, donations support fiddler scholarships. http://d15.wotfa.org

March 27 March 19-20 • 13th Annual Soroptimist Gala Garden Show — 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St., Sequim. Products and professional services of horticultural and garden-related businesses, a speaker’s series providing educational and inspirational information for gardeners of all levels, garden displays, hands-on classes, raffles and a cafe serving homemade soups, sandwiches and other delicacies. info@sequimgardenshow. com or www.sequimgardenshow.com.

• Old Time Fiddlers Spring Show. 2 p.m. Sequim High School auditorium, 601 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim. Free, donations accepted.

• Jeffco Community Garage Sale — 9 a.m., Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 4907 Landes St., Port Townsend. 360385-1013.

March 25-27 • 29th Annual Fort Worden Kitemakers Conference — Fort Worden State Park. kitemakers.org. •Nate Crippen Memorial Basketball Tournament — 9 a.m. Forks High School gym. Tournament fee $300. 360-3747532.

• Irrigation Festival Kick-off Dinner — 5 p.m. Club Seven at 7 Cedars Casino, Blyn. 360-683-3408 or www.Irrigation Festival.com.

March 31 March 20-21 • Wordplay 2011 — 2:30 p.m. March 20, 7 p.m. March 21. Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St., Port Townsend. $10. keycitypublictheatre.org.

• Ron Stubbs Hypnosis Show. Comedy Night — 8 p.m. Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St., Port Townsend. $15. keycitypublictheatre.org.

April-June March 23-25 • Peninsula Community Wooden Kayak Project — 6 p.m. Northwest Maritime

• Port Townsend Farmers Market opening day in Uptown Port Townsend — Continues each Saturday through December. 360-379-9098. • “Autobiographies of the Rich and Famous: You Can’t Make Stuff Like This Up!” PT Shorts — 7:30 p.m. Pope Marine Building. keycitypublictheatre.org.

• Spring White Cap Series on Port Townsend Bay — sponsored by Port Townsend Sailing Association, ptsail.org.

• Symphony Concert 5. Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Anderson, and Schumann — 10 a.m. dress rehearsal, 7 p.m. concert. Port Angeles High School, 304 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles. portangeles symphony.org or pasymphony@olypen. com, 457-5579. • Celebrate Earth Day Fort Worden, Port Townsend — Green Living Expo on Littlefield Green, 10 a.m. -4 p.m.; Shifted Paradigm Celebration in the McCurdy Pavilion, 7-11 p.m. www.L2020.org.

April 21-May 15 April 8-10 • Olympic BirdFest 2011 — all day around Port Angeles and Sequim. Guided field trips, boat cruises in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and a salmon banquet with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. 360-6814076 or www.olympicbirdfest.org.

• Preview of “The Soup is Served,” 7 p.m. April 21, show continues April 22-24, 28-30, May 1, 5-8, 12-15. 7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St., Port Townsend. keycitypublictheatre.org.

April 9, May 14

April 23

• Washington Old Time Fiddlers — All players jam, noon-1:30 p.m., performance 1:30-3:30 p.m. Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road, Sequim. Free, donations support fiddler scholarships. http://d15.wotfa.org

• Port Townsend Community Orchestra Spring Concert — 6:45 p.m. pre-concert chat with Maestro Dewey Ehling, 7:30 p.m. concert. Chimacum High School auditorium, 91 West Valley Road, Chimacum. porttownsendorchestra.org. • Annual JeffCo Expo — Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 4907 Landes St., Port Townsend. 360-385-1013, jeffco fairgrounds.com, or jeffcofairgrounds@ olypen.com.

April 14- 17

March 26 March 20

April 16

Port Townsend

Port Angeles

• Centrum presents a hands-on four-day workshop for musicians on Brazilian Choro music at Fort Worden in Port Townsend. Call 360-385-3102 or go to centrum.org.

April 15-17 •11th Annual Kayak Symposium — 1-5 p.m. April 15, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. April 16, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Port Angeles City Pier, Port Angeles. 888-452-1443 or paks@raftandkayak.com.

April 15 • “A River Between: Improvisations of Music and Physical Theater” — 7 p.m. Madrona MindBody Institute. keycity publictheatre.org.

April 26 • Passover Concert with Judith-Kate Friedman. 7 p.m. keycitypublictheatre. org.

April 30 • 14th Annual AAUW Kitchen Tour — 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Hospitality Center at First Presbyterian Church, 1111 Franklin St., Port Townsend. Opens at 9:30 a.m. for tickets, seminars, raffles, refreshments. Eight kitchens, including new and remodeled rooms. Advance tickets available beginning in March. 360-385-2224 or aauwpt.org/kitchen_tour.htm.

April 15-17 • RainFest 2011 — 9 a.m., various locations in Forks. Community event including the Fabric of the Forest Quilt Show in Forks High School. psod.forks@ centurytel.net.

May 1 • 19th Annual Rhody Bike Tour, metric and half-metric century sponsored by Port Townsend Bicycle Association, ptbikes.org.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

May 1-2 •North Olympic Mustang 28th Annual Participants’ Choice Show n’ Shine — 9 a.m. Port Angeles Gateway Transportation Center. 360-683-7908 or north olympicmustangs.com.

son County Fairgrounds, Port Townsend. The JeffCo HomeShow has a building, remodeling and landscaping focus. Vendor booths and demonstrations will offer inspiration for new construction and home improvement plans. 360-385-1087 or www.JeffCoHomeShow.com.

May 6-15 •116th Sequim Irrigation Festival — Times vary based on event, downtown Sequim. Juried, handcrafted arts and crafts, Grand Parade on May 14 at noon, royalty, logging show, strongman competition, 10K run and car show. 360-6833408 or www.irrigationfestival.com.

May 6-7, 13-14, 20-21 • Port Townsend High School presents the musical comedy, “Batboy.” 8 p.m. Port Townsend High School auditorium. Admission is $10 for adults; $5 for seniors and PTSD students without ASB card; and $3 for children under 12 and students with an ASB. This show is not recommended for young children. 360379-4520 or jnielsen@ptsd50.org.

May 7-8 •JeffCo HomeShow — 10 a.m. at Jeffer-

May 14-15 • Rhododendron Arts and Crafts Fair — 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Downtown Port Townsend. 360-379-3813, www.port townsendartsguild.org or ptartsguild@ yahoo.com.

May 22 • Rhody Run XXXIII, a 12K race beginning and ending at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. Sponsored by Port Townsend Marathon Association, rhodyrun.com. • Great Olympic Peninsula Duck Derby — Time to be announced. Ediz Hook, Port Angeles. Fundraiser for Olympic Medical Center. 360-417-7144 or bruce@ omhf.org.

May 27-31 May 16-21 • 76th Rhododendron Festival, Port Townsend. Sponsored by Rhododendron Festival Association, rhodyfestival.org.

May 21 • Rhody Festival Grand Parade, uptown and downtown Port Townsend, rhodyfestival.org. • Acoustic guitar legend Leo Kottke — 7:30 p.m. McCurdy Pavilion at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. Presented by Upwest Arts and Centrum. centrum.org or 800-746-1982.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011

•Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts — Memorial Day weekend festival features music, dance, art, crafts and food. $40 through April 30, $50 May 1-26, $55 at the gate/$45 for Juan de Fuca Festival members. 360-457-5411 or www.jffa.org.

Events CALENDAR EC •11th Annual Halibut Derby — daylight to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Port Angeles Harbor, Port Angeles. A two-day event with $20,000 in cash prizes. $5,000 first prize, $2,500 for second, $1,500 in third. Cash payout for 30th prize at $135. Tickets are available at Swain’s General Store, Port Angeles. 360-452-2357 or www.swainsinc.com. • Olympic Art Festival — 10 a.m. at Olympic Art Gallery, 40 Washington St., Quilcene. Dozens of Northwest artists have artwork for sale.

June 3-5 • 28th Classic Mariners’ Regatta sponsored by Wooden Boat Foundation, 360316-9370, woodenboat.org.

May 28-29 • Brinnon ShrimpFest — seafood festival includes food booths, belt sander races, exhibits, live music and children’s activities. Sponsored by Emerald Towns Alliance, 360-796-0550 or emeraldtowns. org/shrimpfest.

June 5 •North Olympic Discovery Marathon — all day, start at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim, ends in Port Angeles. 360-4171301 or nodm.com.

THE Living END

Of Homes and Hearts By

the time I was was 6, 6 I knew what the best houses in the world looked like: two- and threestory grand dames built of brick the color of faded rouge between 1850-1880 in Boonville, Mo. On my way to school or downtown, I walked past them: Georgian, Greek Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne and Classic and Tudor Revival. They all had personality and character, with their towers, columns, verandas, oversized architrave windows framed deep with wood or limestone. I ached to live in my own one day, especially a house with a turret, but my desire has been unrequited so far. If I had it to do all over again, I would have gotten my degree in historical architecture, instead of Spanish and history. As I sat down to weave threads of nostalgia in this column, I took an inventory of all the places I’ve lived — 28 in all. By the time I graduated at 17, I’d lived in seven houses and attended two elementaries, two middle schools and two high schools. The houses have ranged from a 1950s Airstream trailer on the naval base at Great Lakes, Ill., where my 6-foot 4-inch dad had to open a ceiling vent and pop out his head to take a shower, to my 600-square-foot cottage north of Sequim. None of them have been grand, some of them even have been dilapidated like the Florida cracker (note: not crack!) house where, when I opened the cabinets under the kitchen sink, I could see the ground and sometimes a hefty black snake. One of my two favorites has to be a large frame Victorian with a wraparound porch and bay window built in 1880. It suffered through some of my teenage angst when I’d bound up the 18 steps and slam my bedroom door, releasing a cascade of plaster within the walls. As a couple of 15-year-olds,

my friend and I decided it had been on the Underground Railroad — did we know our history or what? — and tried to prove it by undermining the rock foundation to “find a secret room.” The house still is standing so I guess we didn’t do too much damage. It also was the home where my harried mom would have my energetic younger sister run around it five or six times to achieve some tranquility. When we got transferred again at ages 16, 13 and 10, my sisters and I pitched a collective fit — we loved the above 515 Benton Ave. East — but we lost and moved in 1968 to a 1914 four-square with oak beams, columns and woodwork. I have many good memories of living on Elm Street: sitting on the dryer in the kitchen and having warm conversations with my mom about life at school while she made supper, Dad giving me special dispensation to stay up and watch “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” with him. Big family holiday gatherings and my mom and aunt telling childhood stories on each other, tickling themselves so much, they laughed until they cried — and we did, too. Some years after we all graduated, Mom and Dad said they were selling the four-square because it was too much work and again we pitched a collective fit — we’d had practice. So they moved into a comfortable ranch-style and all the ways of being with each other transferred to it. The same warmth, love, camaraderie, silliness, tastes and smells were there when I went back to visit my mom last summer. A little over a month ago my 84-year-old aunt died and 10 of us came from Washington and Iowa to pay our respects to her at her rural home. She was an involved member of her tiny community in central Missouri for some 65 years, a fact that is unfathomable to me. The one constant in my 58 years has been that I’ve moved nearly 30 times, putting down only shallow roots.

Story and photo by Patricia Morrison Coate

aun house, one I have known well since Being at my aunt’s my childhood, felt like being home again. It’s the house that my Aunt Ann and Uncle Junior built when my cousin was 10 and I was 7. I remember running wildly from end to end on the subfloor before the framing was done and feeling like it was a huge, wide-open space. During summer visits in the 1950s and 1960s, Ann and June’s house still loomed large as I watched the adults play cards, drink a little beer and laugh a lot in the expansive kitchen. Or the many times my aunt, cousin, sisters and I chatted as we snapped beans in it for what seemed like hours on end. I remember the smells of Texas Jack and fried chicken and the kitchen counter accommodating one to wash and two or three to dry. And the caboose-sized bathroom, where I sat on a milelong counter while my mom and aunt fiercely scrubbed rock out of my forehead, hands, elbows and knees before dousing me with merthiolate when I was 10 and where my aunt would put our hair in such tight ponytails we felt our eyes were going to pop out … and many other warm memories. But when we drove up the lane in February, the house had changed. My aunt and uncle’s bedroom seemed as if it had been lopped off the right side of the house. Inside, there must have been some major remodeling done in the intervening years because the living room and kitchen were about half their size. The bathroom counter had contracted to a mere dozen feet. Oddly enough, my 24-yearold nephew also noted the house had shrunk from the size it had been during his childhood. We all shared memories spanning a half-century of visiting Ann and June’s house — it hadn’t been our home but it was where we always felt welcome. So, goodbye Ann, June and your little yellow house and thank you for all the good times.

LIVING ON THE PENINSULA | SPRING | MARCH 2011