Cabinet Work

Bathroom drawers are now installed, without fronts, but drawers. Yippee!

It's been a year!

We've been in our new home a year now -- loving every minute. Never in my life have I had a home where the indoor/outdoor relationship was exactly what I wanted. In Seattle four French doors were added for greater access to the back garden. At Saratoga, five French door were added for the same reason. Both remodels were terrific and did the best we could to take homes with no relationship to the garden and create that relationship. But this home is perfect with it's relationship to the garden. When I'm in I feel out; when I'm out I feel in. And with separate buildings creating forced travel between the spaces, I'm out often. Historically I've needed outdoor bedrooms and other ways to get outside more. Living here I'm content -- inside or out, or anywhere in between. Now I know my need for this indoor/outdoor relationship is greater than many people's needs in that regard, but I suspect the lack of it is an area of discontent not often identified. Anyway, for me this space is perfect!

Although our cabinets are still unfinished, as is our solar system, we are more than comfortable. Living here is easy, especially since it forced reduction in stuff. We're living smaller, and with fewer possessions, than we have since college days. It is a wonderfully freeing feeling. Also it pleases me to know that on my death I won't be leaving piles of stuff for my son to sort through.

The garden, for a one-year garden, is looking beautiful. There are still many areas needing plants to grow to fill in the bare spots and other areas that aren't planted yet at all. But all the beds are weed free, mulched, and ready for spring planting. The patios, decks and pathways are complete. We still need some screens for privacy around the bath, but that will happen soon -- we have the materials ready to go. And, we have a fireplace planned for one of our covered patios that is not yet complete, but again, we have most of the materials and are simply waiting for time.

The water system of rain from roof, to pond, to stream, to pond, to wetland continues to function beautifully and provide us with delightful wildlife experiences and much beauty. Just this past weekend Ed and I spend a pleasurable 20 minutes watching 6 birds splash and bathe around the edges. As the plants mature and fill out the wildlife will increase because their safety will be greater. At present there is still too much open area for safe travel to the south. From east to west, on our north side, they have an outstanding corridor where they can fly in short sprints from tree to tree for several miles in each direction.

Discipline is a word that is at the top of my list in living here. Discipline is what is required to keep "stuff" from accumulating. Trips home from the Post Office require daily sorting; trips from the grocery store require the same; as do trips from almost any shop. If something comes in the door, something else must go out. Not having Fibber McGee's (radio show ending in '59 so I'm dating myself) closet is the greatest pleasure.

As I sit here and type I'm overlooking the front lawn and vegetable garden on one side and the pond and native plant restoration area on the other. This is a richness that I am unable to describe. Masterfully well done by dbbrad.

We have sold or given away most of the things of value but of no use to us. We still have six great wicker chairs of outstanding value and in almost perfect shape. So, if you're interested in six wicker Palecek chairs just call 360 730 3924. Or, we have a cedar Chinese truck, hand carved. Great for a coffee table that stores blankets, etc. Other than that, we've pretty much managed to shed what we don't need or want.

The report card for our first year -- A+.

Kingfisher

Last year when our pond was new we added 20 feeder fish (very tiny goldfish). They disappeared. We added 20 more. They disappeared. We added 20 more, plus two koi, and one larger gold fish from a friend's pond. They all disappeared. Having had fish before I was pretty sure they were all hunkered down in the bottom of the pond, waiting for warmer water. But, we were impatient. We now had 60+ fish in our pond. A few floated, but very few, so in actuality we probably had about 55 fish. All winter the pond showed no sign of fish. This spring, once it warmed up, they began, slowly, to come to the surface. We could never get an accurate count but we were sure we had at least 40 fish from the previous year and a batch of new babies. We had plenty of fish. In fact, we were now concerned that our pond was over-stocked.

Well, not to worry. Just this morning I heard a rattling and saw the flash of a bird flying up to our roof. A few moments later I heard the rattling again and watched in fascination as the same bird dove into the pond and came up with a goldfish in its beak. A Kingfisher has discovered our pond. Eating is good!

Refining Storage

This pantry is narrow pull out storage that can be accessed from both sides. It works well. I would use this food storage solution again. But, as with anything new, learning how to use it best takes some time.

So, the ongoing task of living in our new home is one of refining what we need, and storing it in a way that is both pleasing and useful. When one lives in small spaces, those spaces cannot be wasted storing items for only occasional use. We keep the items we use year-around close at hand and the seldom used items are not kept at all. Those extra serving dishes or cooking pots used twice a year at holiday time are no longer part of our inventory -- not even in our storage closets.

The past few days I've been refining the contents of our shelves, adding to our food storage containers, and eliminating items that have been collecting dust. When moving into our new home I made the best cut I could but the experience of living here has provided valuable information. For example, the pull out pantry doesn't store bagged items, like beans and pasta, well. The packages flop around and get caught when the pantry is pulled out. Plus they take up too much room.

In looking for solutions, Brad discovered these great glass canisters (top shelf) at one of our local stores. They are now full of coffee beans, rice, beans, pasta, granola, oatmeal and the secondary flours and sugars (soy and wheat flour/powdered and brown sugar) for baking. The larger quantities of sugar and flour are in the larger containers. In the pantry, plastic sealed containers are used for dried fruits and nuts. The remainder of the pantry is available for cans and boxes of frequently used items that store well in that space and are handy to grab. Floppy bags and bulk supplies are no longer creating panty problems. After purchase, they are immediately placed in the canisters -- neat, dry, air tight and handy storage.

I went on a reading jag about the Chinese Cultural Revolution a fews months ago. It left me with a clear idea of just how lucky we are here in America with our large homes (even ours at 860 square feet) and all our amenities for living well in those homes. Thinking of cooking on a gas burner, squatting on the floor of a hallway; an entire family living in a cold cement room of only very limited space and almost no privacy; inadequate heat; few accessories; and so forth, has helped me realize how little I really need. And, how much I have, even after reducing what we had by so much. I like turning away from the American norm so I can focus on the essence of what's really important. Having what I need rather than what I want helps me to have a quality life without being owned by my possessions.

A friend once visited our Saratoga home (also small at 1200 square feet). Her comment was, "oh, I love small homes. I would love to have one too." Since she was in the process of designing a new home I asked her why she couldn't have one. Her reply was that she had so much furniture she needed a large home to house it in. Her children were grown and out of the house so it was only she and her husband. But, they built a four bedroom home of probably 4,000 square feet so she could store her furniture. Hum? Seemed crazy to me.

Solar Heat Storage

Brad Hankins, designer and builder of our fredleyonwhidbey home, designed our solar system's heat storage and sensor monitoring system. He has posted some interesting and educational comments at his blog, click website address below, then follow links to solar.

Brad Hankins
Design Build BRAD
360.920.8280
www.dbbrad.com

Guest House Interior Shots

This first picture is of the window seat with a 'Green Giant' Western Red Cedar in the background. This hybrid cedar will reach only 30' tall by 10' wide so can be planted in a more restricted location. The tree is centered on the hallway/bridge as one walks directly from main living. The neighbor's studio you see in this picture will be hidden by the tree in a few more years.This pictures shows the bath vanity area, in relation to the window seat. It also shows that the bath is lower than the bed area. There are two steps, with one riser, which is a floating metal stair connecting the two areas.
Here is the bedroom area with the wall bed up. The floor space available when the bed is up is designed for yoga. A table on the backside of the bed is available for working on a sewing or research project.
This is a photo of the bedroom area, with the bed down. A lowered bed leaves plenty of room to walk around all sides of the bed, but that's all. There is not extra room for furniture, which was our desire. Past experience had shown us that furniture is just a place to put clothes instead of in the closet. Because of the generous windows and the high ceiling the room does not feel cramped or claustrophobic in any way.

Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine

Following is a reprint of that article dated 11/22/09, without photos.

See: Seattle Times Article

On Whidbey, a unified home from multiple recycled parts

By Valerie Easton

FRAN ABEL and Ed Anderson's new home is three separate little buildings that look as if they might have started out fitting snugly together into a single home. You can imagine some force of nature causing the sharp angles and winged rooflines to burst apart, then settle back down into a cluster within the hollows of the landscape. If the parts could be fit back together, their shapes might interlock as seamlessly as a 3D jigsaw puzzle.

This Whidbey Island home embodies the idea that green doesn't mean dull, and innovative design can be as practical as it is cool. It doesn't hurt that Abel is a garden designer experienced in water catchment and native plantings. Her son, Brad Hankins of B.R.A.D. Building Renovation and Architectural Design,(note: dbbrad) who designed and built the house, is relentless in researching green technology and searching out materials to repurpose.

"This place started out with a patina and will only get better," says Hankins, pointing out that little maintenance is needed on materials that have already endured wind, rain and time. The windows and the roofing are new, but that's about all this family purchased at a store. "You have a design, and it evolves as you find the materials," he explains. Despite the contemporary flair of his design, the home's siding of worn metal and old barn wood leaves you guessing as to whether it's remodeled or new.

Which is just how Abel and Anderson like it. They wanted their new place to fit into the neighborhood. A major reason they moved into Langley from their view property outside of town was to gain the sense of community that comes from having neighbors nearby and town an easy walk or bike ride away.

Not only did the family put hundred-year-old barn wood, scrap steel and 40-year-old chairs found on Craigslist to good purpose, they even used waste from the job. The greenhouse adjoining Abel's vegetable garden is built of leftover windows, stone and scraps of insulation. Very little needed to be hauled away after the project was completed.

So how much money did the family save by such skillful repurposing? "Zero," says Hankins, who explains that it takes lots of time to transport, store, clean and detail materials with a previous life. "It may not save money," chimes in Abel, "but it feels good to do, and you can't buy wood like this anymore."

The entire project is a scant 860 square feet, spread out over the three buildings. Every space is multipurpose; the kitchen, dining and living rooms share a single space. The bedroom converts to a yoga room when the Murphy bed is folded into the wall, and its hallway is lined with books. The "barn" houses a workshop, guest room/study, laundry and plenty of storage for bikes and boats.

The main building is heated by solar power collected in vacuum tubes on the roof and stored in a heat sink beneath the concrete floor. "This building will take care of itself," says Hankins. The bedroom has a hydronic heater with solar storage tank. Because this high-mass heat-storage system is a bit experimental, Hankins buried 24 sensors to create a data-collection center that will monitor the heat sink to see how it's responding to all the weather factors that influence the system.

"Three separate buildings isn't as efficient," acknowledges Abel, "but you get some privacy." Since Anderson likes rock 'n' roll and Abel prefers classical music, a little division between buildings makes for smoother family dynamics. Each little building has its own relationship to the outdoors, its own deck or terrace.

"Ed and I love coming outside in the morning and experiencing the weather, feeling the wind, hearing the birds," says Abel of their open-air journey between bedroom and main house.

And how about the dynamics of a son designing and building a house for his mother? "Having a client with great taste is such an asset," says Hankins with a grin.