home accent Living with style in skagit county
D E C E M B ER 2 0 09
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Welcome to the jungle Couple creates tropical paradise inside their Mount Vernon home
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Skagit Valley Herald Publisher Stedem Wood
Niche Editor
Living in the jungle
Gordon Weeks
Contributing Writers
Mount Vernon couple creates a tropical paradise in their home
Teru Lundsten, Tahlia Ganser
Design and Production Greg Fiscus
Copy Editors Kathy Boyd, Greg Fiscus
Cover Photographer Scott Terrell
Photographers Scott Terrell, Frank Varga
Advertising Director Vallerie Feltus
Display Advertising Manager Deb Bundy
Advertising Consultants Sandy Everett, Stephanie Fussell Stephanie Harper, Leah Hines, Marc McCoy, Paul Tinnon, Kathy Schultz
Advertising Operations Manager Monica Piercy
Ad Production Ashley Crerar, Jody Hendrix Gabe Mannino, Christina Poisal Patricia Stowell
Cover Courier Printing
Inside Pages Skagit Valley Herald Š 2009 SVPCo. Home Accent is published monthly in the third Sunday edition of the Skagit Valley Herald.
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Simple and eloquent The art of living small
f e a t u r e s The Wine Guys . ......14 To Suit the Chef ......16
The Tiki Room in the Mount Vernon home of Dianne and Dean Ramsey sits between the kitchen and the Jungle Room.
Welcome to the jungle Couple creates tropical paradise inside Mount Vernon home
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Story by TERU LUNDSTEN Photos by SCOTT TERRELL
t first glance, Dianne and Dean Ramsey’s house fits nicely into the quiet neighborhood near Hillcrest Park in Mount Vernon. But the dichotomous front yard and porch hint at surprises inside. In contrast to the front yard, a Japanese garden, the porch is lined with pots and boxes of bright, pink geraniums. The home was built in 1992, and the Ramseys purchased it a year later. “It was in beautiful condition,” said Dianne. “We haven’t even had to paint the walls.”
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A loft above the Jungle Room is accessible with a wooden ladder.
home accent / December 2009
published by the Skagit Valley Herald
But to meet their needs and eclectic taste, they changed the function of two rooms and added two rooms to the three-bedroom rambler, which now totals 2,670 square feet. Inside the front door is a small foyer furnished with a simple bench. To the left are modestly sized bedrooms. In the master bedroom, with adjoining bathroom, the bed is made with a beige, satin coverlet with welted diamond shapes, framed in blue satin and tiny appliquéd flowers. A coverlet with an overall floral pattern spreads over the bed in the guest room. The third bedroom is used as an office and exercise room. One wall of the hall connecting the bedrooms is decorated with pictures of Dianne’s many music students — she has had hundreds over the years. A Scottish bagpipe commands the other wall. “We travel,” said Dianne, “and bring things home that remind us of where we’ve been.” Travel memorabilia adorn other rooms. Three leather chairs are comfortably arranged around the living room, two bookcases flank a flat-screen TV, and above the couch hangs a horizontal scroll from Guilin, China, depicting boatmen on a river surrounded by steep mountains, waterfalls and cherry blossoms. Carved wooden German statuettes cover a side table, and above them hangs a tapestry from Rottenburg, Germany, a town built in
TOP: A stuffed black jungle cat looks down from the loft. LEFT: Overall view of the Jungle Room.
published by the Skagit Valley Herald
home accent / December 2009
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A pond in the Jungle Room is home to nine koi. the Middle Ages. Dianne lived in Germany as a child when her father served in the U.S. Army, and she and Dean have visited there several times since. A cuckoo clock from Titisee, Germany, a town in the Black Forest, hangs on a dining room wall. On another
wall hangs a vertical scroll from Guilin, China. A heavy crystal chandelier from Venice, which Dean re-wired to U.S. specifications, hangs over the oblong dining table. A retired maintenance supervisor for the Concrete School District, he’s a gifted handyman. Dianne’s collection of cobalt blue vases extends from
A sea turtle carving adds to the Jungle Room decor.
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home accent / December 2009
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Conches decorate a side table next to the mural, with a collection of Polynesian large-beaded necklaces and another cuckoo clock displayed on the wall above it. the dining room windowsill into the kitchen. Beyond the kitchen, the Ramseys have transformed what was a family room, used by the previous owners as a day care, into a piece of tropical paradise. “We absolutely love Hawaii,” said Dianne. “Dean wanted to create something to give us that feeling when we can’t go there. He had the vision in his head.” Dean did all the work himself, without an architect or builder. Eight tiki torches are placed throughout the room. Meant for outdoor use, Dean wired them with bulbs for use indoors. A wallpaper mural — a greatly enlarged photograph depicting an unknown tropical place at night — completely covers one wall. Conches decorate a side table next to the mural, with a collection of Polynesian large-beaded necklaces and another
published by the Skagit Valley Herald
A large shell graces the Tiki Room.
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cuckoo clock displayed on the wall above it. Another wall is covered with woven thatch. Two mismatched mirrors hang on the wall near each other, draped with a faux garland. “We like mirrors,” said Dianne. “It gives depth to a room.” A round glass table, encircled by four bent cane and wicker chairs from Pier 1 Imports, sits in the center of the Tiki Room. Flooring is pale, beige
linoleum designed to look like stones and pebbles. The low ceiling is loosely covered with slender bamboo fencing, above which tiny lights twinkle like stars. “Dean tried to duplicate an actual constellation,” said Dianne. He drew the constellation on black cloth, cut holes for the stars, and strung lights behind that, poking the lights through the holes. This “night sky” is secured by a larger piece of bamboo down
Dianne Ramsey’s music studio, including her grandfather’s organ, is decorated for the holidays.
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home accent / December 2009
published by the Skagit Valley Herald
the center of the ceiling, covered in faux ivy. Through sliding glass doors, left open except in winter, is the Jungle Room, a continuation of the tropical theme but with an outdoorsy feel. In fact, it was an outdoor patio, now enclosed. A pond occupies one end of the room, filled with nine languid orange and white koi. Two small waterfalls and a German bubbling spring called a sprudel create the soothing sound of running water. Lush plants surround the pond. In the Tiki Room, most of the plants are not real, but they are in the Jungle Room, except the flowers, which are stuck into plants with the appropriate foliage. Plants, most with large leaves, include split leaf philodendron, banana and a woven tea plant, which is said to bring good luck. Horizontal bamboo fencing on one wall creates the effect of a Polynesian hut. Leftover pieces of bamboo were used to build a small, asymmetrical bridge over the pond. Several carved sea turtles lie on the bridge, partially hidden by vegetation. A carved giraffe stands in a corner. Next to the bridge, softening the divide between the two halves of the published by the Skagit Valley Herald
‘’
A view of the kitchen from the Tiki Room.
We absolutely love Hawaii. Dean wanted to create something to give us that feeling when we can’t go there. He had the vision in his head. dianne ramsey
home accent / December 2009
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More Christmas decor in Dianne’s studio. Jungle Room, is an umbrella made of plastic thatch, strung with little lights around the inside of its canopy. The other end of the room is furnished with a long plywood table that has been mitered and varnished, giving it a lightweight, airy feel. Lining the table on one side, facing outside, are four chairs (also from Pier 1), their backs woven rawhide, their seats upholstered with black and brown, Polynesian-patterned fabric. A long window seat, upholstered with the same fabric, lines the other side of the table. Flooring in the Jungle Room is greenish-gray flagstone. A tropicaltheme, five-paddle fan hangs from the high ceiling.
home accent / December 2009
A life-sized, toy black panther crouches near the top of a tapered bamboo ladder that leads up from the Jungle Room to Dean’s “lair,” the only “upstairs” room in the house. Tucked above the laundry room, there is not enough headroom to stand. The walls and sloped floor are covered with woven thatch. Seven shallow, wide steps lead up diagonally to a flat area in which a mattress fits perfectly, next to a small peaked window. The steps are carpeted with a runner with a leafy motif, cut to fit each step. A blanket bound with faux leopard skin covers the mattress. A small TV and hidden sound system complete this private den. published by the Skagit Valley Herald
Back downstairs, through a door in the Tiki Room (cleverly disguised by woven thatch) and the laundry room behind it, is the second addition to the house: Dianne’s music studio, where she teaches piano and voice. The beige, carpeted room is open in the center, with furniture on the periphery. Couches and a chair for observing parents sit against one wall, and a piano, pump organ and several bookcases line the opposite wall. The bookcases, containing mostly books of music, are covered with German lace valances. The upright grand piano has a crystal piano light, photos of Dianne’s students on top of it, and a wide, low mirror behind it. At Christmas time, Dianne allows her students to play the organ, which belonged to her grandfather. “I have to get on my hands and knees to pump for the little ones,” she said. There are many small decorative items in her studio, changed often to celebrate the season, holiday or the theme of an upcoming performance. To contain her students, the studio has a separate entrance from outside (with yet more photos of her students just inside the door), as well as its own bathroom. The backyard is a mostly Japanese garden and bird sanctuary that attracts titmice, chickadees, Steller’s jays, flickers, and other birds. It features three pagodas of different sizes, two stone bridges, two bronze cranes, a goldfish pond, and a pagoda-style roof over the bird feeder. Plants include weeping larch and weeping Katsura.
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Part of Dianne’s cobalt glass collection. In keeping with the cultural mix inside, there are two old-fashioned, European-style street lamps in the yard. Plumbing for the pond is hidden inside a stone “mountain” with a trapezoidal door. Around the side of the house, past a bank of bamboo, mounds of velvety moss appear. A miniature German log cabin with heavy eaves sits at the foot of a tree. The moss continues around front, where another stone bridge arches over a rockery and round stone pavers meander through Japanese maples, Hinoki cypress, rhododendron and topiary pine. Two weeping cedars drape over fences that line each side of the driveway. The triangular window of Dean’s lair peeks out over the garage. C
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A detached office and workspace behind Shannon Good’s house adds another 300 square feet.
Small, simple and beautiful Mount Vernon home designer: ‘Cut out the fat and keep the really good stuff ’ Story by TAHLIA GANSER D Photos by FRANK VARGA
S
hannon Good has mastered the art of living small. A professional home designer, Good has worked on all types of living spaces. But for her own home, she preferred simple and beautiful. In her profession, Good frequently tells people who want their homes to be inviting and aesthetic to pare down — “cut out the fat and keep the really good stuff.” As for herself, she has the same standard. “I don’t like having anything in my house that isn’t functional and beautiful,” Good said at her 1950s post-war bungalow home on
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home accent / December 2009
Among the improvements is new plumbing. published by the Skagit Valley Herald
South 11th Street in Mount Vernon. “It has to be both or it just doesn’t make the cut.” Good bought her 850-square-foot home in the spring of 2008 and in less than two years has transformed it. A master of simple living, she’s learned how to reside in a small space and hopes others will take her lead down a more sustainable path. Many people think bigger is better, adding space that then needs to be maintained and heated, Good said. “Now I hope people are wanting to get smaller and more succinct,” she said. A detached office and workspace behind the home adds another 300 square feet. She rents out a third building, a 450-square-foot cottage also on the corner property. The three buildings together make up a Good suggests people keep as much as possible off the floor. An compact and quaint compound. Good also managed to fit a vegeta- example is the bathroom vanity, connected to the floor with just one ble garden in the center of the three leg. A drawer holds a garbage pail and a recycling container. buildings, as well as a small shed for gardening tools and bike gear. The property measures about 7,000 square feet. “It’s a size I can maintain myself,” Good said. The designer said she’s seeing more people steer away from larger homes. “People are scaling back,” she said. While searching for a home, Good knew she wanted a place with sunlight and garden space. She loves cooking and hosting dinner parties, so she knew she needed an efficient kitchen, too. Though her home needed work, as “many people have had their way with this house,” Good knew that it had the fundamentals she wanted.
A detached office and workspace behind the home adds another 300 square feet. She rents out a third building, a 450-square-foot cottage also on the corner property. The three buildings together make up a compact and quaint compound.
TOP: Like the rest of the house, this bedroom showcases large pieces of local art. RIGHT: In the living room, the red couch provides a splash of color. Good refinished the white oak floors. published by the Skagit Valley Herald
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So Good went to work. She refinished the white oak floors, then remodeled the bathroom so the toilet wasn’t visible from the living room and converted a guest room into a back entrance and entry way — making the home flow together and maximizing her limited space. That was her goal with the whole house. Good offers tips for making small spaces look bigger, which she used on her own
urban-looking home. She advises people to keep as much as possible off the floor. To do this, Good got creative. In the bathroom, the vanity connects to the floor on one small leg. She built a drawer into the vanity to hold a garbage pail and a recycling container. She said placing windows so that you can see from one side of a house through the window on the other side of the home creates a feeling of transparency and space.
A small shed holds bike gear and gardening tools.
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home accent / December 2009
published by the Skagit Valley Herald
Most of all, Good keeps her house simple and free of clutter. “I can’t function in visual chaos,” she said. Good painted her home in neutral but complimentary colors from the color wheel, pulled together with dark gray doors and cream trim. “I look for inspiration for colors from outside in the Northwest,” she said. “The cool gray clouds, the winter sky and the dry grasses and the bark from trees and pine cones.” But for all its simplicity, Good doesn’t keep the home from feeling warm and visual. She placed splashes of color all over: a collection of hats on one shelf, a red couch in the living room and the last red and green tomatoes from her own backyard. Good also hangs large pieces of art she’s collected over the past 30 years, mostly by local artists or herself, she said. “She works very well with spaces, almost like a little jewel box,” said former home designer Peter Goldfarb, who lives in the area. “Everything has a place.” Goldfarb is the former owner of the White Swan Guest House on Fir Island. Since finishing the interior of her home in June, Good has settled in, enjoying all the improvements, especially the new plumbing, heating and insulation. “The whole house just exudes a calmness that is just really satisfying,” Good said. “There is absolutely nothing about it that I would change.” C
TOP: The designer maximizes the limited space while making the home flow. LEFT: Good’s hat collection is among her home’s splashes of color.
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Young, purple wine to delight the taste buds t h e
w i n e
g u y s
B
eaujolais Nouveau season is upon us with an ocean of young purple wine washing ashore. The gamay grape that goes into beaujolais is by far the P a t r i c k D a r r most widely planted grape in & T o m M a r q u a r d t the Burgundy region. It produces two times the amount of wine produced in all of the rest of Burgundy. And, amazingly, 50 percent of beaujolais is sold within 30 days of the release of the Nouveau Beaujolais, resulting in a truly seasonal phenomenon. Although nouveau is a very successful marketing gimmick, it’s the other 50 percent of beaujolais consumed year-round that deserves the attention. We recently tasted a current release of Louis Latour Beaujolais Villages Chameroy 2008 ($15), and found it to exhibit the classic exuberant fresh berry fruit of a young, well-made beaujolais. The wine aromas seemed to literally jump out of the glass. Not so classic, but immensely interesting, was the Henry Fessy Beaujolais cru wine that we also tasted. Last year Louis Latour purchased Henry Fessy, a producer of wines from all 10 of the beaujolais crus as well as a beaujolais villages wine. The Henry Fessy Fleurie 2007 ($18) is a much lighter style beaujolais than the Latour version. It is very pinot noir-like with a cherry/berry nose and flavors and interesting earthy, mocha notes. Georges Duboeuf’s flower labels are still the most recognized on the market and there are other brands to consider. Here are some:
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home accent / December 2009
George Duboeuf Cote de Fleurie 2008 ($14): Blueberry and mineral aromas with bright raspberry flavors. Potel-Aviron Fleurie 2007 ($22): We always underestimate the finesse and power of a good beaujolais. This cru village has ripe black cherry and plum fruit with a nice touch of chocolate. Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages 2008 ($12): Lots of bright berry flavors and a touch of spice. An excellent wine to match a variety of food.
CHABLIS DISCOVERY Another relatively recent purchase by Louis Latour is Simonnet Febvre that makes a sauvignon blanc from the tiny St. Bris appellation near Chablis. Made from 100 percent sauvignon blanc grapes — all stainless steel aged and 100 percent malolactic fermented — the Saint-Bris Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($13) is a delight to drink and an incredible value to boot. The nose exhibits herbs and mint with citrus fruit, flint and steel in the mouth, and a pleasing creamy finish. We also enjoyed the Simonnet-Febvre Cremant De Bourgogne Non-vintage ($19). This sparkling wine is a blend of 60 percent chardonnay and 40 percent pinot noir grapes grown in Chablis. It is aged three years before release. A very nice, elegant toast-tinged nose, with a rich and full presence in the mouth and delicious citrus fruit flavors.
WINE PICKS Robert Oatley Shiraz 2007 ($20): Generous blackberry flavors and a soft mouth-feel typical of the grape variety. Nice splash of spice and oak. Oatley was the mastermind behind Rosemount’s shiraz that established the popularity of this Australian grape variety here in the 1980s. At 80, he has re-entered the wine business with six wines, including a tasty chardonnay. Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($15): Made by Joseph Carr, this Napa wine uses grapes from Red Hills. It has forward, ripe blackberry fruit and a touch of cassis and oak. A good value. Ottimino Zinfinity Sonoma County Zinfandel 2006 ($17): Jammy plum and cherry notes with sweet vanillin oak, raspberry flavors and good body. Louis M. Martini Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($17): A brand that has had its ups and downs, Martini was once the benchmark for cabernet sauvignon. The 2007 has enjoyable, forward-fruit flavors of cherries and blackberries with a touch of chocolate. Hanna Chardonnay Sonoma County Russian River Valley 2007 ($25): Fruit and toasted nuts in the nose, with balanced tropical fruit flavors and a nice nutty creamy finish. A very easy-to-drink wine. Bridlewood Monterey County Chardonnay 2007 ($15): What a great value. Fresh fruit flavors with notes of apples and ripe tropical fruit. El Coto de Rioja Coto de Imaz Reserva 2004 ($20): A great value from Rioja, this wine exhibits vanilla and berry aroms with jammy red cherry flavors and ripe tannins. Tom Marquardt and Patrick Darr have visited vineyards all over the world and have been writing a wine column for 20 years. Courtesy of Relish Magazine. They can be reached at tmarquardt@capitalgazette.com.
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home accent / December 2009
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TO SUIT THE CHEF
Wheat Berries By JO MARSHALL Contributor, Relish Magazine
The current popularity of wheat berries may represent back-to-basics eating in its most radical form: At some point in mankind’s 11,000year love affair with wheat, we seemingly became so infatuated with the ways we could process it — pulverizing it into flour for lofty breads, twisting it into pasta, fermenting it into alcohol — that we must have forgotten that this grass’s nutritious kernel could be eaten whole, thereby ingesting all three of the grain’s vital components: bran, germ and endosperm. The wheat berry turns back the clock. It’s the whole grain, and nothing but the grain, with only the hull removed. Wheat berries look something like brown rice. Industrious bakers grind wheat berries into homemade wholewheat flour. Nutritionistas and raw foodists set them in water to grow their own crunchy sprouts. Enlightened chefs simply boil them like rice to enhance dishes with their nutty flavor and chewy bite. Wheat berries are particularly good in pilafs, salads and soups. For a tasty side, add cooked wheat berries to mushrooms sautéed with a little onion. Look for wheat berries in natural food stores or well-stocked groceries. A cup of cooked wheat berries has about 300 calories and is packed with fiber, protein and iron. Stored in an air-tight container in a cool, dark place, they’ll last for a long time—foodie chat rooms are abuzz with reports contending that wheat berries excavated from 5,000-year-old Egyptian tombs were still vital enough to sprout.
Wheat Berry Salad
MARK BOUGHTON PHOTO
Try this nutritious salad with your leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
2 cups wheat berries 4 quarts water 1 cup diced celery 1 pound roughly chopped turkey or rotisserie chicken 1 tart apple, such as Northern Spy or Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced (about 1 cup) 4 green onions, thinly sliced 1 cup dried cranberries 1 cup chopped pecans 3 tablespoons walnut or corn oil 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried
A16
home accent / December 2009
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or 12⁄ teaspoon dried 1 teaspoon salt 12⁄ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1. Place wheat berries in a large pot; add water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain in a colander and cool. 2. Place wheat berries in a large bowl; stir in remaining ingredients. Serve cold or at room temperature. Serves 10. Recipe by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. Per serving: 392 calories, 19g fat, 36mg chol., 19g prot., 36g carbs., 7g fiber, 712mg sodium.
published by the Skagit Valley Herald
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Skagit County Newcomers and Visitors Guide 2010-11
Your community-based comprehensive guide to Skagit County. • Printed on quality high-brite paper with a gloss cover and center spread, this detailed resource guide replaces the former MacGregor visitors guide. It includes 11 NEW maps by local cartographer, Mark Bunzel, of all surrounding cities, towns and key landmarks. • Features stories, demographics and facts about our cities and towns, plus resources for public services, one-day outings, fairs and festivals and much more. • Approximately 100,000 copies will be distributed on ferries, along the I-5 corridor, area Chambers of Commerce, motels, hotels, real estate offices and other key locations. • This guide will also be inserted into the Skagit Valley Herald and featured in its entirety on goskagit.com, Skagit County’s most-visited website.
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