Secret Garden
July 9, 2010 by Melissa Labberton
By Melissa S. Labberton
Photos by Sara Gettys
The Barany Home
Yakima abounds with wonderful secret cottage gardens, hiding behind privacy fences and tall arborvitae hedges throughout our many neighborhoods. If you’re lucky enough to be invited in, a magical world of plants, trees, fountains and art awaits.
We’ve asked three local master gardeners to open their special garden retreats to our readers, with the hope that their stories won’t intimidate, but rather encourage others to create their own versions of an outdoor sanctuary.
Days of Wine and Roses
July 9, 2010 by Heather Caro
The landscaping of the Hyatt home includes small ponds and waterfalls, river rock features and wildlife statues.
By Heather Caro
Photography by Sara Gettys
Driving through the picturesque Lower Valley – perhaps on a wine tour – visitors might catch a glimpse of the towering river-stone arches and weeping sequoia trees that mark the entrance to Leland and Lynda Hyatt’s rural Zillah estate on Bonair Road.
They’re Pretty and You Can Eat ‘Em Too
July 9, 2010 by admin
By Carol Barany
July and August are months of lush abundance in the Yakima Valley, when gardens explode not only with extraordinary produce, but with extravagant flowers. For centuries and across many cultures, flowers have provided not only a feast for the eyes, but for the palate as well. Many flowers are edible and can make a beautiful and delicious addition to recipes.
But before you head into the garden and pick a bunch of blooms to add to tonight’s dinner menu, it’s important that you know precisely what you are eating.
Plant Picks from the Master Gardeners
May 7, 2010 by admin
By Sara Perry
A beautiful and appealing landscape is part of what makes our homes lovely, comfortable and comforting places to be.
Purchasing plants can represent a significant investment, and mistakes can be frustrating and costly. Luckily gardeners are notorious share-alls and advice from an experienced gardener – especially one who gardens in the same area you do – can be very helpful.
Leo Adams: Ever-changing homescape
May 7, 2010 by Melissa Labberton
By Melissa Labberton
Photos by Sara Gettys
Leo Adams, Yakima’s foremost visual artist, spends almost as much time redecorating his unique home on the Ahtanum Ridge as he does capturing the beauty of the Yakima Valley in his paintings. In fact, it’s difficult separating the talented artist from his house, an amazing amalgam of recycled materials, found objects and a vast array of original art.
Adams grew up on the Yakama Indian Reservation. His late father, cattle rancher Harvey Adams, served as a tribal councilman for 30 years. Adams’ Native American roots have definitely influenced his paintings, especially his stunning landscapes that reflect the colors of Eastern Washington’s desert terrain. That same heritage resonates in the way he accessorizes with indigenous plants, flowers, dried weeds and Native American stone implements. He uses a natural color palette — soothing gray, brown and taupe — for his home’s décor too.
An Unconventional Space: Mighty Tieton Lofts
May 7, 2010 by Heather Caro
Photo by Brendan Beardsley
Photos by Chad Bremerman
Eclectic yet elegant, the airy Mighty Tieton lofts are a triumph in the art of “reconsidering space.”
Through the work of Seattle architect Philip Christofides, Mighty Tieton’s circa 1941 fruit warehouse was recently repurposed into functional living space. By 2008, the oversized cement box had been transformed into 14 urban-chic loft condominiums with energy-efficient updates — all planned around interior common spaces. The $200,000-$250,000 lofts sold quickly and only one is currently back on the market.
Each Mighty Tieton unit shares a nearly identical floor plan, with a lofted bedroom over the kitchen and living areas. The airy ceilings (14 feet upstairs, 11 feet downstairs) and exposed original wood beams create a far more spacious feel than the actual 1,440 square feet. Wood floors burnished from decades of labor were kept as is.
But what really sets the lofts apart are the finishing touches placed by the artists and professionals who call Mighty Tieton home.
Start Your Own “Salad” Garden…Easily
March 5, 2010 by Heather Caro
Start Your Own “Salad” Garden…Easily
By Jim McLain
Start Your Own “Salad” Garden…Easily
Over the last several years, vegetable gardens have been popping up like dandelions in backyards across America. One reason for the renaissance of vegetable gardening has been the recession.
But there is also another reason: a desire for fresh produce that has been grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Not so long ago, organic farmers and gardeners were thought to be sort of, well, wacko. But organic gardening — gardening without chemicals — has now gained mainstream acceptance.
If you are considering starting your first vegetable garden this year, whether you decide to jump on the organic gardening bandwagon or not, heed these two words of advice: start small.
A Calming Color Palette
March 5, 2010 by Melissa Labberton
A Calming Color Palette
By Melissa S. Labberton
Color can set the mood, evoke emotion and bring back memories. (In fact, House Beautiful devoted its entire March 2010 issue to the color blue.) That’s why Sue Fenich and her design consultant and friend, Judy Ausink, felt that choosing the perfect color palette for Sue’s 1907 mock Tudor home on West Yakima Avenue was so important to the overall interior design.
From Ballet Studio to Beautiful Family Home
January 8, 2010 by Heather Caro
The living room, with its matching Empire-style sofas, antique side tables and cozy fireplace was once a dance studio. Photo by Rod Woolcock
From Ballet Studio to Beautiful Family Home
By Melissa S. Labberton
Photos by Rod Woolcock
Many Yakima residents remember the large Craftsman-style house at 2215 Summitview Ave. as St. Clair’s Dance Studio. From 1950 to 1992, Vera and Stanley St. Clair taught hundreds of local children and adults how to dance in their first-floor studio. However, all the plies and pirouettes became a whisper within the house’s old walls when Vera St. Clair passed away 17 years ago.
Enjoy an Indoor Garden This Winter
January 8, 2010 by Heather Caro
Enjoy an Indoor Garden This Winter
By Marge Greenwood
When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. ~Chinese Proverb
Rich red roses in a flush of bloom; russet and yellow striped petals bursting amid lush green chrysanthemum leaves; pendulous succulents dripping with fat buds and blooms — winter hothouses bring us these out-of-season beauties to delight our eyes and brighten our homes during the holiday months of winter.
Lovely to give and receive, the charms of flowering plants can linger on after all the decorations are put away and the cut flowers are faded and gone. Some can even be transitioned outside in spring.