Lawrence Architecturelawrencearchitecture.com

206.332.1832

Methow Home 3

elcome to the first issue of Methow Home, the annual supplement that has for

many years been known as Methow Valley Building. We have not only rechristened the publication, but also redesigned it and broadened its reach. Methow Home will still focus heavily on the main aspects of home and second home own-ership in the valley, but will also expand its coverage to be more

inclusive and useful for current homeowners, potential buyers and people intent on realizing their own Methow Valley dream with a custom-designed home.

We intend Methow Home to be both personal and practical, with an emphasis on all that goes into creating a unique living space in a special setting. And we will spot-light the talents, products and ser-vices of local businesses that have

a significant presence in the valley marketplace. We are also featuring the unique stories of half-a-dozen local homeowners who brought their ideas to life, and may inspire others to do the same.

Methow Valley Building has been a popular annual supplement, with wide distribution in the valley and beyond, and we hope Methow Home will build on that momen-tum. We’re excited about the direc-

tion that Methow Home will take our readers and advertisers. We know that there are lots of other in-teresting homes out there to profile, and so we will be looking for more ideas and suggestions from archi-tects, builders and homeowners. Let us know what you think. Con-tact us at editor@methowvalleynews.com or call (509) 997-7011.

Don NelsonPublisher and Editor

Your new HomePhoto © Steve Keating Photography

W

Don Nelsonpublisher/editor

Sue Misaodesign

Robin Doggettad sales manager

Marilyn Bardinoffice manager

Callie Finkad sales

Dana Spharad design/production

Linda Dayad design

Janet Mehusoffice assistant

A publication of theMethow Valley News

P.O. Box 97101 N. Glover St.Twisp, WA 98856

509.997.7011fax 509.997.3277

www.methowvalleynews.com

editor@methowvalleynews.com

4 Methow Home

6 Creative constructionLocal builders adapt to downsizing trend

8 Plant yourselfLandscape design is not an

afterthought

11 Outer spaceSheds, garages, barns and

guest houses add utility

14 Home workDefining an effective work place where you live

16 Artful ideasMake room for creative works

19 Know the drillLooking after wells and septic systems

22 Home cookingThe ingredients of an efficient

kitchen

26 Heart & HomeSix Methow designs that reflect

their owners’ personalities

MethowHome

A supplement to the

Methow Valley News

2012/2013

CONTENTS

40 Setting boundariesOur fences say a lot about our open spaces

42 Fencing stylesA photo gallery

44 Saving the bestHow conservation easements work

46 Ready for anythingOutfitting your home for work

and play

48 Before you buy ...Advice from local real estate

experts

49 Valley builders ...No one does it better

50 Directory of advertisers

Finding products and services you can use

Methow Home 5

Contributors

On the cover: Wolf Creek home is a natural fit for the valley.Photo by Steve Keating, courtesy of Balance Associates

Don Nelson is publisher and editor of the Methow Valley News.

Marcy Stamper is a Methow Valley News reporter.

Ann McCreary is a Methow Valley News reporter.

Mike Maltais is the sports editor of the Methow Valley News.

Laurelle Walsh is a Methow Valley News reporter and proofreader.

Bob Spiwak is Methow Valley News columnist and freelance writer and photographer.

Ashley Lodato is a Methow Valley News columnist.

Patrick Hannigan is a columnist for the Methow Valley News and local freelance writer.

Joanna Smith is a Methow Valley News columnist.

Georgina Tobiska is a local freelance writer.

Peter Morgan and his wife, Raleigh Bowden, own the Methow Valley Inn.

6 Methow Home

new reality is raising its head among

Methow Valley homebuilders this year. Its influence is being reflected in fewer orders, and for smaller projects, coming from a client base that is downsizing the dream home in proportion to di-minished financial options.

If cash is not king, it certainly will be a ruler of notable measure for Methow Val-ley homebuilders and contractors in 2012. Those once generous hands of commercial lenders have now tight-ened their icy grip around the purse

The new trend in

homebuilding is smaller – but still distinct

By MIKE MALTAIS

ADownsizing the dream

Affordability and practicality are the new priorities for new homes. Photo by Sue Misao

Methow Home 7

strings, made credit significantly harder to come by and cooled the building boom of recent years.

This is one component of the local homebuilding economy that Andy Hover, manager of North Val-ley Lumber, hopes will soon change.

“I hope the banking industry will loosen the reins a little bit,” Hover said. “Interest rates are lower than they have been in years, but many people just can’t qualify for loans.”

Hover added that even home-owners with high-to-100 percent equity ratios in their homes are finding it difficult to unlock that value by borrowing against it.

Getting creativeStill, dreams die hard, espe-

cially when proprietary to resilient Methow residents who dine on adversity as if it was a mere condi-ment for the principal repast of life. So, when the going gets tough, the tough get creative.

Scaled-down designs, bet-ter heating efficiency, repurposed materials, greater green awareness, less expensive components, more sweat equity, and remodeling as an

alternative to new structures are among the options being consid-ered by contractors and clients today.

“Needs, lifestyle, and budget, that’s what families are looking at now,” said Chris Stern, owner of Common Sense Custom Homes.

Stern, whose background is in forest management, built his own log home in the valley in 1977 and

started his construction business the following year. Since that time he has witnessed the ups and downs of the homebuilding activ-ity here.

“For the first five years after I started my business I could tell you every house that was being built in the valley and who was build-

ing it.” Stern said. “During the next 10 years it really took off and I couldn’t keep up with half of who was doing what.”

Stern says now the emphasis is back on “matching dreams to budgets and practicality.”

Staying in focusThat’s easier said than done,

and while Stern admits that he likes working with clients who have some idea of what they want to do, he said the trick is to “mas-sage a project to match materials with styles and dreams and bring them back into focus,” to stay within budget constraints.

Andy McConkey of Stopwater Construction said that while “I don’t do a ton of volume, last year we had a really great year” build-ing homes that the owners are now finishing. That pace has slowed in 2012, McConkey said, adding that the types of jobs are about the same but the numbers are down.

Hover noted that some build-ers who were previously “booked two or more years out are now looking for business.”

Hover observed that home-

builders are taking a second look at materials expense as an avenue to reduce costs, “substituting faux stone for the real thing or passing on cedar siding for a more econom-ical choice.”

David Ekblad, owner of Ekblad Construction, encourages his cli-ents to consider sweat equity as a route to savings on labor costs.

“I incorporate client labor all the time in my projects,” Ekblad said. He cited as a recent example a couple that was very involved in the home he was constructing for them.

“They did a lot of sanding, oiling, organizing and cleanup,” Ekblad said. He added that for the motivated clients who recognize their limitations there is still much they can contribute toward their own projects.

At the end of the day and at the end of the project, those for whom money is a limiting fac-tor will, with the right kind of qualified help, find ways to scale back what once might have been possible to what is economically feasible. Dream homes can still be built, even if they are downsized in dollars and scale.

“Needs, lifestyle, and budget, that’s what families are looking at now.”Chris Stern of Common

Sense Custom Homes

Energ

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Energ

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Sola

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Sola

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Solu

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Solu

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8 Methow Home

Site &

foresight

ou’re ready to build your Methow Valley dream home. You’ve gone

through months, maybe years, of planning, and the bulldozer is ready to roll.

But hold on … do you have

your landscape design in place?Local landscapers say you

can save yourself a lot of time and expense by creating your landscape plan before you move any dirt for your house.

“If you’re building a new

home, think about landscaping prior to beginning construc-tion,” advises Sarah Schrock, owner of Altitude Design. “Look at what you’ve got on site and don’t disrupt it. If you want to utilize native plants,

Make landscape design part of your planning

from the start

By ANN McCREARY

YRocks and old farm implements don’t need watering, but native plants do in the first three years. Photo by Sue Misao

Methow Home 9

you can often salvage what’s on site.”

“A lot of times people call me two years after the house has been com-pleted,” said landscaper Eric Claussen of Mountain Thyme Design. “Bulldozers and backhoes thrash every-thing, and the landscaper is expected to come in and re-create everything.

“I have to go in often and re-grade,” Claussen says. “If you have to put in 100 yards of material … that’s tremen-dously expen-sive. If you can protect things and not thrash your site, then it’s going to be a lot easier.”

Schrock advises new homebuilders to be strategic about topsoil that is moved during con-struction.

“Make sure it’s stock-piled in areas where it will be easy to access and dis-tribute,” she says. “During construction is also a good time to dig trenches for irri-gation or sculpt land forms such as swales or berms that are part of the design, because the equipment is already there.”

Going nativeBergen Brell of Canyon

Creek Landscapes works strictly with native plants. Her clients are usually

trying to bring back the natural surroundings that inspired them to build in the Methow in the first place.

“Many people move to the Methow Valley because they are attracted to the pristine natural environ-ment that still exists here,” Brell says. “When they decide to build their home, a certain amount of that environment is destroyed. That’s where bringing the native plants back in gives the restoration process a

kick start.”Working

with plants that are native to the Methow Valley has many advan-tages, land-scapers say.

“We are very fortu-nate that the Methow Valley has so many native plants

with ornamental qualities,” Brell says. “Abundant flow-ers giving way to colorful berries or interesting seed pods. Vivid stem hues and seasonal color changes pro-vide some amazing land-scaping potential.”

People sometimes have some misconceptions about landscaping with native plants, however. Because native plants are generally assumed to be drought-tolerant and deer-resistant, people may think they need little care.

“A lot of people think

you can just do a native landscape and not water it, and that’s not true. Until plants have their full root system intact, they are not drought tolerant. They need three years of irrigation and fertilization,” Brell says.

“Native plants are what deer eat,” she adds. “You do need to provide protection.”

Brell likes to design landscaping that can be pro-tected for three years, until the plants become

Have a plan for your boulders when your bulldozer’s ready to roll. Photo by Joyce CampbellCont. on P. 10

Even without flowers, your landscape can be quite colorful. Photo by Robin Doggett

“Until plants have their full root system intact, they are not drought tolerant.”Bergen Brell, Canyon

Creek Landscapes

10 Methow Home

established, and then the protection can be re-moved. She creates “swaths” of similar plants so that deer damage is not as noticeable.

“If you have a swath of 20 service berries, deer will walk through and browse it and not annihilate it,” she says.

Claussen uses natives in his landscaping, but also turns to what he calls “nearly natives” to add more color throughout the growing season. Many natives bloom in spring, but when the hot summer weather sets in they go dormant, he said.

“I integrate those native plants so you have early bloom, and use nearly natives to try to sus-tain that foliage bloom throughout the season,” he says.

Simplicity works tooBrell said that people who want a true native

landscape need to understand that the plantings around their home will follow the pattern of growth that occurs throughout the valley.

“Native landscapes are not super-flowery. Flowers are really abundant in spring, but the flowering is usually over by summer. There is a lot of color happening, but not in the form of flowers,” she says.

“Color starts coming back in the fall,” she adds. “Oregon grape starts turning bright red, Douglas maple turns bright yellow. There are vivid orange red mountain ash, dark purple

elderberries and bright red chokecherries. A person has to look into the landscape beyond flowers. There is still a lot of color. And by land-scaping in swaths, the color is magnified.”

Claussen, who does landscape installation as well as design, said he has gravitated toward greater simplicity and more hardscape – stones and wood structures – in his landscaping. For instance, he said he recently enjoyed creating a design of all rock, from river rock to boulders.

“I can do a beautiful hardscape and mini-mize the amount of planting you have to do,” Claussen says.

Simplicity of the hardscape and plantings

is appropriate for the Methow Valley, Claussen said.

“Tiers and tiers of rock walls don’t really work here because they are hard to weed,” Claussen says. “I would rather hold a bank with some nice big rocks, grasses, native shrubs and perennials.”

Brell said she takes inspiration in her work from the natural beauty of the Methow Valley. “If I can bring that pristine natural environment back to the places where it has been disturbed or destroyed … then I feel that I have done my small part in helping keep the beautiful Methow Valley how I found it.”

Designed features can create distinct landscaping effects. Photo courtesy of Eric Claussen

From Page 9

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Methow Home 11

eople in the Methow have stuff, and stuff takes up space – but what happens when we have

more stuff than space? The answer is outbuildings.

A simple drive through the val-

ley reveals an amazing diversity of outbuildings: guest houses, garages, barns, carports, workshops, art stu-dios, wood sheds, tool sheds, saunas, playhouses, tree houses, greenhouses, pump houses, outhouses, root cellars

and chicken coops – just to name a few.

Since outbuildings are a fact of life for most in the Methow, let’s take a look at some of the rules and regula-tions that pertain to structures other than our primary dwelling units. Sound official, eh? Well, when it comes to outbuildings, there is a lot of official stuff to know. Fortunately, it’s all so complicated we can’t begin to cover it in this article, so we’ll keep it brief be-fore moving on to less tedious aspects of outbuildings.

ZoningDespite the occasionally chaotic

look of some of the outbuilding-rich Hooverville-style homesteads in the Methow, the valley is not the Wild West. When it comes to zoning, the Methow is a highly regulated locale and there are multiplicities of zoning codes that define the allowable exis-tence or use of outbuildings. Beyond that, generalizations are difficult.

Take it outsideFrom sheds to barns to

guest houses, utility

buildings require some

thought

By PATRICK

HANNIGANPHave a purpose in mind when you think about an outbuilding. Photo by Patrick Hannigan

Cont. on P. 12

Common Sense Custom Homes, Inc.

12 Methow Home

Say, for example, you are considering buying a piece of land or a home with an eye toward later adding a garage with a mother-in-law apartment. Depending on the location, that may or may not be possible.

Most (but not all) of the private land in the Methow falls within the Methow Review District, but with-in that district there are more than a half-dozen subdistricts, each with its own rules relevant to the use, size and placement of outbuildings. Varying regulations apply to lots, one-acre parcels, five-acre parcels and 20-plus-acre pieces, and those rules will be different, depending on whether or not the property in question is in town, out of town or in a planned development. Clear as mud?

In short, anyone considering a home or land in the valley should clearly understand which zoning rules apply to a given property and be certain how those regulations are compatible with the intended construction of outbuildings. The best way to figure all this out is to call the Okanogan County Plan-ning Department at (509) 422-7160

with property parcel number in hand and start asking questions.

PermittingBuilding permits are required

for outbuildings in the Methow Valley – with a few notable excep-tions. Once the Planning Depart-ment has determined a particular

outbuilding is permissible, the Building Department is charged with permitting and inspecting that structure to ensure it conforms to applicable codes.

Permits are not required for “agricultural buildings,” which are defined as outbuildings designed to house farm implements, hay,

grain, poultry and livestock, so long as those buildings are less than 4,000 square feet and are not designed for human habitation, public use, or as a place of em-ployment.

Other permit-exempt struc-tures include single-story stor-age sheds with a footprint of 200 square feet or less. Guest houses, carports, garages, wood shops, art studios and most other outbuild-ings are not exempt. Note: Even outbuildings that are exempt from the building permit process may not be allowed, depending on site-specific zoning codes.

In practice, enforcement is oc-casionally spotty in a huge, rural area like Okanogan County, but that is less true in the Methow Valley. Building inspectors are primarily concerned with new construction and, for the most part, are not as picky about older, established structures.

If you plan to invest a signifi-cant amount of money or time in a new outbuilding, it pays to at least try to pretend to jump through the relevant hoops. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories, but the

From Page 11

You may want to leave construction of bigger buildings to the professionals. Photo by Don Nelson

Methow Home 13

building officials I’ve worked with have generally been fair and even forgiving at times. A good attitude goes a long way.

PlanningThe old proverb about how

failing to plan is planning to fail is particularly pithy when it comes to outbuildings. It doesn’t matter if you live on a century-old home-stead or just acquired a raw acre; outbuildings are an inevitably evolutionary process, a standing (and sometimes leaning) history of good and bad development deci-sions.

So, before breaking ground on a new outbuilding, stop and draw up a site plan. A site plan assesses what is, imagines what might be, and speculates on how those extant and theoretical outbuild-ings might work together – or not. It sounds complicated, but all it really takes is a few crayons and some paper.

Think of a site plan as a sort of bird’s eye view of your property – a graphic representation of the arrangement of boundaries, build-ings (existing or proposed), drive- or pathways, utilities, topography, views, trees, sun, garden spaces,

landscaping, etc. The more ele-ments you can include in a site plan, the better.

Even with a site plan, it’s easy to put outbuildings in the wrong places. Trust me, in the decade I’ve been developing my homestead, I’ve built five outbuildings, disas-sembled two of those and moved another three times. A good site plan can spare you a lot of outbuild-ing-related headaches in the long run and result in a home site that hangs together in coherent fashion.

BuildingThe actual construction of

outbuildings is often the fun part because it’s the stage when we can get our hands dirty and see our dreams take physical form. Regard-less of whether you are doing it yourself or hiring help, outbuild-ings are a chance to add to your lot in life in a functional and creative manner.

One of the biggest challenges with outbuildings – from guest houses to chicken coops – is main-taining some degree of consistency in terms of style. That doesn’t mean that all structures on a property need be exactly the same, but think of it in terms of echoes. A

house, a woodshed, a gazebo and a garage can either complement each other or appear totally haphazard depending on whether or not there is some echo in terms of design, color or finish materials.

In conclusion, it seems that the longer we live in one place, the greater our need for outbuildings,

for we humans tend to be acquisi-tive creatures. I know one couple who likes to boast about how their 800-square-foot home is plenty of space. I just look around at the half-dozen outbuildings, including barns, studios, sheds and shops that surround their small house, nod and laugh. X

Check zoning and permitting requirements before siting a new building. Photo by Patrick Hannigan

Common Sense Custom Homes, Inc.

14 Methow Home

Working solutions

he home office: How do we combine the two? How do we separate them?

It’s a challenge. There may be no door to close off for privacy, or the cash on hand (before siding is complete) to erect walls, so the home office may function as dining room, home school center, and desk for computer and phone. Decidedly not ideal.

However, many in the Methow have el-evated the home office to a more distinct status. Partly because of our remote location, home businesses flourish here. Most common are private contractors and consultants who create businesses from scratch and second homeowners who can work remotely or part time. Nationally, home-based businesses are more popular than ever as people get creative in our recessed job market. Home offices in the valley have their own character. Using recycled and rustic materi-als amid high technologies is popular. Energy efficiency tends to guide design, and many homebuilders are requesting green construction. Light, color, feng shui and multi-use values are also integral to many designs.

Sense of well-beingOver the 10 years that Hilton Construction

has been in the valley, they have included a home office in almost every home they’ve built. Mike and Laurie Hilton work closely with their clients to create a work space in which they are inspired and want to spend time.

Laurie Hilton reflects, “creating a sense of well-being within the work space is often overlooked in our culture.” To create that sense, Hilton Construction’s designs focus on natural light, positioning and storage efficiency as well as technological considerations. Feng shui prin-ciples, such as the use of natural elements (stone, wood, metals, etc.) and a color palate from natural surroundings (such as “green lichen” and “red dogwood”) also guide their designs.

The Hiltons look at office design in terms of specific technology needs first, asking their clients to consider details like recharger locations, number of necessary personal devices and tech-nology specific storage. The advent of paperless offices makes many different designs possible.

Besides stand-alone offices, the Hiltons have designed several combo rooms. “We’ve done sev-eral closet offices in the design/build stage, and we designed them so that they could be either a closet or an office,” Laurie says. “Sometimes it makes the most sense for use of space and to be able to close it off at the end of the day. Often however, this can be confining, lighting isn’t that great and your back tends to be to the entrance. Lack of inspiration may be the trade-off.”

Of the 20 or so homes that the firm Balance Associates has designed in the Methow, chief

Making space for a home officeBy GEORGINA TOBISKA

T

Desk by day, “Murphy bed” by night.

Methow Home 15

architect Tom Lenchek says he has included offices in the majority. Increasingly, folks love to build second homes here that almost always include home office for remote work.

“Recently what we’ve seen is that the houses have gotten smaller, the average is in the two- to three-bedroom range, about 1,500 square feet,” he says. “They have become more modest in size but nicer in finish. Most of our clients are inter-ested in green construction. Passive solar, using recycled materials, making the building last, these are the basics of our clients’ needs.”

Less room, more organizationNancy St. Clair, owner/operator of St. Clair

WEBWorks, has designed many an office in her private career, and says definitively: More is not better. She has been a webmaster for small busi-nesses and nonprofits for many years and knows the hazards of work-at-home multitasking and the threat of clutter in the home office.

“I recently got rid of two corner cabinets, a big antique oak desk, a heavy wood computer table, a computer modular unit, a filing cabinet, three printers, two scanners,” she says. “The only thing I have left is one large, open clean desk, one cabinet and a day bed for lounging.”

“The most important thing about working at home for me is staying organized,” she adds. “Whereas having a town office requires you to maintain organization, at home it’s easy to get dysfunctional and make yourself crazy.”

She has managed to avoid that through sim-plification of furniture and technologies as well as making her office inviting and comfortable.

Or perhaps, limit yourself to a very small space, where clutter isn’t an option. Balance As-sociates designed an office out of a closet with a reclaimed wide barn door which slid out of the way. It measures just two feet by eight feet.

Lenchek notes that “more and more, people are using their laptops, so the office space can be smaller and more efficient. There is less of a trend to create exclusive office spaces. In one Methow home design, we have a ‘murphy bed,’ which folds up into the wall when it is not in use, then

the desk folds down out of the bed. Another home design, Arrowleaf, includes an office that houses two single beds along windowed walls which serve as seating but also convert into guest quarters.”

Being creativeWhat to do when there’s no budget for brand

new infrastructure? Even though the ideal would be to create your office as your favorite room, reality might not include a huge budget. Even a laptop can be enough for a home office, given creativity and determination.

Sarah Berns is a great example of Methow home business ingenuity. The operator of Spring Creek Ranch in Winthrop, Berns took on a sec-ond job at home as a screenplay writer. Because her former home office had become her baby daughter’s bedroom, she had to search hard for privacy. Her solution? She re-appropriated the family summer traveler trailer into an impromp-tu office while writing her screenplay for the Sundance Film Festival.

“It was great to have some space outside of the home where I could set up all my books and notes and computer,” Berns says. “And I just shoveled the door out the other day so I could continue working on my current scripts!”

So, whether it’s a haven of personal luxury, a multi-use room that combines many family needs, or a lonely trailer that needs a friend, working at home can be quite workable in the Methow.

Photos by Steve Keating Photography

Because it takes us all to care for a place as special as the Methow.

Your local nonprofit working to protect the best of the Methow Valley.

Learn more about our conservation projects & classes www.methowconservancy.org

509-996-2870 ConservancyMethow

16 Methow Home

new house bought or built is like a blank canvas. It’s an empty space loaded with potential, ready and awaiting personalization by its occu-

pants. Art, in the form of painting or sculp-

ture, an antique chair or an heirloom quilt, is one of the ways we transform a house into a home.

Art has a profound effect on the feel of a finished space, but too often the details of

By PATRICK HANNIGAN

Think

from the start

Don’t forget to make space for your favorite pieces

art

Artwork can include anything you think is creative and decorative. Photo by Sue Misao

A

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Methow Home 17

interior design are relegated to afterthought during the whirlwind of construction. Yet devoting a little up-front thought toward creating spaces and places for art in a home makes both practi-cal and aesthetic sense and can dramatically improve a home.

“Working with a de-signer early in the process, before you’ve even poured the foundation, can help a lot,” said Erin Putnam, an interior designer from Winthrop. “I always ask people, ‘What objects do

you want as focal points in your home? What things are special to you?’”

The answers can affect basic construction consid-erations, such as wiring, the placement of built-in lighting or the dimensions of an open wall, and also shape choices such as color, texture and finish materials. Putnam emphasizes that art in a home is broader than just a painting on a wall: It can be a lamp, a vase, a view, or functional items such as a chair or a fire-place.

Look for lightA designer can fa-

cilitate the conversations among homeowner, ar-chitect and contractor and notice things that might otherwise be overlooked, said Carolyn Schmekel, who started Harmony House Interiors in Win-throp in 1986.

“Sometimes people design a home around their art. In other cases, people have purchased a home and are trying to figure out how to incorporate art into a space,” said Schmekel, who sold Harmony House and now works as an inde-pendent design consultant.

Lighting – day and night – is an important factor governing the place-ment or selection of art in a space, said Schmekel. Sunlight can cause glare or wash out a wall space, and direct sun over time can have a ruinous effect on a photograph, a special rug or an antique couch.

When Barbara New-man decided to build a new home on Wolf Creek, creating spaces for art was a priority. Her son Jeremy Newman, who is an artist and owner of Twisp River Glassworks, built the house with an eye toward the artistic.

“I wanted to have some big open walls washed with light where I could display some of my quilt collection,” said Newman. “But we also wanted little niches here and there for art, including Jeremy’s work, of course.”

For instance, by adding little lights to the space above their refrigerator, the Newmans transformed a throwaway space into an attractive nook that highlights small sculptural pieces.

“We were kind of lucky because it took us a long time to get started on our house, so we had a lot of time to think about little details like that,” said New-man. “It makes a big

An art centerpiece can help define a large space. Photo by Patrick Hannigan

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18 Methow Home

difference in the end. Too often art is sort of an after-thought.”

Prioritizing artTina and Harold Heath

had accumulated a signifi-cant art collection through the years, so when they built their new home near Big Valley Ranch, Tina went as far as to give their archi-tect measurements of each

painting and sculpture she wanted in the home.

“I wouldn’t say I’d put art over plumbing, but it was very important to me that art and home all work perfectly together,” said Tina. “Good design is joy all through the year.”

Heath said the pro-cess of working with an architect was invaluable in bringing her vision of an artistic home to life. There was just one conflict: Tina had a piece of art with sentimental value, but the architect balked at includ-ing the piece because he thought it just didn’t work. Sentiment prevailed over professional judgment and Tina included the piece anyway.

“I told him I thought the job of the architect was to do what we wanted, only better,” said Heath. “It worked out; in the end we got something better than we could imagine.”

While design profes-sionals can help, they are not always necessary and

even the most modest space can be a beautiful one, said Irene Simms, who lives in a doublewide near Twisp. Simms has an extensive collection of local art, in-cluding a piece from Steve Ward, which inspired her to repaint her living room

bright red. Simms then painted

her kitchen chartreuse with a Jackson Pollock splatter-style paint job for the floor. The centerpiece of her office is a creatively painted hood from an old Karmann Ghia.

“I’ve kind of adapted my space to go with my art,” said Simms. “It’s a bit of a potpourri, but I love it. It feels good and it inspires me.”

In the end, that’s ex-actly what most of us hope for in a living space.

In Barbara Newman’s new home, creating spaces for art was a priority. Photo by Sue Misao

Photo by Marcy Stamper

From Page 17

Methow Home 19

our home’s tap water is something you probably don’t think much about, unless

there is a problem. That’s the way it should be, says Beaver Creek Well Services owner Jake Whipple.

“If a well is properly constructed there shouldn’t be any problems with the well itself,” he says.

Although mechanical problems arise when well pumps, switches and other parts fail, these issues are usually remedied with a call to a well services pro-fessional.

“We have such great tap water around here,” said Whipple, “that un-less your well has a known problem or a history of contaminants, you prob-ably don’t need to do any regular testing unless you notice a change in taste, ap-pearance, or quality.”

Whipple has a few pieces of advice for home-owners regarding main-taining wells that function smoothly.

“First,” says Whipple, “before you buy a piece of property with a well, do your homework. If the well

is an old hand-dug well, a shallow well, or a well where the casing is located below the ground, you may face some well problems in your future.”

For new construction, Whipple urges homeown-ers to make space inside their new homes for the mechanical workings of a well such as the well pump and pressure switch. Some homeowners locate these mechanics outside the house in a concrete vault to save space, but Whipple cautions that these sys-tems subject the electrical components to moisture, rodents, and insects that frequently cause problems.

If your waterline is buried less than 6 feet deep, Whipple recommends keeping it accessible in winter by not plowing over it, just in case it freezes and

needs to be mechanically thawed. Similarly, for wells located in outdoor concrete vaults, Whipple cautions that in years when extreme cold temperatures come prior to thick insulating snow layers, and the frost layer creeps down to five-to-six feet, homeowners may need to install a heat source inside the vault to keep the parts from freez-ing.

Know your fieldWhile your well

provides incoming water to your home, your septic system deals with outgoing water and other material. In most private residences without sewer services the septic system is essentially a large tank designed to hold human biological waste until it is broken

Incoming and outgoing

How to take care of your

well and septic system

By ASHLEY LODATO

Proper installation of a drain field is essential. Photo by Ashley Lodato

Cont. on P. 20

Y

20 Methow Home

down (through time and natural bacterial processes) into gases (which are released through vents), water (which is dispersed into a drain field, also called a leach field), and solids (which remain in the bottom of the tank until they are pumped out).

The function of a properly sized and properly installed septic system should be uncomplicated; however, due to all the extra demands most of us put on our septic systems – including dispos-ing of kitchen wastes, laundry and dishwasher products, soaps and shampoos used in showers and baths, not to mention all that excess water – septic system problems can occur when homeowners are not attentive.

Jim Wright of J.A. Wright Construction & Septic Services says that lack of maintenance creates most septic problems. Happily, however, homeowners can remedy this problem simply by paying at-tention to their septic systems.

“The best thing a person can do for his septic,” says Wright, “is get it inspected and pumped about every three years.”

And the worst thing? For Wright it’s a toss-up between using a garbage disposal and flushing sanitary wipes. That’s right – those moist wipes that mothers with children in diapers can’t imagine living without? Kiss of death on a septic system. They don’t break down like toilet paper; they simply float around as undissolved solids in a tank, either clogging the float-ing layer or making their way out of the tank and into the drainfield.

The typical conventional (gravity) 1,000-gallon septic tank used by a family of four living year-round in a house will require pumping about every three years. Excessive water consumption, use of a garbage disposal, and flush-ing non-human waste solids will increase pumping frequency. Also, “alternative,” or pressurized, sys-tems need to be checked yearly.

Rules to dispose byIn addition to regular inspec-

tion and pumping, Wright has some other recommendations for keeping septic systems operating as intended:

• Minimize and disperse water

use. Excess water prevents solids in the septic tank from settling on the bottom, which forces them into out-let pipes that are designed to handle only liquids.

• Install low-flow shower heads and toilets.

• Repair leaky faucets.• Take shorter showers.• Spread out laundry loads

over several days.• Wash only full loads of laun-

dry and dishes.• Reconsider your whole-house

water softener; it adds a hydraulic overload to the system.

• Prevent extra solids from entering the system. “If people introduce a lot of extra solids,” says Wright, “that’s just extra material that needs to be broken down and eventually pumped out.”

• Avoid using your garbage disposal.

• Wipe cooking grease onto a paper towel and then put in the compost or trash.

• Compost (or throw away) cof-fee grounds and other food particles that might slip down the drain.

• Use super-concentrated liquid or gel soaps in dishwashers and

washing machines. Powdered soaps and detergents consist of mostly “fillers” such as clay that clog the distribution pipes.

• Put only biodegradable items into the septic system. Non-biode-gradable matter never breaks down in the septic system and the extra material simply raises the liquid level in the tank, forcing floating solids into outlet pipes designed only for liquid. Toxic chemicals do not break down; they are simply distributed into the soil in the leach field, contaminating it.

Human waste and toilet paper should be the only solids you introduce into your septic system. All other solid items should be composted (e.g., paper towels) or thrown away. This includes alleged-ly flushable items such as sanitary wipes, tampons, disposable diapers, cigarette butts, and even prescrip-tion medications.

Toxic chemicals such as sol-vents, paints, and paint thinners should never enter your septic sys-tem because they kill off the benefi-cial bacteria in the tank. The Twisp Transfer Station has a free program for disposing of hazardous house

From Page 19

Methow Home 21

hold chemicals.Be wary of commercial septic

tank additives. Although the state health department lists some on their website, Wright says that no

one he’s talked to in the business is convinced they do any good, and some think they are detrimen-tal to the bacterial action in the tank.

Finally, says Wright, don’t neglect your drainfield. Don’t let vehicles or livestock compact your drainfield. Landscape with native grasses that don’t need additional

watering. Divert runoff water away from the drainfield. A septic system that is properly maintained will last as long as the house it was built to service.

High sodium, alkaline minerals, iron, chemicals/pesticides, other contaminants

Calcium or magnesium salts, high pH, dirt, silt, rust, iron, problems with filters or pump

Dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas or sulfur reducing bacteria, seepage from septic system or gasoline storage, over-chlorination, decomposing organic matter

Presence of pathogens, coliform bacteria, arsenic, or lead (more common in houses built before 1986)

Potential Problems with Well WaterTASTE: water tastes objectionable – salty, soapy, metallic, or chemical

SIGHT: scale or scummy residue, murky water, stains on fixtures or laundry

SMELL: sulfur odor, soapy odor, gasoline or oil smell, chlorine smell, methane gas smell

HEALTH: recurring gastrointestinal problems, problems with the central nervous system, the brain, the circulatory system, or the kidneys

For homeowners who seek regular or periodic testing, the Drinking Water Program of the Okanogan County Public Health Department offers convenient water testing services for bacteria and nitrates, and many online services (such as Cascade Analytical in Wenatchee) offer mail-in water tests for other compounds and contaminants.

Possible causes

The Patterson Company llcwww.pattersondesignbuild.com · 509 996 4112 · molly@pattersondesignbuild.com

22 Methow Home

he modern gourmet kitchen – how we love thee. The clean lines, the vast space like an

untouched canvas – so easy on the eyes, so not on the checkbook. Every spanking new glittering tool has its place and the stove looks like it may shoot into space with-out warning.

What a vision for the gourmet chef. But with our unique growing climate and increasingly naturalist Methow culture, is the un-marred elegance of the mod-ern kitchen what great chefs of the valley really want?

Certainly the beauty of high-end construction, appli-ances and tools are appreci-ated by the seasoned chef. But other aspects of design – such as efficiency, simplicity and accessibility – play equally important roles in guiding design layout.

Herein you’ll find cre-ative ideas for designing your kitchen space, seasoned advice preparing Methow-originated cuisine and tried and true methods of profes-sional chefs and local cooks.

Design considerationsWhether you are building

A Methow cook’s kitchen

By GEORGINA TOBISKA

Simplicity, the right equipment and good ingredients are essential to

cooking at home

Nicole Ringgold’s kitchen is designed for energy efficiency and good working space. Photo courtesy of Nicole Ringgold

T

workshop architecture | design

www.workshopad.com

911 western avenue | suite 215 | seattle wa 98104 | 206.903.5414

the thoughtful synthesis of l i festy le, mater ia l , environment, and form

Methow Home 23

or remodeling a kitchen or simply reorganizing your existing space, there are a handful of simple yet essential questions to ask, according to architects and chefs alike.

Who will be cooking in your home? Is there one primary family chef or two? Will you be cook-ing often as a couple or the whole family, or with groups of friends at par-ties? Perhaps there is a combination to account for in layout.

The main point to con-sider is how much space the cook (or cooks) needs to move about comfort-ably. A kitchen that serves many with food prepared by one cook requires a much smaller, efficient work space. A kitchen for a couple or family that en-joys cooking together will require more counter space and work centers.

How do you like to cook? How much do you use a stovetop verses a broiler, a Dutch oven, toaster oven, microwave, the oven proper or the grill? Consider how much you use storage for frozen foods, canned goods, root cellar foods and pantry items.

Defining how you cook will help determine what to invest in those tools and appliances specific to your needs. Big money need not be spent on gourmet devices but rather on ap-pliances that serve your cooking style.

Are you a private cook or a social chef? Do you love creating a meal by yourself and presenting the finished product? Perhaps you want to socialize with guests while cooking or want to encourage friends to join in. Determine what style suits you and design your kitchen to accommo-date it.

What would make your kitchen a favorite room? One commonality of professional chefs and lay cooks in the Methow is the desire to do-it-yourself, cook simply, but with the

finest ingredients. Those aren’t tough to find here, but building your perfect kitchen space is much more of a challenge. Area chefs have a lot to teach us about making your kitchen into your favorite room.

The experts’ adviceThe local pros agree:

The big money spent on your kitchen should come down to investment in layout according to your cooking style and a limited number of quality items.

Jon Brown, executive chef at Arrowleaf Bistro in Winthrop, works with lo-cal ingredients to produce delectable and popular gourmet meals. He enjoys a highly simple, efficient kitchen. Brown says, “if you spend eight grand on a Viking stove and have junky pans, the stove is useless. Spending a lot of money on equipment does not make you a better cook.”

John Bonica, owner and chef at Tappi in Twisp, reflects similarly about his personal kitchen organiza-tion and operation.

“I steadily progress toward simpler and sim-pler,” he says. “I like the minimalist, modern land-scape in the kitchen. But I like having everything in view and at hand. I’m not very good at putting away while I cook, so I prep my tools, sharpen my knives that I’ll be using so that I don’t have to turn around and search.”

Though they are lovely to look at, Bonica says that “the high-end devices are more ‘show than go.’ My tendency is to shy away from higher technologies.”

Professional caterer Stew Deitz, of Stew Deitz Catering in Mazama, is a busy mother and chef in the home. She has worked with her husband’s con-struction business, Lost River Construction, designing her kitchen’s ample and efficient counter layout. However, she says, simple is still best.

Cont. on P. 24

Harmony ouse INTERIORSH

24 Methow Home

“I got a Viking gas cook top and propane oven range and I would not buy another Viking,” Deitz says. “I would consider a gas cook top and electric oven in the future.”

What tools are worth high-end prices? Deitz, Bonica and Brown all cite these necessaries: heavy metal cookware, an excel-lent (regularly sharpened) knife, wood cutting boards (preferably maple) and re-ally good cookbooks.

Heavy cookware, such as cast iron or stainless steel, heats more evenly and is less prone to get beat up on the range. One heavy saucepot and heavy sauté pan go along way, and as Deitz points out, your cookware should be good enough to last forever.

Bonica notes that sharpening knives in the home kitchen is severely underrated. One good wooden cutting board is preferable because it produces less damage to knives, doesn’t threaten to leave plastic residue in your food and keeps your ingredients stationary when chopping.

All the local chefs cite the need for a stock of good cookbooks. Brown recom-mends Complete Techniques, by Jaques Pepin; The New CIA’s (culinary institute of America) Professional Chef, and Cook’s Illustrated, a bi-monthly magazine.

These local experts agree that spending on materials for layout appro-priate to your cooking style is worth the investment. A minimal number of steps between appliances and workspaces is high on the priority list. Also, an ef-ficient layout that accounts for each tool, with every-thing in its place, is ideal.

For Deitz, important design considerations included traffic flow, a multi-user layout and sepa-rate work stations for more cooks in the kitchen. For her, lots of counter space means greater efficiency.

As she plans to build a new kitchen, she’ll be adding even more counter space to serve her family’s cooking style.

Bonica prefers to be the only chef on duty. He is de-signing his current home to include 1,000 square feet of off-grid living space, with the kitchen being about one-fourth of that space. Two aspects are of prime importance to Bonica: an open kitchen that allows him to socialize with guests while cooking and a small work space so that his steps are minimal between prep counter and stove top.

Brown also prefers an efficient, smaller space. “When you have tons of counter space, it just ends up getting cluttered,” he says. “I prefer to have everything within reach or step. I hate cupboards.”

Such small-scale effi-ciency of space and move-ment requires a detailed, considered design.

If there was one ap-pliance to go big on, what would it be? Brown: a big, double bay sink. Deitz: a

double oven for entertain-ing. Bonica: a traditional wood-fired oven. We all have different needs, and thus different methods.

Local gourmetIn the Methow, many

choose to live close to the land, growing food and preserving and cooking with inspiration from the earth and our heritage.

Nicole Ringgold is a wonderful local cook who has taken this inspiration to an informative online blog, Live in Art (www.liveinart.org). On this site, about 40 percent of the postings are Methow-based cooking recipes – organic, sustain-able methods – and include within them at least 90 percent Methow-area farm products.

For Ringgold’s large-scale cooking projects, she prefers empty counters and plenty of room to stretch out. She and her husband designed their home kitchen with the guiding principle of energy effi-ciency. They chose smaller appliances for both space

Kitchens are also a natural gathering spot. Photo by Marcy Stamper

From Page 23

Methow Home 25

utilization and energy consump-tion.

Among the necessaries: a pres-sure canner, boiling-water canner, a Dutch oven, a food processor and a quality outdoor grill (for every-thing from meats and fish to bread and pizzas).

Ringgold’s focus is a Methow style of sustainable cooking.

“People don’t realize how much food we have in the valley” she says. “There is so much avail-able just from our local farmers.”

Rachelle Weymuller is another accomplished Methow cook. Of prime importance: openness and accessibility. Her kitchen is the center hub of the home, designed as an inner circle for the cook and an outer circle for guests, while still open enough for socializing.

“We built our kitchen to include family and friends in the cooking process,” she says. “But we also built it like a boat: Each drawer and cabinet was designed for its use value.”

Storage was highly important to the Weymullers. “I first dreamed of the pantry,” she says, “and it provides ample storage for every-thing that we don’t want to see.”

The family likes to stock meats,

salmon, garden veggies, fruits and frozen meals made ahead. To achieve this, they use a chest freezer in the garage for large items and an inner freezer in the pantry that is their quicker go-to. Their electric convection oven is also a Methow-specific choice, large enough to cook a Crown S Ranch turkey, with a gas stove top (with both heating consis-tency and power outages in mind).

On the whole, the Weymull-ers follow the same principles that Methow chefs generally employ: efficiency, simplicity and the joy of cooking surrounded by loved ones. Weymuller says, “It’s super fun to keep it simple, and cluttering the kitchen with specialized gadgets just distracts and takes up space.”

That said, her Cuisinart, her Imperia pasta maker and her food dehydrator are all indispensable – and they have their place to be.

Weymuller has been growing and cooking food in the valley for many years and has gleaned a lot of knowledge to share. She often grows basil, parsley, rosemary and scallions through the winter in the kitchen. She also has a kitchen lemon tree to draw from and grows spinach in cold temperatures.

Like Ringgold, Weymuller is

sharing her cooking and kitchen methods for free on a new online blog, Caramelize Life: Making Life Sweeter Through Cooking, (cara-melizelife.wordpress.com). Launched this year, Caramelize Life offers lo-cally inspired methods and season-al cuisine for the sustainable chef.

Stocking your kitchenAs every gourmet chef knows,

the quality of your cooking is totally dependent on the quality of your ingredients. And for a com-munity of a mere few thousand, the Methow Valley is home to a large number of agricultural pro-ducers to stock your kitchen with the finest.

The produce alone is worth the trip. Our farmers markets (in Twisp, Winthrop and Mazama) offer fruits and vegetables gown in the valley and around the region. Many of these farmers are certified organic and dedicated to sustain-able production. The abundance of small gardeners provides a diverse array of produce of the highest quality.

According to Bonica, “The King’s Garden and Cameron Green sell the best produce you can get.”

Grains both common and rare

are harvested in the Methow for the gourmet restaurant market and local tastes. The highly sought after emmer grain of Bluebird Grain Farms is a delight not to be missed by the gourmet chef. Emmer berries are an ancient, protein-packed grain that enhance any meal.

For meats, fish and game prod-ucts, the Methow is unbeatable. Columbia River sockeye or steel-head may be found year-round at Hank’s Harvest Foods – or pull them out of the rivers yourself.

Thomson’s Custom Meats sells naturally, locally grown meats, from hand-crafted sausages and smoked meats to lamb and seafood. Farmers like Jennifer and Louis Sukovaty are dedicated to sustainable, organic meat pro-duction of grass-fed cattle, pigs, sheep, laying hens, chickens and turkeys. Their Crown S Ranch Farm Store in Winthrop sells these and delicious prepared meals.

Sunny Pine Farm is a certified, grade A organic dairy specializing in plain and seasonally flavored chèvre, feta, aged cheese and yo-gurt. Fresh organic cow’s milk can be purchased from local producer Sam Thrasher of Twisp.

26 Methow Home

Six

local

designs

that

cover the

Methow

style

spectrum

Heart &

Home

traddling a narrow ridge top, with panoramic views of Patterson Moun-tain, the Methow Valley getaway

home created by Seattle architect David Coleman blurs the distinction between inside and outside.

“I wanted the building to be com-pletely focused on the landscape, so when you’re there you have the total experience of being on the land and in the valley,”

said Coleman. “I wanted to create a habit-able landscape… focused on views, light, weather patterns, the movements of the sun and the wind off the mountains.”

Measuring 20 feet wide and 120 feet long, the shape of the house, which Cole-man calls Hill House, was dictated by its rocky hilltop location in the Rodeo Trails development near Winthrop.

“It was a difficult site. It drops off

Outside inNatural features guided design of ridgetop home

By ANN McCREARY

David Coleman’s home takes advantage of the site’s expansive views. Photos by Sue Misao

S

Methow Home 27

on two sides,” said Coleman. “It seemed to make sense to have a long narrow structure that hugged the ridgeline. The goal of really try-ing to work with the landscape led to a long, narrow floor plan that follows the slope.”

A glass wall wraps the house on three sides, providing uninter-rupted views of the valley and mountains and creating a sense of living within the landscape. Coleman brings the outdoors and indoors together through another design element. He uses the same material for the interior floor and the decking outside. Likewise, the interior ceilings and the large overhangs around the house are the same materials.

“It’s a design trick to create that impression of the rooms span-ning inside and outside,” Coleman said. “If you stand in the house and look at each floor board, they visu-ally carry through to the outside. If you are standing in the living areas facing south, you see the scenery and glass wall and the ceiling con-tinues outside the glass wall. These elements diminish the presence of the exterior wall.”

The fourth wall of the house, which faces the access road, is recycled, corrugated steel that is designed to rust, which protects it

from further degradation, Coleman said. The rusted metal wall, which has a few small windows, provides privacy from the road and is in-tended to be reminiscent of mining encampments found around the Methow Valley.

“I like to create buildings that have a timeless quality, that don’t feel trendy and won’t feel dated,” said Coleman.

The long, narrow shape of the Hill House, and the rusty exterior wall along one side of the stucture prompted some observers to refer to it as a “train wreck” because they say it resembles an old rail-road car, Coleman said.

That kind of reaction isn’t en-tirely unexpected “whenever you do something unusual,” he said. “It’s pretty elemental…and a little radical compared to what other people were building there.”

Another feature that ties the house to the landscape is the use of gabion stonewalls – steel cages filled with rocks – at either end of the house. The rocks were collected from the site during excavation, greatly reducing the amount of site waste that had to be hauled away, Coleman said.

These rock walls help define the entrance of the house and cre-ate privacy for a deck and fire pit

at the back of the house. “The walls are what really ties the house to the land, makes it feel grounded and tied to the site,” Coleman said.

The home has 1,100 square feet of bright, airy interior living space and an equal amount of exterior porches. The main entrance opens into a rectangular great room with a living area that moves into a din-ing area and kitchen. At the end of the room is a wood wall that doubles as a storage closet and hides the refrigerator, which can be closed behind doors when it’s not in use. “It improves the livability” of the space, Coleman said.

A modular cabinet system runs through the kitchen and living area, serving different functions in different spaces. The walls are pine plywood, stained a rich yellow hue that was “matched with the color of aspen leaves in the fall,” said Coleman. Floors are plantation grade mahogany.

A hallway runs along the glass wall, with two sets of three steps, creating three levels for the house as it moves up the slope of the hill-side. The hallway provides access to a bunk room for Coleman’s two children on one level, and leads to a master bedroom on the next level.

The house is designed to adapt to the changing seasons and needs

of the family, Coleman said. “It is fairly small and easy to heat in winter, and in summer it expands and opens into the landscape.”

The building design encourages passive solar radiation in winter. In summer, roofs and walls are vented to dissipate heat and the large overhangs around the house – combined with exterior sun shades (made from the same fabric used to shield fruit trees in nearby orchards) – protect the large expanses of glass from summer sun.

Coleman studied architec-ture at the Rhode Island School of Design, and did post-graduate work at the Danish Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He said his studies explored concepts of sustainability, living architecture, building in har-mony with the earth, and livability.

He brought all those elements into play in the contemporary home he built for his family in the Methow Valley. But underlying it all, Coleman said, is a more per-sonal goal.

“The house is really designed around the family. The whole rea-son for building that place is that when I was a kid, I used to go to Vermont with my family and grew up loving nature. My wife and I wanted our kids to have that same experience.” X

The same material is used for floors inside the house and for the outside deck. Photo courtesy of David Coleman

C A B I N E T S

28 Methow Home

Going with the flow

avid Schooler and Kristen Webb envisioned a mid-century modern home with

an interior and exterior design that flowed seamlessly with the Methow Valley landscape. Team-ing up with architect Tom Lenchek of Balance Associates, contractor Tom Bjornsen and interior de-signer Jennifer Randall, Schooler and Webb created their Wolf Creek

Wolf Creek home is

an extension of the

landscape

By JOANNA SMITH

The Wolf Creek site was chosen for its western and southern views. Photo by Steve Keating Photography.

D

✩5

Methow Home 29

View Cabin: a custom home of un-obtrusive design and unassuming comfort in the Methow Valley.

Schooler and Webb selected the site of their custom home for the long up-valley views toward Mazama, and the southern views of Patterson Mountain. They invited Lencheck to their Bellevue neighborhood to show him the mid-century modern homes that they wanted their Methow home to emulate.

The clean lines and simple elegance of the mid-century mod-ern style lent itself to the concept of a custom home that opened up small interior spaces to blend with the landscape and work with the natural elements of sun and wind to warm the home in winter and keep it cool during the summer.

Lenchek gave the living area expansive views up-valley while capturing the light and warmth of southwest exposure during the winter months. The southwest-facing kitchen, dining room and living room have exterior walls of glass sliding doors on two sides that offer unobstructed views of the community trail, Patterson Mountain and the upper valley.

In warm weather the glass doors slide open along both walls – creating the ultimate outdoor room. Strategically placed win-dows on each end of the house allow cooling mountain breezes to flow through the house during the warm summer months.

No boundariesRandall used the colors sur-

rounding the home to decorate the interior. The soft green of meadow grasses, dark red of ponderosa pine and the light gray granite of surrounding peaks inspired the color of fabrics, paint and furnish-ings of the home.

Blond wood cabinets with sil-ver accents provide ample storage and organization. Plush fabrics, oversized cushions and deep chairs and sofas invite visitors to sit down and stay awhile. Every seat has amazing views through glass walls that slide open to the outdoors.

Small, closed-off rooms double as open spaces with softly sliding doors that create either privacy or openness. The single-level home contains no obvious boundaries to

the outdoors – either in physical design or color. There are no steps and the stained concrete floor con-tinues seamlessly from indoors to the outside, giving the impression that you’ve never left the home … or the outdoors.

Designed to be a part of the landscape, the L-shaped home is made of COR-TEN steel, wood and glass. COR-TEN steel wraps around two exterior walls and the roof of the home. The weathering steel resembles the rusty red of the surrounding ponderosa pine, is long-lasting and requires little maintenance.

Local sculptor Bernie Hosey worked with the contractor, Bjorn-sen, to extend the COR-TEN steel into the entry way and alcove of the home – invoking a feeling of continuous flow between inside and outside.

Views and privacyA center courtyard provides

a private garden protected from wind and deer. Here, Schooler and Webb enjoy breakfasts and dinners amongst hostas, oak leaf hydran-gea, giant rhubarb, autumn joy

sedum, day lilies and ornamental annuals.

Schooler and Webb joke that the best views were from the bath-room shower. Concrete floors ex-ude radiant heat, which transfers to the stone work along the walls. The room is comfortable and with only a sheet of glass separating the shower from the rest of the room, it feels open and bright. A long window next to the shower looks up-valley toward Robinson Moun-tain. Tall roomy cabinets above the sink offer ample storage space.

The master bathroom is simi-lar in design with careful thought to the heating of the room and the placement of the window to create stellar views from the deep basin tub.

Schooler and Webb describe their home as a “relaxing retreat.” Asked what part of the home was their favorite, Webb said, “the sunny patio, the views, the unob-trusiveness.”

Schooler contemplated the question for a long time, a thoughtful look on his face. Fi-nally, he said, “I don’t know which part is my favorite. I just know … when I walk in, I smile.” X

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CONTACT: Sandy Mackie, Partner SEATTLE & WINTHROP PHONE: 206.359.8653EMAIL: AMackie@perkinscoie.com • CELL: 509.681.0175

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30 Methow Home

few years back, my wife and I decided to build a house on land we had owned on Balky Hill for

about 20 years. As regular visi-tors to the Methow Valley since the early 1980s, we always dreamed we might live here someday but the dream eluded us while we worked and raised a family in Seattle. With our role as the sandwich generation

coming to a close and current careers coming to and end, the time was right in 2006 to reac-tivate the dream. The journey was fun and rewarding but not for the faint of heart. As they say, be careful what you wish for.

I’ve heard it said that money, sex and religion are the key issues that make or break relationships. If you’re building

A personal account of one couple’s

homebuilding project

By PETER MORGAN

Dare to dream, but prepare for a few rude awakenings

Peter Morgan and Raleigh Bowden owned land on Balky Hill for 20 years before building. Photo courtesy of Howard Cherrington

A

William Tackman

PLS

1112 Hwy 20Winthrop WA 98862

509.996.3409

www.tackmansurveying.com

Methow Home 31

a house together, better add it to the list.

I always wanted an under-ground house that was thermally neutral, quiet, energy efficient and unobtrusive. I love the outdoors in the Methow but, having experi-enced its temperature extremes, I wanted a reliable buffer from these elements. My architect brother and I started dreaming and scheming, which made my wife, Raleigh, a little uncomfortable.

Her picture of the new home was more like a New England farmhouse with verandas all around. “Underground” conjured up dark images of moss, dripping water ... bats. She wanted lots of light and was not about to be holed up in a cave designed by my brother and me.

So the brother/architect idea had to give way to selecting a mutually agreeable architect. We also felt it was a good idea to use someone from the Methow Valley and it turns out there is a wealth of local talent to choose from.

Know what you want ...So, my first two points would

be to be very clear about what you want in a home and find someone

you communicate with to help you clarify the vision, identify common themes, and broker differences. If you’re undertaking this project with a spouse or partner, three-way trust is essential. This becomes a four-way deal once you have a builder/contractor involved.

Before he departed the scene, my brother had me draw an affin-ity diagram of my vision which proved invaluable. This bubble diagram identified the different spaces in the home, their relative size and function, and their proxi-mal relationship to each other. This crude drawing with overlapping circles became the roadmap, and you can immediately recognize it in the final product.

After looking at a number of homes in the valley by different designers and talking with several, we selected Howard Cherrington as our designer. He had designed the house next door, which we’d stayed in many times and loved. He was flexible, had the right personality for us, and his other designs seemed like they could bridge the slight vision gap be-tween Raleigh and me.

The design process took about six months and went through a

number of phases. Site selection was critical and Howard convinced us to site the property differently than we had expected. The good news is that he was absolutely right and I didn’t argue with him. Terry Budiselich was our builder and the four of us spent many, many hours together hashing out details, and I know Terry and Howard also had more than a few things to work out.

... and talk about itThis brings up a second point

about teamwork and communica-tion. My opinion is that building a house should be a co-creation event. It’s important to have and hold on to your vision and not default to what your architect or builder wants or knows how to do. On the other hand, you will ignore their advice to your peril. If they think some of your ideas are impractical, expensive, or will look weird, I’d listen. They are profes-sionals at visualizing final results and are likely to see things you can’t. One of our worst fears was that they would build it just like we asked and we would hate it for reasons they foresaw.

The more specific you can be

about details, the better you will like the final result. While we left some important details to the contractors that we might have spent more time on, it was an otherwise very busy time for us and we had to just let go of some things. Raleigh and I do projects well and shared taking the lead on issues of greatest importance to each of us. I focused on function, she more on aesthetics. Lighting was a crossover issue so we hired a consultant.

It’s hard to condense the expe-rience into a short article and there are stories and vignettes enough for a book. Yes, there was sticker shock when all those creative chickens came home to roost and the whole thing almost went back to the drawing board. There were delays, compromises, joys and sor-rows along the way.

The good news is Raleigh and I each got the things we wanted most: We love the house, and we’re still speaking to each other and to Howard and Terry. Would I do some things differently? Oh, sure. But all in all, I think we got most of it right and will treasure the house and the experience of building it for a long time to come. X

Can you visualize your design from 2d paper drawings?

I N T E G R A T I N G F U N C T I O N A N D A F F O R D A B I L I T Y W I T H Y O U R V I S I O N

Most people can’t. Computer-generated line drawings, photo-realistic images, & 3D animation all minimize the ‘guesswork’ so that you can have confidence that you are going to get what you expect. CAD is more efficient, saving time and money.

“Being here is everything we ever thought it would be and more. And the house, oh my god, you did such a great job - everything is just perfect!”

www.pintodesignllc.com 509.996.3965

32 Methow Home

he open plan and resilient materials of Mike and Laurie

Hilton’s house are a tangible expression of their approach to family life. “It’s amazing what this space does for the sense of family, and how much time we spend with our kids,” says Laurie.

Mike, Laurie and their three daughters spend the majority of their time in the main living space of their Pine Forest house, which includes kitchen, dining area and living room. Still, Laurie admits that the ar-rangement is not for every-one. While the house brings them together, there’s little

privacy and it can be loud, she said.

Their three daughters – Willa, 10; Daisy, 9; and Adele, 6 – share a bedroom outfitted with a bunk bed and a single bed. “It’s tight, but I think it’s helped their interpersonal communica-tion,” Laurie says.

The third bedroom provides a place for the girls to spread out – playtime consists of lots of paint and origami – but much art is made right on the concrete living room floor, an ideal surface for painting proj-ects, their large Bernese mountain dog and five cats. “I can’t imagine having

carpeting or an upholstered couch,” says Laurie.

“The playroom is extremely used and lived in – there’s lots of creativ-ity coming out of here,” she

adds, gesturing around the room, which was crammed with toys, art supplies, stuffed animals and one of the household’s many aquariums.

To create this successful blend, the Hiltons described their aesthetic and lifestyle to Seattle-based architect David Foster and let him provide his interpretation.

Designed for full-time livingPine Forest house blends the aesthetic and the practical

By MARCY STAMPER

The Hilton family’s main living space is where they spend most of their time together. Photo by Marcy Stamper

T

Methow Home 33

“We gave the archi-tect free rein – no plan or pictures,” says Mike. “And an unrealistic budget,” adds Laurie.

“I think that’s really important when you hire a professional – to see what they come up with,” Mike says.

A few requirementsThe Hiltons did have

a few requirements. They wanted a “manageable” floor plan and design pro-cess and straightforward construction. “It’s pretty simple,” says Mike. “It’s essentially living room, bed-room, bedroom, bedroom, all in a row.”

They were hoping to accomplish all this in 1,500 square feet, but ultimately had to add another 475 to accommodate basic needs. Even at that, the combined laundry and mud room “can be pretty tight for a family that does every sport and has lots of gear,” says Laurie.

Spread out along one

side of the house, the main living spaces benefit from southern exposure, with an expanse of windows and glass doors to take advan-tage of the view and solar gain. “We like light, and we don’t like cut-up spaces,” says Mike.

Bathrooms, the laundry room and a conservatory that Mike hopes will some day hold a baby-grand piano (it currently accom-modates a few pint-size violins, a small harp and a drawing table) run along the opposite side of the corridor.

“It’s very uncompli-cated geometry – really just a box with a sloped roof,” says architect Foster. “We concentrated on having nice details.”

Beyond being impervi-ous to paint and crayons, the deep charcoal concrete floor performs another practical function, absorb-ing warmth from the sun in winter. In summer, over-hangs keep the room cool.

The sun’s warmth is

supplemented by electric radiant floor heat and an in-novative German-designed wood stove that rotates a full 360 degrees, although, with the house’s passive solar design, the Hiltons find they don’t need it very often. “It can be 5 degrees outside, and 80 inside,” says Mike. “We only light a fire on cloudy days.”

Heat from the stove emanates only in the direc-tion of the glass front, so they can spin it around if it’s too hot during dinner or aim it at the seating area af-terwards. “It’s been perfect – amazing,” says Mike.

In fact, the sleek stain-less wood stove was one of the few changes they made to Foster’s original design.

The architect’s first plan had called for a floor-to-ceiling double-sided hearth, but Mike and Laurie found it too massive and worried it would create a barrier in the room.

Another requirement was for a house on one level. They had worked with Foster on a remodel of

The Hiltons opted for a one-story home to avoid a lot of stair climbing. Photo by Marcy Stamper

Cont. on P. 34

34 Methow Home

an outdated ranch house in Seattle, which the architect transformed into an unusual, modern space. For example, Foster placed the kitchen and main living area on the sec-ond floor to take advantage of the view and light. “I loved his philosophy,” says Laurie, but they did tire of the stairs.

Laurie was also “ada-mant” about another uncon-ventional arrangement – she wanted separate rooms for the toilet and for washing and bathing. So the house has a small water closet with a sink and toilet and two lavatories with just sink, tub and shower, one off the master bedroom and one for the girls.

“I think the traditional way – particularly with three girls – creates a traffic jam,” says Laurie.

Filling in the detailsThe striking wall colors

throughout the house come directly from the surrounding landscape. The Hiltons took samples of the wolf lichen that grows on trees outside their window to create the intense chartreuse paint that energizes the main spaces.

Walls in the master bedroom are a ruddy maroon that was matched to local red-osier dogwood. The vivid turquoise in the water closet was inspired by the blue of the sky, the tiny room accented by a geometric red medicine cabinet that makes even the standard white toilet look dramatic.

“One thing I like about working with Mike and Lau-rie is that they’re not at all shy about colors—this is pretty bold,” says Foster.

The kitchen features reclaimed materials, such as recycled tiles on the walls; PaperStone counters (made from recycled paper and resin); and a cutting board that gives off the scent of vinegar when the sun hits it, recalling its previous incarna-tion as a pickle barrel.

A favorite amenity is the extended faucet above the slide-in stove for filling big pasta pots. The stove itself

has spare contours and no raised panel with knobs and buttons that would interfere with the view.

The refrigerator (they have two to accommodate home-cooked meals for five) is a highly efficient Danish model, with drawers in the freezer to organize items and keep cold air from escaping.

Exterior features are both practical and aesthetic, such as a rain-screen siding system that retains an air space to prevent water from infiltrating the house. The roof, which is mostly flat, has a butterfly section that distinguishes the profile but remains functional for snow.

“They were really in love with the way the landscape rolls. I didn’t want to com-pete with that by adding extra decoration or gables,” says Foster.

A separate 500-square-foot bunkhouse is a self-contained sanctuary for guests, with a sitting room, small kitchen and bathroom. Its TV/DVD is used when

Laurie’s mother comes to visit and the girls get to join her on movie nights. Oth-erwise, “the kids are on a fairly restricted media diet,” with no television, no home computer, and only one or two hours of movies per month, says Mike.

The project benefited from economies of scale because the construction on the main house, bunkhouse and garage/wood shop was done at the same time, keep-ing down the cost of supplies and delivery. Mike, who runs Hilton Construction with Laurie, served as the contrac-tor and primary builder.

In the house for three years now, there’s little they would change. Mike said they think about improving the driveway access, and would have liked a larger mud room and smooth rather than rough cedar for the siding. “And I would love to put my whole drum set in the bunkhouse,” he says. “But it’s not going to happen.”

The Hiltons find it more efficient to split up the functions between their three bathrooms--only one has a toilet; the other two are for baths and showers. Photo by Marcy Stamper

From Page 33

David RudholmConstruction, Inc.

Methow Home 35

teve and Penelope Kern had a good idea of what they wanted when they settled on a Methow

Valley home site: outdoor space, privacy, and a house that honored the landscape, was practical, afford-able and could accommodate their favorite art.

The first time they saw the 60-acre property off of Lower Beaver Creek Road, with its expansive up-valley views and varied terrain, they instantly knew it was the spot.

The rest took a little longer to figure out, and involved con-stant and considerable input from architect Ray Johnston and builder Jeff Brown. The Kerns, who plan to make the Methow house their full-time home, are happy with the results.

It started with an efficient floor plan – “we don’t like rooms we don’t use,” Penelope says – that was oriented to take best advantage of the site’s northern and western exposures. Johnston suggested that the house not be placed square on the lot, Penelope says, but rather turned more toward the views.

The design issue that created was how to take advantage of all the light – while building a house whose front half is practically all windows – and still mitigate the afternoon and evening glare during the summer.

Part of the solution is a roofline that cants toward the front of house and extends over a deep porch that is outfitted with curtains. Matching interior curtains at the west end of

the large front room also help, but there are no other window cover-ings in the home’s big open space.

“This house strikes a really nice balance between light and expo-sure,” Johnston says.

The right footprintThe Kerns are outdoor enthusi-

asts who met when they were both on climbing treks in the Andes, on separate teams. After they settled

in Seattle – where Penelope is a reporter and editor for a publication that covers the energy industry and Steve is vice president of operations for an aerospace manufacturing company – Steve started bringing Penelope to the Methow, which he had been visiting for 30 years.

“We always loved it here,” Penelope says, and eventually they began to look at buying a home. But

Light on the landThoughtful design packs personality into a home that wastes no space

By DON NELSON

The Kerns wanted a deck large enough to accommodate groups. Photo courtesy of Johnston Architects

S

Cont. on P. 36

HOUSEWATCH

COUG

AR

MOUNTAIN ENTERPRISES

36 Methow Home

none of the houses they looked at clicked. So they decided to look for land and build.

After they settled on a site, they began scouring magazines for ideas and researched archi-tects with experience in the valley. The Kerns liked what they saw of Johnston’s work, and liked John-ston when they met him. “It was the right fit, personality-wise and design-wise,” Penelope says.

The Kerns appreciated that Johnston’s designs are “light on the land,” Penelope says, harmonious with the landscape as opposed to dominating it. Approaching on the long driveway, the Kern home’s roofline blends in with the Mc-Clure Mountain ridgeline across the way.

The Kerns’ property has its own geological peculiarities – a couple of deep “dimples” near the house, apparently depressions left after the glaciers retreated. They add texture to what would other-wise be a flat site.

Every space was thought out, Penelope says – a necessary consid-eration in a building that is a little over 1,400 square feet. Penelope be-gan by drawing a “footprint” for the home. Personal preferences dictated the basics – the Kerns like a cool space to sleep in, so the bedrooms are at the back of the house, which is shaded by surrounding hills.

“We didn’t want cavernous ceilings,” Penelope says. So, con-sistent with the coziness the Kerns desired, what could be called the “great room” has high ceilings but is not a vast vaulted space.

Visitors enter the house through a hallway with doors to bedrooms – master and guest – on either side. Each spacious bed-room has a bath and closet space, assuring comfort and privacy for

occupants and guests alike.

Three spaces in oneThe entry corridor drops

down two steps to the main room, creating the effect of moving to an entirely different area.

While it is all one big space, the use of furniture and fixtures makes the front room feel like three: a kitchen with eating bar; a central dining area; and a living room/sit-ting area defined by comfy leather couches and a stand-alone wood-stove.

The kitchen invites informality, and allows the cook to chat with guests. Echoing the Frank Lloyd Wright “room-within-a-room” concept, the dining table and chairs create intimacy without crowding. The living room area beckons as a cozy, relaxing place to wind down the day with good conversation.

There is no clutter. Sliding barn doors hide pantry space in the kitchen and the home entertain-ment center in the living area.

The Kerns added their own touches. The light fixtures over the kitchen bar are antique zinc seltzer bottles from Argentina. The galaxy of lights over the entry hallway are Edison reproduction bulbs – an elegant and less-expensive option.

The house also takes advantage of usable “nooks and crannies,” Johnston says. “You can never have too much storage space.”

As part of the separate garage building, the Kerns are having an office space built for Penelope – who can do much of her journal-istic work remotely – a bath and another room that could serve as an additional guest space.

Adjusting along the waySome of the early building cost

estimates by another contractor were distressingly high, Penelope says. Johnston helped them figure out how to keep closer to their budget. And Brown, brought on after the Kerns couldn’t work things out with the earlier contrac-

tor, was not only the builder but also a helpful adviser on costs and materials throughout the process.

Johnston said his first conver-sations with a prospective client are about what led them to the site and what their basic desires are for the new home. Budget is also a consideration.

“We look at their ideas, test assumptions and then try out some of our ideas,” he says. “We may see other solutions.”

Working out those solutions with the contractor is vital to the process. “Jeff is really good at understanding the approach and running with it,” Johnston says.

“One hundred percent of what I do is collaboration,” Brown says. “If you are organized, the job is fun. I love it when an idea takes shape and form.”

Brown and Penelope both recalled one instance where the builder’s advice was sound and sensible. Brown suggested that the Kerns didn’t really need an outside door off their bedroom.

“People think they’re going to get a cup of coffee in the morning and then go back into the bed-room,” Brown said. “That doesn’t happen. They go out on the big deck.”

That insight saved the expense of another door.

In another instance, the Kerns originally wanted big glue-lam beams running the entire span of the ceiling. But that was a budget-buster, so Johnston re-engineered the roof.

Johnston says he likes the “utilitarian simpleness” of the home and is especially fond of how the entryway opens up into the living area.

“It’s all revealed, it unfolds before you,” he says. “It brings you home.”

From Page 35

The house is oriented to take best advantage of light and views. Photo courtesy of Johnston Architects

Methow Home 37

The great room is designed for gatherings – or for solitary time. Photo courtesy of Chris Luthi

t started with the land, and an idea.Joe Shaeffer and Jane Cover first discovered the

Methow Valley when they were married at the Mazama Ranch House in 2001. Their reaction was familiar: They

were immediately enchanted with the place.Some time later, they read an article about conserva-

tion easements, and decided they would like to support the easement concept – in the Methow. With the help of local real estate agent Kristin Devin, they found a 21-acre Methow River site off of Highway 20, just west of the Wee-man Bridge, in 2004. Working with the Methow Conser-vancy – which had identified the property as one of its top priorities – they developed an easement for all but three acres of the site, the part that was out of the flood plain.

Then came the house.The Seattle couple – Joe is a civil rights attorney and

Living roomMethow River home is full of personal

touches, with space for lots

of visitorsBy DON NELSON

I

Cont. on P. 38

38 Methow Home

Jane works for a nonprofit that focuses on international health issues – camped out on the site for several years when-ever they visited the valley. Eventually they began to develop plans for a home, aided by long-time friend Chris Luthi – who just happens to be a Seattle-based architect.

Joe and Jane had a couple of goals for the house. They wanted it to have, as Jane puts it, “a natural and continuous feeling” with the surroundings, using lots of rock and wood for basic materials and big windows to create a smooth flow between indoors and outdoors.

They also wanted a place that could accommodate big groups – “we wanted small sleeping spaces, and large living spaces,” Joe says.

Personal touchesThey got that – a 2,200-square-foot

home featuring a huge great room with a vaulted ceiling, a dominating fireplace and lots of windows. One bedroom is downstairs; upstairs are two bedrooms, a loft area where kids can hang out, and den with a sliding barn door for privacy or quiet.

Luthi came up with sketches and made a gingerbread model of the house he envisioned. Site preparation began in

2009 and construction in 2010,with the goal of getting the roof and the house enclosed for the coming winter.

Local contractor Chris “Flash” Clark was hired to build the house based on lo-cal recommendations. But all along, Joe, Jane and friends have had a role in the building process – there is lots of “sweat equity” in the house, they point out.

“Most of our friends can point to some part of the house that they had something to do with,” Jane says.

Joe and Jane did much of the ma-sonry finish work on the 30-foot-tall river rock fireplaces – one inside the great room; its mirror image outside on the front porch. They decided to take on the project after seeing the astronomical bids they got to do the work.

Jane found most of the fixtures in the house by scouring craigslist, taking in yard sales, and scouting the ever-chang-ing inventory at places like Second Use and ReStore that sell salvaged but still usable materials from homes and other buildings that have been demolished.

The big chandelier in the great room, for instance, used to hang in a Mexican restaurant. Jane found it on craigslist, treated the wood, painted the metal, replaced the glass and dropped a supporting chain from the ceiling. The outside chandelier was found at

From Page 37

The double-sided river rock fireplace has an outdoor hearth as well. Photo by Don Nelson

Methow Home 39

ReStore in Seattle.Several of the sinks came from an elementary

school in Seattle that was being remodeled. Two queen-sized beds came from the Ranch House, and a couple of benches turned up at a Methow garage sale. The big leather couches in the great room were discovered on craigslist. “We were collecting furniture all along,” Jane says. “Our (Seattle) house was full of things.”

Building materials also came from a variety of sources, many of them local. Much of the wood – including a floor-to-ceiling supporting post – came from trees on their prop-erty, cut and milled on the site. Flooring came from old bleachers salvaged from the Omak Stampede; doors were fashioned from park picnic benches; soffitt material came from an old grain silo. After seeing a newspaper ad, Joe and Jane bought a bunch of old barn wood from Signal Hill Ranch – it’s used in the exposed ceiling beams and elsewhere.

Great teamworkA few details remain to be finished, such as

a stone backsplash in the kitchen and railings on the staircase landing. Jane recently took an ornamental welding class and intends to make

the panels for the railing, after Clark puts the framework together. Future decor will include the work of local artists such as Ginger Redding-ton.

Joe and Jane say there were no real glitches along the way, and the teamwork among them, Luthi and Clark has been exceptional. “They added a sense of collaborative creativity that is hard to find,” Joe says.

Luthi said that in addition to meeting the clients’ high-priority de-sires, it was important to consider such basic things as how the roof design would work in the snow.

“I have to learn from them what their style is and how to use it,” Luthi says. “The more I know, the easier it gets.”

Luthi says that Clark has enhanced the project with practical and decora-tive design suggestions

and helped keep it economically manageable for Joe and Jane. And Joe’s father, an architectural engineer, reviewed the plans and suggested a bigger upright beam for the great room, to assure that it could support the expected load.

Joe and Jane call the place Roasting Goat Ranch – a name that started out as a joke and just stuck. It derives from memories of their wedding day, a summer scorcher that had them “roasting”

with the Goat Wall as a backdrop.Future plans include a small barn with a

mother-in-law apartment, which Joe and Jane ex-pect to build with the help of friends. The couple intends to retire in the house, but for now it’s a frequent refuge for their family and commodious gathering place for their friends.

Flooring came from old bleachers salvaged from

the Omak Stampede; doors were fashioned

from park picnic benches; soffitt material

came from an old grain silo.

Jane Cover found most of the fixtures, including this one. Photo by Don Nelson

40 Methow Home

he first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said, ‘This is mine,’ and found people naïve enough to

believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society,” wrote Jean Jacques Rousseau in 1754.

In today’s society, fences define spaces, provide privacy, mark boundaries, keep children and pets in, and keep wildlife and intruders out. They provide security for who-ever resides within. They provide privacy and block out the neighbor’s unsightly piles. Fences help define “the look” of a place.

Here in the Methow Valley, folks take fresh approaches to the fence’s form and function, put fences to work for the environ-ment, and question whether all fences are good fences.

Stylish and functionalA Mazama institution with a defini-

tively Methow “look,” the Mazama Store underwent a major remodel in 2009. Own-ers Missy and Rick LeDuc added a spacious courtyard for seasonal outdoor seating, which the department of health required to be fully enclosed if alcohol was to be con-sumed, Missy said.

The LeDucs wanted an opening at either end of the courtyard, “big enough for the groomer to come through,” so the store could be the terminus of a ski trail in the winter and have a quiet, enclosed seating

Both sides of the fence

Our dividing lines can be practical, ecological, decorative and occasionally problematic

By LAURELLE WALSH

area in the summer, Missy said.So the couple teamed up with welder Tim

Odell of Alpine Welding in Twisp, who built a sturdy, free-swinging steel gate that would support the occasional climbing child. Diane Costales of Carte Blanch Landscaping in Win-throp designed and built the fence. She used oversized wood posts and native branches sandwiched between two layers of hogwire, creating an airy-yet-substantial enclosure.

Missy encourages climbing vegetation such as grape vines on the wire, to add to the organic feel.

“I think it turned out really nice,” Missy said. “I like that it doesn’t feel closed-in; it lets in a lot of light.”

Elsewhere in the valley, Doug Potter’s de-

sign/build firm Shackitecture has helped define Methow style through his “High Mountain Moderne” school of design. Potter’s contem-porary-yet-rustic approach can be appreciated at Local 98856 in Twisp, which showcases his unconventional use of materials and sharp at-tention to site and function – even down to the fences that surround the space.

“More than one kind of fence on a property is a good thing,” said Potter, who freely mixes materials and advises his clients to think about whether they want a private or open feel.

Potter suggests corrugated metal roofing material for an inexpensive privacy fence, or hogwire on treated wood posts for a more open,

deer-proof fence.Deer will run straight into a wire fence if

they can’t see it, Potter warns, so he recom-mends planting hop vines which will climb and hang on to the wire through the winter, growing thicker every year.

Fences in conservationFences have long been used in rural

areas to keep cattle from trampling and foul-ing springs. With renewed interest in habitat restoration, Methow Valley landowners are using fences to protect riparian areas (streams, rivers and lakes) from livestock and deer damage.

The 314-acre conservation easement at

Hancock Springs in Mazama is a restoration success story in which fencing, combined with other efforts, has re-created a flowing stream at what had become a barely mov-ing, shallow marsh.

Fencing “played an extensive role” in restoring Hancock Creek, according to John Jorgensen, fisheries biologist for the Yakama Nation. “You can already see the difference inside and outside the fenced area.”

The one-kilometer-long spring creek and its surrounding riparian zone had been heavily damaged by livestock over the years prior to conservation work which began in 2005, Jorgensen said. To prevent further

Photo by Don Nelson

“T

Methow Home 41

trampling and to protect hun-dreds of newly planted trees and shrubs from deer browsing, the restoration team decided to erect a 350-meter-long, eight-foot-high fence to enclose the site.

“Once a site has atrophied, it won’t recover well without protec-tion from browsing by deer,” said Jorgensen.

Jorgensen said the plan is to remove the fence once trees and shrubs get above browse height.

Pulling wireOld fence lines with weath-

ered wooden posts crisscross the hills and dales of the Methow, some with wires strewn across the ground and many with conve-nient gaps that deer and people may pass through. But that old fencing is also hazardous to livestock, wildlife and humans who may be tripped up by the wickedly sharp wire lying hidden among the bitterbrush and bunchgrass.

Bob and Dotti Wilson have been volunteer “wire pullers” on Methow Conservancy ease-ments since 2004. As part of the land stewardship plan for some conserva-tion easements,

owners may choose to have old and falling-down barbed wire fences removed from their prop-erty.

Bob said they do the work primarily to protect animals from injury. He recalls once finding a desiccated calf hide entangled in a three-strand wire fence.

Dotti said they have pulled wire on 21 properties around the valley, sometimes working with other volunteers.

Using heavy gloves, fencing tools, wire cutters and sometimes

a post puller, Dottie frees the wire from the fencepost or pulls it out of trees, bushes or the earth where it has become buried. Bob rolls the wire by hand into large “wreaths,” Dotti said.

The first year they pulled wire, Dotti said they took the “wreaths” to the metal drive – 1,000 pounds that year. These days the volunteers leave the bundled wire in a spot designated by the property owner.

To fence – or not?While fences provide useful

services to the landowner, it is also important to consider the unfore-seen consequences of a new fence. A fence line may cut off a wildlife corridor or eliminate the chance to get to know the neighbors. If you

enjoy seeing deer cruise past your window or having a walking-friendly neighborhood, you might think twice about constructing an impediment to those values.

The Wilsons live in the Wolf Creek neighborhood and said they have consciously chosen not to fence their property.

“We live on a deer corridor and don’t want to block their path,” Dotti said. “I look around at people who have completely enclosed their property with fence and think to myself, ‘Why do they live here?’”

Start looking around, and you will notice the aesthetic, functional and symbolic roles of fences in the Methow Valley landscape. Good, bad or ugly, fences are fixtures of our “civil society.” X

Fences can be whimsical and practical. Photo by Patrick Hannigan

Doug Potter puts repurposed materials to work at Local 98856. Photo by Laurelle Walsh

Sometimes simple function calls for simple form. Photo by Don Nelson

42 Methow Home

underneath

the

western

skies

Sue Misao

Don Nelson

Sue Misao

Sue Misao

Sue Misao

Methow Home 43

Sue Misao

Marcy Stamper

Joyce Campbell

Sue Misao

Marcy Stamper

theMethow fence

OPEN MON-SAT Downtown Okanogan(509) 422-2760

44 Methow Home

A commitment

Conservation easements protect the valley’s rural heritage

f you’re reading this publication, then there is a good chance that you too can describe what first attracted you to the Methow Val-

ley. For many of us, it was the beautiful land-scape set against bright blue skies, the honest rural character, an abundance of wildlife, sce-nic trails, or time spent playing in the refresh-ing water of the river on a sunny afternoon.

Spend a little time here, and it quickly becomes apparent that most of the Methow Valley’s signature attributes have been made possible by a community comprised of dedi-cated individuals who have found the tools to turn their dreams and visions into realities.

Spend more time here, and you soon will become acquainted with a growing communi-ty of Methow Valley residents and landowners who have made an extraordinary commitment to the future of the Methow Valley’s produc-tive farmland, scenic views, wildlife habitat and healthy streams and rivers by protecting those values forever with a tool called a con-servation easement.

A conservation easement is a voluntary, written legal agreement between a landowner and a qualified conservation organization that permanently protects specific conservation val-ues like wildlife habitat, scenic views and open space, riverfronts, forests, and working farms, orchards and ranches.

Most of the conservation easements in the Methow Valley have been created with the help of the Methow Conservancy, the valley’s local nonprofit land trust in downtown Win-

throp. Others have been developed with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wild-life (WDFW), or the Trust for Public Land. In all cases, they represent a tangible commitment by a landowner to protect what makes their prop-

erty special so that it can continue to contribute to the vibrancy of the Methow Valley.

Long-lasting impactsTo date, more than 100 Methow Valley

I

Methow Home 45

By THE METHOW CONSERVANCY

to the future

landowners have chosen to embrace conserva-tion easements as a tool to conserve over 10,000 acres and over 30 miles of private river front-age. Thanks to their vision and stewardship, we all benefit from the resulting open space,

including the important economic benefit these lands provide our community. From delicious Honey Crisp apples grown on the banks of the Methow River near Pateros, to local meat and vegetables sold at our farmers markets, and

hundreds of acres of privately conserved land fronting the Methow Community Trail between Winthrop and Mazama, the eco-nomic benefits of private land conservation are poised to benefit the Methow Valley for decades to come.

While all of the private land in the Methow Valley is important, a conservation easement is not necessarily appropriate for every property. In many cases, good site plan-ning and thoughtful stewardship will ensure that a property contributes to the Methow Valley’s unique beauty and character. Simple steps like minimizing the disturbance of soil during driveway or home construction, or carefully locating structures away from soils known to be productive for growing crops, can have a lasting positive impact upon the landscape.

If you are planning to build or prepare a future building site here in the Methow Valley, be sure to take advantage of the local resources available to help guide you. The Methow Conservancy has developed the Good Neighbor Handbook and the Shrub-Steppe Restoration Handbook, and both are available for free by stopping in at the office or by downloading at www.methowconservancy.org/publications.html.

For more information regarding con-servation easements, or other resources to help with the stewardship of your property, contact the Methow Conservancy at (509) 996-2870 or info@methowconservancy.org. X

Photo courtesy of the Methow Conservancy

Common Sense Custom Homes, Inc.

wsaconstruction.com

Custom Homes in the Methow Valley

WSACOI*081M9

509.997.0269

46 Methow Home

‘Toys’ that work and play

An inventory for the well-equipped Methow home

By BOB SPIWAK

his discussion concerns what are dismissively referred to by some as toys – things that

are important to the year-round Methow occupant, even if seldom used. For the owner of a second home, the need for many may not be critical or even necessary, but through either admiration of locals’ goodies or simply to have on hand, there are many objects that fit the classification.

Tops among these are guns. We use them to hunt and to target shoot and of course to defend our homes and loved ones from incur-sions by Mafioso, Iranian terror-ists (or any other terrorists), or to hang on the wall above the door as is portrayed by many Western movies. After all, Winthrop and its environs are clearly “Old West.”

The problem arises when people from urban areas bring the artillery, long or short, to their acre-age or a gravel pit and proceed to expend the ammunition that came with them, at times enough to com-press the springs on the shiny SUV.

In this valley the beauteous mountains act as an echo chamber

and shots can be heard from miles away. The shooter can finish the targeting or plinking, then return home and remark about how great it is to live in such a quiet and peaceful place. I know. When I came here in 1968 I was one of the shooters.

Some essentialsThat is the negative side of

toys. Positively speaking, every home needs certain essential items. Among them is a chainsaw or several to acquire firewood – even if the home is propane-heated – as well as to clear land of downed trees, or to prune/trim said trees, or to create firebreaks.

If the aim is gathering fire-wood from the forest, a pick-up truck, preferably four-wheel drive, should be included in the collec-tion of equipment. Better yet, if the rig has a winch it might come in handy someday. Better still is the hookup for and possession of a blade to clear the drive of snow. And best of all, perhaps, is a large snow blower mounted on the outfit.

T

Photo by Sue Misao

Methow Home 47

And if the truck is not a part of the inventory, a walk-behind snow blower is a definite plus as well as a requisite piece of equipment regardless of the naysayers who dismiss them as play toys. It’s nice to be able to get out the door after an overnight two-foot snowfall.

But wait. Where do we put all this stuff? Any home built here-abouts needs an equipment shed, preferably with electricity and containing a generator for when the power does go out. And it does.

The garage that came with the house probably won’t do the trick because there won’t be enough room. Discuss this with your builder, or if you plan to do it yourself, be absolutely certain that the snow will shed to the sides, not the front and rear, hence block-ing entrance and egress to the building. If this sounds like an obvious consideration, I know of one three-bay equipment shed that was built exactly in that manner, the owner living elsewhere.

And if you look around you can spot homes whose garages’ snow-fall slides in front of the doors.

But a tool shed is not a toy. Along with the items above you’ll want room for the four-wheeler, or ORV. You can hook a small plow or

blower to these, and with a trailer wend your way among the trees in the forest and pick up firewood, rocks, plants – you name it. With no auxiliary equipment on it you can pull several sled loads of kids or ski-ers around your acreage.

If the acreage is large enough (you choose what size that is) a tractor is a fun machine. This hard-working, versatile piece of equipment will, with the proper attachments, blow or plow snow or both, grade your driveway, build an ac-cess road, roto-till your garden or field, haul a trailer of manure, dig a hole to bury the horse that provided the manure when it expires, or dig a well. Tractor potential is virtually unlimited.

Having the above toys is almost vital. Sure, you can hire all the work out and that is great for the economy, but not near as much fun as doing it yourself.

Think seasonalThere are seasons other than winter in the Methow

– August for example, when you need not be concerned with most of the stuff noted above. Many have motor-cycles, ideal for cruising the highways and getting a 340-degree view of the scenery on a comfortable road bike. Or consider a dirt bike to explore the gnarlier places in the hills.

Unfortunately, these now have to be street legal, which limits their capabilities even on Forest Service roads.

Is a fishing boat or float tube or raft or canoe a toy? They are all recreational floating platforms, and one might think hardly necessary to survive living in the Methow. Ask that question of a steelhead fisherman or woman drifting the river, and you will get an emphatic statement of the need.

There is whitewater for canoes and kayaks on the river, and we are surrounded by lakes for still-water paddling. Something for everyone.

And so it is with what are generically referred to as toys. Barely used, they probably fit that category. But liv-ing here, whatever you supply yourself with, sooner or later you will use them.

Illustration by Erik Brooks

48 Methow Home

“The Creative Spirit” is the theme for the annual Methow Valley Home Tour, scheduled for Aug. 11.

The tour, now in its 12th year, pro-vides locals and visitors the opportunity to truly experience the Methow home. It is sponsored by Confluence Gallery & Art Center in Twisp.

For those contemplating building a home in the Methow Valley, the tour provides an opportunity to check out design options and see the work of the various builders and architects. For locals already fortunate enough to live

in the valley, the tour provides access to some unique and impressive dwell-ings hidden in the woods, and down those long, rolling driveways.

The August tour will include six to seven homes that incorporate creative components such as local art, distinc-tively crafted detail and unique embel-lishments reflecting the owner’s spirit.

Tickets will be available at Con-fluence Gallery and Art Center in July. For more information, visit www.confluencegallery.com or call (509) 997-2787. X

Bob Monetta, Windermere Real Estate Methow Valley

• Selecting an agent may be one of the biggest business decisions you make. Avoid the “Cousin Vinny” or “fast food” approach. Don’t choose your cousin or neighbor because you know them, and don’t stop at the first open office and choose the first avail-able agent. Real estate isn’t like fast food.

• Hire a Realtor. Hire an agent who works full-time and doesn’t have other occupations so they will be there for you. Select a Realtor with advanced training and certifications suited to represent a buyer. Select a Realtor who knows the Code of Ethics and Standard of Practice: http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/code.

• Choose an agent who knows land-use issues and has local knowl-edge. This can be valuable during the purchase and years after. The length of time you have lived in the area is not the bottom line, but a long-time resi-dent is a good bet for local knowledge.

• Choose an agent who knows the market. Select an agent that is famil-iar with the MLS inventory and sales history. An experienced agent offers pricing advice and successful negotia-tions.

• Choose a tech-savvy agent. Se-lect an agent who is a strong commu-nicator, proficient in technology and email, and one who understands the legal implications of contract law.

Expert adviceLocal real estate agents offer vital tips to potential Methow Valley property buyers

Home Tour gives up-close-and-personal access to valley’s best designs

Sherry Malotte, Blue Sky Real Estate

• Know what you want to do when you are here. Depending on your plans for full-time or part-time residency, this can make a huge dif-ference. If you work here, you may want trails to be closer if you plan to exercise every day, or you may want to drive less by locating closer to towns. Knowing what a typical day will be like while you are here is important.

• Make a list of your ideal home or prop-erty criteria and give weight to the most im-portant items. Most people will not get all they want so it is important to know what is most important to you.

• Make an appointment with a real estate broker before you come and discuss your crite-ria. While most offices have people to greet you if you drop in, it is best for you if a broker has time to research all the options available based on your criteria. Allowing them the time to do this will be best for you and the broker.

• Do your homework. If you are serious about purchasing, consult with a mortgage broker ahead of time to understand what you can afford. If you are purchasing property, be sure you know what the fees are for hook-ups, installing septic systems or wells. Consult with builders. Call the neighbors, find out about the neighborhood. Go to the property or house at different times of day to see how the sun tracks.

• Be decisive. Many times, I have seen buyers think they have all the time in the world to purchase in this market. Just remember, if you like it, chances are other people do, too. Even though a property may have been on the market a long time, I have seen buyers get upset that they missed the one they really wanted.

Dave Thomsen, Coldwell Banker Winthrop Realty• Hire a qualified real estate broker to educate

you about Methow Valley real estate trends over the last four years and its current, at-the-moment direc-tion, so you can accurately build a baseline sense of values.

• Set parameters on the type of property you would like, but open yourself to possible deviations. Many buyers start looking for one type of property only to fall in love with something completely differ-ent. It’s a wonderful surprise when it happens, and it only happens if you’re open to trying on new ideas.

• Be systematic. Identify every possible prop-erty of interest and examine as many as possible. Start on the Internet, but remember you only get a partial view of any property online. It’s critical to hit the pavement (perhaps dirt, in our case) and tour as many properties as possible. In this case, more is more!

• When you find the right property, study it thoroughly:

Ascertain a legitimate price range based on comparable sales and other relevant trends. Perform a sound analysis.

Evaluate any possible issues with the property and determine what contingencies you need in an offer to protect yourself. Issues may come in the form of construction concerns, land dangers, or title/zon-ing issues.

• When it’s time to make an offer, develop a strategy for how to approach the seller based on your research. Is any information available about the seller’s motivation (or lack thereof)? Be smart and respectful. Once you reach agreement, make a plan for how to carry out inspections, title evalua-tion, financing and other contingencies. Know who’s responsible for what, so nothing is overlooked.

We asked local real estate agents for some advice to potential buyers of Methow Valley property. Here’s what they said.

Photo by Sue Misao

Methow Home 49

Methow buildersgot Methow skills

Ashley Lodato

Mike Maltais

Mike Maltais

Mike Maltais

Sue Misao

Sue Misao

Sue Misao

Sue Misao

Sue Misao

Directory of advertisersAppliances

Alpine Designs .................................. 39

Architects & DesignersAiello Architecture ............................. 8Balance Associates Architects ........... 52Chris Luthi Architect .............................. 15David Coleman Architecture ........... 11Integrated Design Concepts .......... 25Johnston Architects ......................... 51Larsen Architect ............................... 19Lawrence Architecture ..................... 2MW Works Architecture + Design ..... 2Office of Shackitecture ..................... 7The Patterson Company ................. 22Pinto Design ...................................... 32Shadowline Design & Construction ............................... 3Tall Timber Design Build .................... 17Workshop Architecture Design ....... 23

Artists & ArtisansBruce Morrison Sculpture ................. 21The Slagworks, Barry Stromberger ... 17Tannehill Company .......................... 34VMG Works/Studio Fe ...................... 16Waterstone Woodworks .................. 15

Building SuppliesAll Valley Insulation ........................... 46Alpine Designs ................................. 39Cascade Pipe & Feed Supply ........13D & R Glassworks .............................. 46Methow Resource Recovery .......... 17Methow Valley Lumber .................... 28North Cascade Builders Supply ...... 25North Valley Lumber ........................ 31Perma-Chink Systems ...................... 22

Builders & ContractorsBart & Company Construction ....... 36Big Valley Builders ............................ 10Brandenburg Construction ............. 51Byro Construction ............................ 33Common Sense Custom Homes ............... 12, 14, 46David Rudholm Construction ...........35D. McLane Construction ................ 13Eagle Handcrafted Homes ............. 51Hilton Construction ........................... 29Hungry Mountain Construction ...... 38JL General Contractor..................... 46Libbey Construction ......................... 37Methow Mountain Homes ............. 21North Cascades Construction .........44The Patterson Company ....................22Palm Construction ........................... 10Shadowline Design & Construction ... 3Stopwater Construction .................. 32Tall Timber Design Build .................... 17WSA Construction ........................... 46

CabinetryAlpine Designs ................................. 39Tannehill Company .......................... 34Waterstone Woodworks .................. 15

Carpet CleaningHigh-Tec Carpet Cleaning .............. 24

Cafés & Coffee RoastersBlue Star Coffee Roasters .................. 6

Concrete & GravelBrandenburg Construction ............. 51Byro Construction ............................. 33Cascade Concrete ......................... 18Five Star Concrete ........................... 29J.A. Wright Construction ............ 24, 33Palm Construction ............................ 10

Conservation ConsultantsAltitude Design ................................. 29Methow Conservancy ..................... 16Plantas nativa east .......................... 30RW Thorpe & Associates .................. 15

Construction Cleanup ServicesHigh-Tec Carpet Cleaning .............. 24 Methow Recycling Roundup ............ 6

Energy Consultants/SalesDerosa Edwards ............................... 32Energy Solutions .................................. 8SolarWind Energy ............................ 14

Engineering & DesignFL Cooley & Associates ..................... 8Methow Engineering ....................... 29

Equipment Sales & RentalByro Construction ............................. 33Cascade Concrete ......................... 18Cascade Pipe & Feed Supply ........ 13Hamilton Farm Equipment ..............9, 34Okanogan Truck & Tractor .................... 7Valley Tractor & Rentals ....................... 51

ExcavatingB & B Excavating .............................. 12Doug Haase Excavating ................. 30J.A. Wright Construction ............ 24, 33McHugh’s Excavating ..................... 32Palm Construction ............................ 10

FencingMethow Valley Fence Company ... 38

Financial ServicesBaines Title & Escrow ........................ 37Bart Bradshaw, CPA ......................... 12

FlooringHarmony House Interiors ................. 24Methow Valley Lumber .................... 28North Valley Lumber ........................ 31

Geothermal ServicesFisher Refrigeration ........................... 47Fogle Pump & Supply ...................... 18

Glass Supply & DesignD&R Glass Works ............................... 46

Heating & Air ConditioningAl Ju Stoves & Fireplaces ................... 8Cascade Pipe & Feed Supply ........ 13Energy Solutions ................................. 8Fisher Refrigeration ........................... 47Hamilton Farm Equipment .......... 9, 34North Valley Lumber ........................ 31

Home FurnishingsColumbia Furniture .......................... 14Harmony House Interiors ................. 24VMG Works/Studio Fe ...................... 16

Home & Garden DecorColumbia Furniture .......................... 14The Farm Shed .................................. 16Robins Egg Bleu ................................ 14

Interior DesignColumbia Furniture .......................... 14Harmony House Interiors ................. 24

InsulationAll Valley Insulation ........................... 46Cascade Foam & Coatings ............ 12Methow Valley Lumber .................... 28North Valley Lumber ........................ 31

InsuranceMelbourn Insurance Co. ................. 35

Irrigation Services & SuppliesCascade Pipe & Feed Supply .........13 Doug Haase Excavating ................. 30Fogle Pump & Supply ...................... 18Hamilton Farm Equipment .......... 9, 34Lester’s Well Pump Service .............. 22MVM Quality Drilling ......................... 20

Land Use Permits Altitude Design ................................. 29RW Thorpe & Associates ................. 15

Landscaping Services & SuppliesAltitude Design ................................. 29Carlton Landscape Construction.... 10Cascade Concrete ......................... 18Cascade Pipe & Feed Supply .........13 Canyon Creek Landscapes .............22Dennis Jones Chipping & Tree Service ...............................25Eastern Green Hydroseeding .......... 8Eric Claussen, Mountain Thyme Design ............................. 37Hamilton Farm Equipment .......... 9, 34J.A. Wright Construction ............ 24, 33Plantas nativa east .......................... 30Rick Fulcher Landscapes ................. 19Windy Valley Landscaping ............. 39

Legal ServicesPerkins Coie, Sandy Mackie ............ 30

LodgingCentral Reservations .......................... 2

MasonryEric Claussen, Mountain Thyme Design ............................. 37Masonry Arts ..................................... 25Windy Valley Landscaping ............. 39

Metal WorkersThe Slagworks, Barry Stromberger .. 17 VMG Works/Studio Fe ...................... 16

Non-Profit OrganizationsConfluence Gallery & Art Center ... 17Methow Conservancy ..................... 16Methow Resource Recovery .......... 17

Office Supplies & ReproductionsHavillah Road Printing & Graphics ................................... 11

PaintersNew Dimension Painting ................. 33

Porta Potty RentalsJ.A. Wright Construction ............ 24, 33

Property MaintenanceHousewatch...................................... 36

Pre-Fabricated HomesMethod Homes ................................. 52

Propane SalesOkanogan County Energy, Inc. ..... 38

Real EstateBlue Sky Real Estate ........................... 7Sun Country Realty........................... 29Windermere Real Estate ................... 6

RecyclingMethow Recycling Roundup ............ 6Methow Resource Recovery .......... 17

Retail Columbia Furniture ......................... 14Confluence Gallery & Art Center ... 17Rawson’s .......................................... 44Robins Egg Bleu ................................ 14The Farm Shed ................................. 16

RoofingCascade Foam & Coatings ........... 12 Triple T Roofing ................................. 24

Septic DesignFL Cooley & Associates .................... 8 J.A. Wright Construction ........... 24, 33 Monetta & Associates ..................... 18

Solar PowerDerosa Edwards ............................... 32Energy Solutions ................................. 8 SolarWind Energy Systems .............. 14

SurveyorsErlandsen & Associates .................... 21Tackman Surveying .......................... 31

Tree ServicesDennis Jones Chipping & Tree Service .............................. 25

Well Drilling & Pump, Sales & ServiceFogle Pump & Supply ...................... 18Lester’s Well Pump Service ............. 22MVM Quality Drilling ........................ 20

Windows & DoorsAll Valley Insulation ........................... 46D & R Glassworks .............................. 46Methow Resource Recovery .......... 17Methow Valley Lumber ................... 28North Valley Lumber ........................ 31North Cascade Builders Supply ...... 25Tannehill Company .......................... 34

WoodworkersAlpine Designs ................................. 39 Tannehill Company .......................... 34Waterstone Woodworks .................. 15

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