2019 Methow Home

METHOW

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HOME 2019

History and housing: Methow’s past shapes its present Living on the land: Preserving the natural setting

A supplement to the Methow Valley News

Marketplace boom: Real estate sales set all-time high

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customary for us to draw readers’ attention to the many articles that fill our annual Methow Home magazine. We start fresh every year to develop new content that sustains Methow Home’s mission of helping you think about all the considerations that go into building in the Methow Valley, and using that information to realize your own dreams about part- or full-time living here.

This year is no exception. In addition to “profiles” of several recently constructed homes — featuring the inside stories of how owners, architects and builders coalesced around an idea and turned it into reality — Methow Home 2019 includes articles about natural landscaping and its linkage to Firewise practices; the local real estate market; reusable materials; how the valley’s history of conservation keeps it attractive; and how a local nonprofit is providing affordable home ownership for valley residents.

It’s all valuable information.

But like most publications of its type, Methow Home 2019 is an amalgam of editorial content and advertising. They are mutually supportive, and one without the other isn’t a magazine. So we also want to direct your attention to our many advertisers who make this publication possible.

At some point in the building process, you’re going to need help from many of them — real estate agents, architects and designers, builders and subcontractors, building and equipment suppliers, local artisans and craftsmen, furnishers, insurers, landscapers, excavators, pavers, painters, electricians, well-drillers, septic tank installers and more — everyone who might have something to do with a Methow home from conception through completion. Consider Methow Home 2019 not only a guide to building, but also a resource for how to get it done. Our advertisers are experienced, capable and creative about meeting your needs.

It’s an active and exciting time for Methow Valley housing. And as our profiled homeowners all attest, building here is about becoming part of the community.  3

METHOW

HOME

INSIDE ...

2019

7 ON TOP OF THE WORLD

A priceless view comes with this budget-conscious Pine Forest cabin

11 A SENSE OF PLACE

The Sands’ Mazama home is designed to reflect and honor its setting

17 REINTRODUCING RE-USE Methow Recycles program gives building materials a new life

20 THE OUTSIDE STORY Bring some Methow Magic to your landscape

24 FIREWISE

No excuses: new homes should be ready for wildfire

A publication of the Methow Valley News P.O. Box 97, 502 S. Glover St., Twisp, WA 98856 509.997.7011 • fax 509.997.3277 www.methowvalleynews.com editor@methowvalleynews.com

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Don Nelson | publisher/editor

Darla Hussey | design

LaShelle Easton | design

Sheila Ward | advertising associate Tera Evans | office manager

ON THE COVER

27 NATURAL INCLINATIONS

Tim and Catherine Hennings’ “simple and functional” Wolf Creek home invites the outside in

33 PERFECTLY PLACED

Chechaquo Ranch home is designed to take full advantage of its spectacular setting

36 REAL ESTATE

2018 was break-out year for local real estate sales

See story, page 11.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCAS HENNING, SWIFT STUDIOS

38 BUILDING NEW COMMUNITIES

Methow Housing Trust makes family homes an affordable reality

42 BUYING A FIXER UPPER 43 METHOW HOME TOUR 44 THE EVOLUTION OF HEALTHY RURAL COMMUNITIES

The right “ingredients” can preserve and enhance rural life

46 MAGICAL, BUT

NOT BY MAGIC

Turning the glossy page

49 BUILDING VERSUS BUYING 50 DIRECTORY OF ADVERTISERS

CONTRIBUTORS 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.

Ashley Lodato is a Methow Valley News columnist.

Sandra Strieby

is a Methow Valley News freelancer.

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HOMES

On top of the world A priceless view comes with this budget-conscious Pine Forest cabin

BY DON NELSON

K

arleen Robinson ‌ has lots of reasons to love her small, economically built Pine Forest cabin, but one observation pretty much sums it up: “You can see the aurora borealis from our sofa,” she said.

That’s not all. Karleen and her husband, Don — both birders who met on an owl-hunting outing near Conconully — call their recreational roost perched on a rocky outcropping “Nighthawk Nest.”

From there they look out — not up — to see all kinds of birds and an occasional flying squirrel.

“The birds at that level are much different than down below,” Karleen said. The cabin’s 180-degree-plus vista includes Patterson Mountain in the foreground and much more beyond.

The potential view from the Pine Forest lot was always evident. How to take advantage of it was less so.

That was part of the challenge for Jeff and Molly Patterson of the

Patterson Company, a design/ build firm that has been involved in a host of Methow Valley projects over the years. The knob of rock at the apex of the lot doesn’t look like a typical building site — which is why it stayed on the market while others in Pine Forest sold, Molly said.

The Robinsons were undaunted. “As soon as I met Jeff, I could tell he wanted the challenge,” Karleen said. The Pattersons figured out how to excavate for a slab-on-grade foundation — at extra expense — and still stay within the Robinsons’ overall budget.

“You can see the aurora borealis from our sofa.”

Karleen Robinson, homeowner ROLL IN, ROLL OUT

The result is an 800-squarefoot vacation retreat the feels bigger because of the big northfacing windows and expansive deck. The cabin includes two bedrooms (one big enough for a king-size bed) and one-and-a-half

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PATTERSON COMPANY 7

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PATTERSON COMPANY baths, which is all the Robinsons — a blended family that includes three children — need for their Methow excursions. Furnishings are adequate but not excessive, everything is lowmaintenance and efficient, and a

world of recreational activity is right outside the door.

“The whole point is to roll in Friday night and roll out Monday morning,” Karleen said. “It’s simple, safe and clean.”

The Robinsons — he works for

Amazon, she is a science teacher — were frequent visitors to the Methow from their Seattle-area home. In 2016, Karleen said, “I decided that I was done camping and was going to buy some land.”

“We looked and looked, but nothing spoke to us,” she said.

The Robinsons had two ironclad parameters: they wanted a view, and they were operating on a strict budget. They found their eventual building site one day when they got lost driving around in Pine Forest. They contacted the Pattersons, told them what they wanted, and then turned most of the design and construction decisions over to Jeff and Molly.

“We just let them do it, and the quality of the craftsmanship speaks for itself,” Karleen said.

“We were just blown away, and it was so easy. We just moved in.

The space really functions well.”

“They wanted it to be small, simple and utilitarian,” Molly Patterson said.

Karleen said she embraced

Molly Patterson’s design suggestions, which include reclaimed wood siding for the exterior, with more of the on some interior walls to create a seamless feeling between inside and outside. The Robinson’s also appreciate the open, “floating” cabinetry in the kitchen area, elegantly fashioned from inexpensive materials.

“They just went with our budget,” Karleen said. “But she [Molly Patterson] is a perfectionist. We loved her ideas.”

The floors are concrete with radiant heat. The entry hallway is extra wide to accommodate mountain bikes and other gear.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

One challenge the Robinsons chose to just deal with is that there is no driveway up to the cabin, because they could not get a small easement from a neighbor. So they have a parking area at the bottom of the lot and walk up a path to the cabin.

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Nighthawk Nest as often as possible. During the summer, the older teenage kids are enrolled in local camps, and one daughter takes advantage of Methow Valley Riding Unlimited. “The kids love summer here,” Karleen said. And the Robinsons appreciate the sense of community that they can easily plug into. They are fashioning their own minicommunity in Pine Forest, having convinced a couple of friends to purchase nearby lots.

“Our goal, when the kids graduate, is to eventually be here fulltime,” Karleen said. “We love the valley.”

For the Robinsons, one of the best things about their cabin’s view is that it is ever-changing.

“It’s phenomenal,” Karleen said.

“There is something new every morning.”

And at night? The Robinsons still like to go “owling.”  PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PATTERSON COMPANY

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Every aspect of the house is designed to work with nature — from issues as big as making a house that “fits” in the middle of a field to choosing construction materials that embrace the effects of the environment.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LUCAS HENNING, SWIFT STUDIOS

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HOMES

A sense of place The Sands’ Mazama home is designed to reflect and honor its setting

BY DON NELSON

C

olin Sands’ relationship with the Methow Valley began as child when his Skagit Valley family frequently visited friends who owned a cabin near Carlton — to fish in the summer and hunt in the fall.

Years later, when Sands and his wife, Alisa, began scouting building sites in the Methow for a second home to accommodate their growing family and visitors, it was familiar territory for Colin.

The search started about eight

years ago and ranged from Gold Creek to Early Winters, Colin said. “We kept waiting for something to draw us to the place,” he said.

The place that finally did that was a 2-plus-acre parcel in the Methow Meadows development, including the old Patterson homestead, between Highway 20 and the Methow River — a short walk, bike ride or ski trek from the Mazama Store and major recreational routes.

The location suits the Sands family’s desire to be step-out-thedoor close to the valley’s many recreational offerings; to make space for lots of visitors with a separate guest house; and to create a home and setting that are welcoming, low-maintenance and Firewise safe.

Another expectation that architect Dan Nelson of Designs Northwest Architects in Stanwood was asked to meet was to make sure the home in an open

meadow — easily visible from the state highway — did not seem intrusive and blended with its natural surroundings. “The challenge was to build a house that doesn’t look like it’s in the middle of an alfalfa field, Colin said. “We wanted to be as inobtrusive as possible.”

“It was important to the property’s history to build a home that didn’t stick out,” Nelson said.

“They didn’t want a ‘loud’ house in the middle of a field,” added builder Justin Hamlin of Stanwood-based Impel Construction.

The answer was found in a modestly scaled profile and appropriate building materials.

Hamlin said the materials — including weathered wood, metal siding and steel beams — are intended to make the house “look like it’s been there forever.”

“It’s a resilient design,” Nelson said. All the materials were used creatively to increase the home’s fire-resistance, he said. The steel support beams on concrete footings create the impression in some places that the home’s gracefully aging skeleton has been exposed.

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“We wanted to bring in earth elements, and pay homage to the mining industry,” Colin said. The exterior requires little maintenance. “We didn’t want to ever repaint or strip, stain and reseal,” Colin said. Because of the metal siding and other natural touches, “the character of the house changes every time we come here,” Colin said.

Some materials that can be used in the Methow can’t be generally used on the west side because the valley’s climate is less damp and corrosive, Hamlin said.

As for landscaping, the site takes advantage of Firewise principles and except for one small patch of grass includes all natural plants and grasses with an irrigation system that can saturate the entire site if there if there is a threat of fire. Landscaping is

by Scott Perryman of Goat Wall Landscaping.

One challenge, Hamlin said, was the meadow’s rocky soil. Instead of hauling the rocks away,

Hamlin used them as part of the landscaping around the home’s perimeter. “We sorted it out and stockpiled it,” Hamlin said of the rock. “It helped the home achieve Firewise status.”

“We utilize the landscape as our décor,” Colin said. That includes outdoor metal sculptures that he designed.

CONSERVATION EASEMENT

The development area dates back a couple of decades to the days of a planned massive resort area near Mazama, Colin said. When the resort plan failed, property owners eventually got together with the Methow Conservancy to create a conservation easement, reduce the number of buildable lots, and preserve views and river access.

The literal groundbreaking for the Sands’ home was a figurative groundbreaking as well for the meadow. It was the first home to be built there.

The Sands at first wanted a

PHOTO BY DON NELSON Craftsman-style house. In conversations with builder and Colin’s childhood friend Justin Hamlin,

the Sands were persuaded to consider instead a “Northwest modern” concept. The Sands

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PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCAS HENNING, SWIFT STUDIOS were then introduced to architect Nelson.

Impel and Designs Northwest are regular collaborators. “We do a lot of work with Justin. He’s an amazing builder,” Nelson said.

Impel, which has an office on the TwispWorks campus, now has completed or is working on a total of six projects in the Methow Valley.

“Justin loves modern

architecture and encouraged Colin to go in that direction,” Nelson said.

“We went to him [Nelson] with idea boards and magazine pictures,” Colin said. “Dan said, ‘let me run with an idea.’ We started to fall in love with it.”

It took a couple of years to work out the orientation for the home and guesthouse and finalize a design. One of the considerations: “We had to accommodate winter conditions” to avoid snowdrifts, Colin said. Another was to take advantage of Methow summer nights when temperatures drop from daytime highs. “There is no air conditioning,” Colin said. “It was never a thought. The house is designed to be extremely [energy] efficient.” That includes concrete, radiant heat floors.

Impel broke ground in 2016, and the house was “substantially complete” by early 2018, Colin said. The site includes the 2,200-square-foot, three-bedroom main house; a 900-square-foot guest house; and an 800-square

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foot “bonus room” over the semidetached garage, which is connected to the main house by a covered walkway. All told, the buildings can put 17 people in beds, Colin said. Over the past holidays, up to a dozen people were there at one time. “We can have a lot of people and not be on top of each other,” Colin said.

“The key to the design was to have it fit their lifestyle,” Nelson said, “and having lots of options for friends and family.”y The Sands wanted an open structure in each of the residential buildings, which Colin describes as “twins” in terms of design, furnishings and orientation around a “nucleus” that includes kitchen, living room and dining room in one capacious room.

View-oriented windows that create a “see-through” effect are designed to break the barrier between inside and outside, including matching materials within and without. Vaulted ceilings enhance the enjoyable space without expanding the footprint.

“We spent a lot of time talking about options with the builders,” Colin said. He did much of the interior design including cabinets and furniture. The furnishings and finishes are simple but elegant, and don’t clutter. There are outdoor living spaces for the main and guest houses.

Metal fabrication work was handled by locals Tim Odell and Alpine Welding.

“We like to be able to come on a whim’s notice, and leave on a whim’s notice,” Colin said. “There are different areas you can live and thrive in,” he added, including an expansive entryway to the main house that includes a giant Scrabble board (yes, they play).

AT HOME IN THE METHOW

Colin, a financial adviser whose firm, Tyee Wealth Management, is based in Mount Vernon, is a fourth-generation Skagit County native who grew up in Stanwood. His great-grandfather came to the Edison area in

PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCAS HENNING, SWIFT STUDIOS the 1880s, and established Silver Bow Honey. Later, the family started Bellville Honey after Silver Bow was sold. Growing up, Colin said, he transported bees around the Northwest for

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Methow Valley. “We have a builtin Methow community,” he said.

A passion of Colin’s is what he calls “global adventures,” which he writes about for Mountain Hunter magazine. He has traveled extensively to hunt, including musk ox hunting near the North Pole among other trips around the world.

Having grown up in a hunting family, he said, the globetrotting became a hobby about a dozen years ago. Colin said he appreciates the “physical and mental tests” of venturing into remote wilderness areas under challenging conditions such as extreme cold (65 degrees below zero in Canada’s Northwest Territories).

Closer to home, the Sands appreciate that wildlife — deer and bears in particular — are part of his family’s Methow experience.

And their recreational gear collection, inside and outside the buildings, attests to their passion for activity. “We’re all skiers now,” Colin said.

Outdoor accessibility is baked into the Sands’ lifestyle. Their home in Conway is next to a tree farm and adjacent to a recreational trail network. The Sands family — Alisa; Dylan, 5; Maren, 9; Aidan 10; and two dogs — spend as much time in the Methow as possible. “We can’t get enough of

the place,” Colin said. Alisa and the two older children are spending the winter in the Methow Valley, he said.

The home has been featured in several newspaper and magazine articles. “I think it moves people’s imaginations,” Nelson said. 

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BUILDING

Reintroducing re-use Methow Recycles program gives building materials a new life The program, appropriately called Take It or Leave It, is housed in a large tent on the Methow Recycles property, off Airport Road in Twisp. People who have reusable building materials are invited to bring them to Methow Recycles.

Launched in December 2018, Take It or Leave It is building up inventory, but there’s room for a lot more, Milliken said. The program provides people a convenient way to clear out unwanted but still-useful stuff, particularly building and construction materials.

“We want to make sure people doing construction, whether remodeling a house or building a chicken coop, think of us as a resource,” said Betsy Cushman, executive director of Methow Recycles.

There are various ways that

BY ANN MCCREARY

T

ake it or leave it, but above all, reuse it.

That is the goal of a new program at Methow Recycles that offers Methow Valley residents a place to exchange building materials and other items. Things like lumber, flooring, roofing, sinks and fenceposts that are still useable are being collected and offered free to anyone who can use them.

“If there’s still life left in that stuff and people can use it, they’re free to take it. We don’t want more stuff to go to the landfill,” said Miles Milliken, operations manager at Methow Recycles.

people can advertise reusable items that are offered free or for sale, including the Methownet bulletin board and 2good2toss. com — an online exchange in Okanogan County for reusable building materials and household items. But people are often eager to quickly clear stuff out, Milliken said.

“People want a physical location, so they don’t have to keep it in their garage. We offer the space,” he said.

Milliken said. Still in a pilot phase, the program has established fairly strict

SELECTIVE ITEMS

Take It or Leave It will accept only certain kinds of materials and items, to make sure that people don’t use it as a way to dump unusable stuff,

Jim Vanderpool’s imagination was sparked by electric insulators he found in the Take It or Leave It tent at Methow Recycles, although he admitted, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with them.” PHOTO BY ANN MCCREARY

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guidelines, but those may change, he said.

In general, Milliken said, the program won’t accept items that can’t be stored properly in a tent (like upholstered furniture), that aren’t certain to work correctly (like things that plug in), or that probably won’t find a new home.

The program accepts a range of building materials, with specific dimensions. They include lumber, fenceposts, flooring, plywood, tile or laminate, counter tops, metal pipe, insulated wire, rolled fencing, roofing, sinks, solid core doors and double-pane windows. Lists of materials that are accepted or not accepted are on the Methow Recycles website, methowrecycles.org.

Milliken encouraged people to call if they have questions about what they can bring in, or if they are looking for something in particular.

Methow Recycles charges a fee of $2 for the first 20 pounds and $1 per each additional 20 pounds of items that are brought to the Take It or Leave It tent.

People making deliveries need to coordinate with a staff member before unloading any items,

Miles Milliken organized a box of lighting fixtures that were available for free through the Take It or Leave It program. PHOTO BY ANN MCCREARY Milliken said. There is no charge to people picking up items from the tent.

“We want to make sure people doing construction, whether remodeling a house or building a chicken coop, think of us as a resource.

Betsy Cushman, executive director of Methow Recycles

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Early this year, the tent held an eclectic mix of stuff, including sheets of heavy plexiglass that came from the ice rink in Winthrop. Some of it went home with a woman who was specifically looking for plexiglass to use in a dog house she was building, to allow the dog to see outside.

The tent also had a big box of electric insulators from power poles that burned in the Carlton Complex Fire. Local resident Jim Vanderpool sorted through

the collection of insulators and grabbed a couple. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with them,” he said as he carried them out of the tent.

Cushman hopes that when the construction season gets underway in the spring, homebuilders and contractors will be aware of the opportunity to recycle building materials, both at the Take It or Leave It tent or through Methow Recycles’ regular recycling programs for cardboard and other materials.

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Cushman said she is dismayed by “all the recyclable material that comes out of construction that is not recycled … I can’t encourage people strongly enough not to throw stuff on a burn pile.

Tons of stuff comes in cardboard — every appliance, cabinets.

Cardboard has a lot of life in it.”

PICKING UP FROM PAST

The 20-by-80-foot tent that houses Take It or Leave It was obtained from a similar nonprofit program, called Methow Resource Recovery. That program operated for eight years in Twisp until it closed in 2013 due to costs associated with a visual barrier that was required to be installed around the site. Organization leaders hoped that another organization would carry the program forward.

It took about five years, but Methow Recycles is “picking up where they left off,” said Cushman.

“They filled a niche, and shared a

lot of information with us.”

Methow Recycles launched the Take It or Leave It program through a grant from the Washington Department of Ecology.

As part of that grant, Methow Recycles also started a “repair café” where people with broken or damaged stuff (like clothes or small appliances) get together with people who are good at fixing things. The grant is also being used to develop a “tool library” that will provide a place where people can borrow tools that they don’t own. The tool library is expected to begin operating this spring.

In addition to keeping useful things out of the landfill and reducing waste, programs like Take It or Leave It also provide another benefit, Milliken said. “We make things available to people in the community that don’t have the resources to buy something new,” he said. “There are ethics and resource benefits.” 

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LANDSCAPING

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROB CRANDALL, METHOW NATIVES

The outside story Bring some Methow Magic to your landscape putting the right plant in the right place you can create lants are the source of much the same kind of magic in your own of the Methow’s landscape. magic, and by

BY SANDRA STRIEBY

P 20

Whatever your goals for your landscape, there are some special considerations for planting in the Methow. This article focuses on three factors that affect landscaping success: hardiness, drought tolerance, and fire resistance.

HOT AND COLD

Long cold winters and hot dry summers challenge plants.

Climate-adapted species and cultivars will do best, and locally grown plants even better.

Erin Gardner, co-owner of Wild

Hearts Nursery, says “When we started growing all of our plants ourselves, we saw a huge change in not only the hardiness of the plants when we’re caring for them but also the hardiness when we sell to our customers.”

Hardiness varies within the valley, as well. A plant that will succeed near Carlton may not do well in Lost River. Says Gardner, “There are some plants that just don’t want a long winter — there won’t be that thrive factor.”

Rob Crandall, founder of

A few favorites Kirsten Cook cites creeping Oregon grape (mahonia repens) for its small stature, fire-resistant leaves, and tidiness — “it doesn’t shed a lot of material.”

Rob Crandall recommends penstemons, buckwheats and fleabanes for their flowers, and adds several flowering shrubs that are customer favorites — serviceberry, chokecherry, mock orange and hawthorne.

Erin Gardner favors Methow Natives, echoes that, saying of locally-grown plants: “They’ve been through the rhythms of having harsh winters. Plants that are grown here are going to be better-adapted; people will have better success with them.”

WATER

Even native plants need water when they’re getting established in a new place, and many plants will need supplemental water throughout their lives to grow well and stay healthy. Gardner explores irrigation with customers, asking “What is their plan for long-term watering?” Whatever your water source, you’ll need a way to get the water to the plants.

Whether simple or elaborate, an irrigation system will require time and a financial investment to create and maintain.

Crandall recommends planning to water for at least two years. “People can look at natives and think low- or no maintenance,” he says, adding “Even if the goal in the long run is low maintenance, you do need to put in some energy to help it get to that place.”

FIRE

Fire is part of the Methow ecosystem, and landscaping

Siberian peashrub (caragana arborescens) — tolerant of drought and poor soil, and a nitrogen fixer that will create its own fertilizer and improve the soil. Since peashrub can self-seed readily in moist soils, she does not recommend it in riparian areas lest it become invasive. Spirea is another favorite — there are many cultivars of varying size and flower color; spirea blooms early and “the fall color is just stunning.” with fire in mind is essential.

Most important, in Crandall’s words: “Keep fuels to a minimum around the house.” Kirsten Cook, Firewise program coordinator for the Okanogan Conservation District, cites recent research to support that recommendation: “The area within 5 feet of the foundation is very crucial Flammable materials in this zone will increase the risk of ignition significantly.” (See Cook’s article, “No excuses: new homes should be ready for wildfire,” on page 24, for more about fire-protecting your home.)

Within the zones that Cook has outlined, plant spacing is key.

Think vertically as well as horizontally. In the vertical plane, the relationship between trees and the understory will affect fire’s ability to move into the tree canopy as well as through the landscape. Fire spreads readily when it reaches the canopy, putting both people and property at risk.

On the ground, plants that are too close to structures or to each other can help fire spread.

“Structures” include decks and fences as well as buildings. Cook emphasizes that spaces between plants or group of plants break the fire pattern and help keep fire from spreading. Remember, fire needs fuel. Think of every

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plant as a source of ignition. If the plant catches fire, what will the flames do? Will they reach your deck? The eaves of your house?

In planning plant spacing, consider the mature size of your

plants. Plants are living things, and every individual will grow differently depending on its heritage and circumstances. It’s not possible to know exactly how big a plant will become when you

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with a nursery to make sure the plants they recommend will be suitable for your site: • Fire-resistant plants for Chelan-Douglas County, Washington: s3.wp.wsu.edu/ uploads/sites/2086/2018/01/ fireresistantplants2017.pdf • Fire-resistant plants for Chelan-Douglas County, Washington: s3.wp.wsu.edu/ uploads/sites/2086/2018/02/ fireresistantbrochure2017.pdf

place it in your garden. There are guidelines, though, that will let you estimate the plant’s size when it’s full-grown. Books like Sunset magazine’s “Western Garden Book” include size ranges.

Nursery staff can tell you how a plant may respond to your site based on soil type, sun exposure, watering regime, and other factors.

The plants themselves affect fire resistance, too. Some plants are naturally more flammable than others — including many natives, such as conifers, sagebrush and other Artemesia species, and Snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus). Other plants have characteristics that increase flammability in the landscape, such as high litter production; open growth habit; and low moisture content.

Plants that are well-watered and healthy are less likely to burn.

Selecting plants that are easy to maintain can make a difference, too. When choosing plants, think about how easy it will be for you to keep them pruned and remove

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FIREWISE

No excuses: new homes should be ready for wildfire

BY KIRSTEN COOK, FIREWISE PROGRAM COORDINATOR, OKANOGAN CONSERVATION DISTRICT

I

have a confession to make: I’m feeling frustrated. I’ve conducted hundreds of wildfire risk assessments on homes in the Methow Valley. I’ve helped scores of homeowners figure out ways to make their existing homes more likely to survive a wildfire. But for every new house that meets best practices for fire-resistant construction, I see many more that seem to be whistling past the graveyard, hoping that embers will never find their way to the wood deck or the ornamental grasses planted under the eaves.

New construction is the best opportunity to create a home that will survive a wildfire. Headwaters Economics (headwaterseconomics.org/wildfire/homes-risk/ building-costs-codes) has shown that the cost to build a fire-resistant home is about the same as a conventional home. Guidance is easy to find on websites like www.disastersafety.org or www. firewise.org, or with a pre-construction consult from the Okanogan Conservation District.

The saddest experience for me is to assess a new home that looks ready for fire, until I turn the corner and find something that negates the effort, like a wood deck around a fiber-cement house. For all the talk about defensible space, research tells us that home-hardening is the most effective thing we can do to keep homes from igniting. The initial surveys of the Camp Fire disaster confirm what we’ve seen in many other wildfires: when

After losing their home to the Okanogan Complex fire, this landowner is rebuilding using all fire-resistant materials. PHOTOS COURTESY OF OKANOGAN CONSERVATION DISTRICT

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Wood or fiber cement? The quality of non-flammable siding options has gone up in recent years. PHOTOS COURTESY OF OKANOGAN CONSERVATION DISTRICT embers ignite homes in neighborhoods, those homes ignite other homes, leading to widespread destruction. The key to preventing these conflagrations is to keep homes from igniting in the first place.

So, if you are planning new construction, please educate yourself and your contractor. You can build a house that is both beautiful and resilient. Here’s a

few recommendations to get you started: • Choose metal or composite roofing and keep rooflines simple.

• Use non-flammable siding like fiber cement or stucco.

• Have stone or concrete patios instead of wood decks.

• Use vents engineered to keep embers out of attics and crawlspaces.

A common problem area: where horizontal meets vertical. When embers pile up in these places, both the decking and siding can ignite, especially if debris collects in the gap.

• Maintain a non-flammable perimeter from the foundation out to a foot past the eaves.

• Choose closed soffits instead of open eaves.

• Build the house at least 30 feet back from a steep slope.

Contact the Okanogan Conservation District for more information: we can send you links to

detailed resources for fire-resistant construction and even do a pre-construction assessment of your building site.

Finally, to those of you who have been working hard on building or retrofitting your homes to be fire-resistant, thank you! Your efforts will help not only you but the whole Methow Valley. Your firefighter neighbors thank you too. 

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HOMES

Natural inclinations Tim and Catherine Hennings’ ‘simple and functional’ Wolf Creek home invites the outside in

BY MARCY STAMPER

F

or a couple who met on a birdwatching trip, the chance for Tim and Catherine Hennings to become really familiar with the “hyperlocal” aspects of their new Wolf Creek home is particularly irresistible.

“Where do the birds like to hang out, where does the lichen grow best, where do the first flowers bloom in spring?” said Tim.

With generous walls of windows on all sides, the house maximizes the educational opportunities. In fact, the first thing Tim and Catherine built on the property is a trail down the slope to the creek.

Although Tim and Catherine had a clear vision for their house, it took time to refine the details.

After seeing friends’ houses and going on local home tours, they were confident Ray Johnston of Seattlebased Johnston Architects would be the ideal partner.

Tim and Catherine knew they didn’t want a lodge-style house. “We wanted something more simple and functional, with a Scandinavian look,” said Catherine.

They approached Johnston with a conceptual checklist.

Johnston came back with his

own ideas and multiple iterations of the basic design. “It was very collaborative,” said Tim. “We wanted something inviting that lets the outdoors in,” said Catherine. “I like glass. The house is really functional, and maximizes the use of a small space.”

The design takes advantage of the expansive views but still feels protected, said Johnston.

If not done right, cold, hard materials like glass, concrete and corrugated steel could create a natural tension, said Tim. But by incorporating a lot of wood in the interior, they produced a warm, welcoming feeling. “The house is

wedge-shaped entry from the main living space — are a roughhewn Western red cedar.

Coming through the front door, people navigate between the high wall and windows that look out toward Patterson Mountain.

Suspended globe lights handcrafted from recycled corrugated cardboard draw the eye toward the end of the corridor.

That entry wall tailors the experience of arriving at the house, generating a transition to a new frame of mind, said Johnston.

“There’s a point where you look up and see and experience what drew them to the property and made them see it as a special place,” he said.

Johnston persuaded Tim and Catherine to extend the wall all the way to the ceiling to preserve the dramatic effect. “He convinced us, and Ray Johnston, Johnston Architecture we think he’s right,” said Tim, who said the floor-to-ceiling comfortable and intimate,” he said. wall adds functionality, giving Cabinetry and molding are them room for additional storage fir. The ceiling — and the draup high. matic wall that separates the Tim and Catherine had fun

“There’s a point where you look up and see and experience what drew them to the property and made them see it as a special place.”

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PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHNSTON ARCHITECTURE working on the overall concept and design. The hard part was making thousands of decisions about everything from faucets to cabinet hardware to tiles.

Although Catherine “angsted over it” a bit, one of her favorite details in the house is the kitchen backsplash, done in muted chartreuse tiles that match the wolf lichen in the trees on their property.

(An avid botanist, Catherine studied lichens in graduate school.)

They set the house a good distance from the trees and increased the size of the irrigated lawn, both for wildfire protection and a place for their grandchildren to play. In addition to being affordable and maintenance-free, the corrugated weathering steel siding is noncombustible, said Johnston.

The house has benefited from a lot of serendipity. The concrete floor was poured during the solar eclipse a year and a half ago.

“The light was so odd and magical,” said Tim. “It was exciting.

When you’re building, there’s lots of waiting, so the pouring was momentous.”

Having a place for the family — three daughters and five grandkids, plus one on the way — to gather was a primary motivation for the entire project.

Tim and Catherine knew they wanted a separate guesthouse so everyone could have some private space. A short path from the main residence, the guesthouse has a bedroom, two sets of bunk beds, a pull-out couch, and its

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With capacious drawers under a bench in the great room for toys, books, and a train set, the main house accommodates children. A large area on the indestructible (and heated) concrete floor lets kids stretch out to play.

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The two buildings are oriented to make the most of the seasons.

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The kitchen island of charcoalcolored granite is a vast, smooth plane that makes a handy surface for communal cooking or for art projects. Because it produces heat only when in contact with a pot, the flat induction cooktop is safe for curious young hands.

“We can spread out papers, PlayDoh and craft projects,” said Catherine.

The house had its first real test at Christmas, when the whole family came to visit. They even named a sledding hill for each grandchild. “It was bedlam — in a wonderful way,” they said.

Tim and Catherine spend about half their time on Wolf Creek, since they can both work remotely. Because they wanted to the space to be efficient and compact, they didn’t build dedicated offices.

But the workspaces are inviting. Catherine has a small desk in front of a generous window that looks north to Cougar Mountain.

The master bath has the same view. Adding a window above

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the bathtub allows both spaces to share the view without having to make the house larger, said Johnston. “It’s kind of double-dipping,” he said.

Tim opted to forego a formal office. He works from the living room sofa, where he can watch hawks and eagles. “I’m on the computer all the time, but I look at the trees, and see eagles and red-tails roost in the trees. Almost every day, there’s a raptor looking for its next meal,” he said.

“It’s one of my favorite things.”

Tim and Catherine prize the healthy, intact shrub-steppe on their lot. “It’s never been grazed, so it has lots of wildflowers, like balsamroot and mariposa lilies.

That’s one of the most appealing things,” said Tim. “For us, being outside is a lot more important than being inside,” said Tim. They’ve already seen tracks of coyotes and cougars. “It’s a lifetime project — to learn the wildflowers, tracks, lichens and birds around here,” he said. 

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“We had looked at a lot of places and nothing really did it for us. On our first trip here, we decided this was it.”

Gary Galeucia, homeowner

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PATTERSON COMPANY

32

HOMES

Art T hat Kicks Butt

G

A DESIGN LEGACY

ea l’ n

That would be Jeff Patterson. He and wife, Molly — who also own Glover Street Market in Twisp — have been designing and building homes around the Methow for many years.

“Originally Jeff and Molly were doing to do the design, but they were busy so they put us in touch with Brice,” Gary said.

That would be Brice Butler, who the Pattersons had worked with before.

Most of the home’s design was completed by Butler, starting about half-a-dozen years ago. But Butler died in 2017 after the onset of a sudden, untreatable illness, before he could see the home completed, and Molly Patterson

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“We had looked at a lot of places and nothing really did it for us,” said Gary, a Boston native whose career with DuPont took him to several overseas posts.

“On our first trip here, we decided this was it.”

That was in 2009, when the Galeucias brought their son Chris to Washington to attend Gonzaga University. They had read about the Methow Valley and decided to check it out. They stayed at Sun Mountain Lodge and “it all happened pretty fast … we immediately fell in love with the area,” Gary said.

“It was one the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen,” said Monica, a Spokane native who also lived Germany for a time while growing up.

The Galeucias were also drawn to the multitude of recreational activities the valley offers. And they were impressed by how friendly and genuine its residents are, Gary said.

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The Galeucias started driving around the valley on that first trip, checking out potential home sites. They quickly settled on a Chechaquo Ranch parcel near Mazama, facing the meadow and backed up to the precipitous Goat Wall.

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“We tried to honor his [Butler’s] work and design,” she said.

Butler’s design reflects what the Galeucias envisioned. “We wanted it to be an open space, close to the meadow,” Monica

said. The Galeucias call the home Bel Campo, Italian for “beautiful field.” Gary added, “we wanted a see-through house” to take advantage of both the meadow and the wall.

Butler designed a linear,

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propane stove is a natural gathering spot, as are the dining area and a comfy couch in front of the fireplace. Including the garage, the home is about 3,100 square feet.

The central core is flanked on one side by a wing with two guest bedrooms — for the Galeucia children, Chris and daughter Lindsay, as well as other guests — and on the other side by an expansive master suite. The suite, which features views via big banks of windows on two sides, has a capacious walkthrough closet leading to the bath.

Because of that division of functional spaces, no part of the house feels overwhelming.

“It’s all about the views,” Gary said. “Wherever you leave a room, you are always looking out.”

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its surroundings. Molly Patterson suggested leaving some of the structural steel beams exposed, enhanced by subtle lighting in the great room.

The Galeucias also wanted a low-maintenance home that included a garage and a large “mudroom” near the main entrance for all their recreational gear and outerwear. It also has concrete floors with radiant heat.

The house presents a low profile thanks to its slightly cantilevered “butterfly” roofs, with deep overhangs that create protected outside areas. That idea came from Butler and Jeff Patterson. “If you had asked me, it would never have occurred to me,” Gary said.

“The roof design is a flat membrane with pea gravel,” the Pattersons said. “The butterfly roofs on the master and guest wings were conceived to eliminate snow buildup around the house.”

In describing the home, the Pattersons cite its “angles and positioning to capture the epic views … it is also positioned to

the southwest for minimum encroachment on the neighbors’ views.”

The Pattersons said the steel framing and I-beams were necessary to “accommodate the extensive window package.” So making them part of the décor seemed liked a complementary touch, Molly said.

Cabinetry was done by Jeff Cole, and Tim Odell contributed metalwork. All the artwork in the house is by local artists including Rod Weagant and the late Sean McCabe.

RIGHT AT HOME

The Galeucias said they worked well with Butler as well as with the Pattersons.

“We were very involved, and Brice didn’t mind,” Monica said.

“He [Butler] wanted our input, and he and Monica worked smoothly and wonderfully together,” Gary added.

The house was completed in mid-2018, and the Galeucias say they could not be happier. They

PHOTO COURTESY OF PATTERSON COMPANY now split their time between the Mazama house and their home in Pennsylvania.

From the meadow, it’s an easy walk to recreational trails or the Mazama Store. “We could go days without using the car,” Monica said. “We can do everything right here.”

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R E A L I E S TAT E

2018 was break-out year for local real estate sales Hot Methow Valley market continues to keep inventory low

BY ANN MCCREARY

M

ethow Valley’s real estate market reached new highs in 2018 for combined sales of homes, land and ranches, far surpassing previous years.

Total sales hit $81.5 million for all property types last year, according to a market report prepared by Dave Thomsen, a local broker who has been producing annual Methow Valley real estate reports for more than a decade.

The activity topped even the

frenzied boom year of 2005, when transactions hit $68 million, said Thomsen, who is senior managing broker and branch manager of Coldwell Banker Winthrop Realty.

“It’s interesting to note, the 2005 market reached $68 million on 425 transactions. The 2018 market reached the $81.5 million mark with only 277 transactions,” Thomsen said. Although far less than the number in 2005, last year’s activity was the highest annual transaction figure since 2006, he said.

Thomsen said he utilizes statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and other property sales information, which he sorts to develop a report on real estate activity from Mazama to the bottom of the valley at Highway 97.

Last year’s market highs were driven in part by sales of six

large ranch properties, which accounted for almost $12 million in total sales, according to Thomsen’s report. The ranch sales prices ranged from $1 million to $3.2 million.

“The high-end market really exploded last year,” agreed Bob Monetta, designated broker/owner of Windermere Real Estate.

“That upper end pushed the market up quite a bit.”

“If there was a surprise in 2018, it was the strength of demand for ranch properties, which historically sell slowly in the Methow Valley,” Thomsen said. “On average, we might see one ranch sell in a year, perhaps two, and often no ranches sell, period.” In 2017, no ranches were sold, and in 2016 one sold, he said.

Ranches are usually classified as properties with large acreage and/or specifically suited to farming or ranching. Sometimes the properties include elegant homes, but often they don’t, Thomsen said.

Two of the ranch properties were sold to conservation interests for a total of almost $5.4

million, and four were purchased by private owners for a total of about $6.4 million.

“The majority of transactions took place in the $200,000 to $400,000 price range” Bob Monetta, Windermere Real Estate

SINGLE-FAMILY SALES CLIMB

Sales of single-family homes in the Methow Valley in 2018 hit $53 million, compared to $47 million in 2017, Thomsen found. He tallied 149 home sales in 2018, compared to 135 in 2017.

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Total Sales — All Property Types* $81.5m

*Data courtesy of Coldwell Banker

$68m $60m $60.5m

$56m $56m $47m $41m $35m $23m

$27m

$34m

$30m $24m

'05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '09 '12 “The majority of transactions took place in the $200,000 to $400,000 price range,” Monetta said. “Rising prices have caused supply of property under $200,000 to dwindle.”

Inventory was low “in all price ranges” by the end of the year, said Brian Colin, managing broker/owner of Mountain to River Realty. “I’ve never seen the

'13

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inventory as low as it is right now,” Colin said early this year. In midwinter, there were only about 50 homes listed, he said. Winter is historically a slow time for real estate in the valley, he noted.

While most home sales were in the mid-price range of $200,000$500,000, local Realtors said demand for high-end homes was strong last year. “Mazama

continues its reign with the most sales of any area,” Monetta said.

“As is true in all markets,” Thomsen said, “fewer buyers exist for higher-value properties, What’s significant about the 2018 performance is that upper-range properties sold better than ever before.”

Land sales were also strong in 2018, with more than a 30 percent increase in the number of land purchases compared to the previous year, according to local Realtors. Thomsen’s figures show total land sales of almost $15 million. That number was inflated by “an unusually large number of high-value sales in the northern valley,” Thomsen said.

“Vacant land surprised me, it didn’t really slow down,” Monetta said. He counted 112 land transactions in the Methow Valley in 2018 with a median sale price of $110,000.

Land buyers may have felt more confident because some of the issues surrounding water rights were settled in 2018, Monetta said. The “Hirst

decision,” a state Supreme Court case that cast doubt over water availability in 2017, was partially addressed by the state Legislature in early 2018.

“The resolution of the Hirst decision relieved much of the anxiety about domestic water,” Monetta said.

However, he said, restrictions on well drilling imposed by the Department of Ecology in streams and lakes long closed to new water uses have raised new questions about the ability to develop property in some areas of the valley.

Brokers are optimistic that the strong market will continue into 2019. “As long as we see some inventory come on the market, it should be a brisk year,” Colin said.

“There are still voices out there that seem to suggest the housing market is headed for calamity and that another housing bubble is forming, or in some cases, is already deflating,” Monetta said.

“In all the data that I review, I just don’t see this happening.” 

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BUILDING

Building new communities The Methow Housing Trust is looking at a variety of properties as suitable sites for affordable homes. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE METHOW HOUSING TRUST

Methow Housing Trust makes family homes an affordable reality

BY ASHLEY LODATO

38

C

alling the Methow “home” from a position of security, dignity and possibility will become a reality for 20 valley residents in mid-April 2019, when the first nine

affordable homes built by the Methow Housing Trust (MHT) become occupied by new owners.

The soon-to-be-completed homes, located in MHT’s Canyon Street (Twisp) and McKinney Ridge (Mazama) neighborhoods, represent Phase One of MHT’s mission to develop and preserve

affordable, quality housing for residents of the Methow Valley.

Established in 2016 to address the critical concern of a shortage of affordable housing in the Methow Valley, MHT is a community land trust, retaining ownership of three pieces of land in Twisp, Winthrop and Mazama.

MHT is building homes on the land, which it is are selling to eligible Methow Valley full-time residents whose gross household income does not exceed

100 percent of the area median income.

Constructed by Methow Valley Builders (Canyon Street) and Big Picture Construction (Mazama), MHT’s two-bedroom homes are selling for $140,000 and three-bedroom homes for $160,000: $60,000 less than the cost to build them. The difference is covered by MHT. Homeowners agree to live in the homes full-time and keep them in good shape, and, when/if they wish to sell their home, they work with MHT to sell the house to another income-eligible buyer at a price that is calculated according to the resale formula in the lease, so the house remains affordable for the next buyer.

What might appear to be an anomalous bit of luck in a western landscape rife with boom town communities struggling to address affordable housing shortages is actually the result of a strategic effort and the “immense generosity of donors,” says MHT Executive Director Danica Ready. These changemakers have allowed MHT to move swiftly and decisively from needs assessment to vision to brick-and-mortar (or, rather, stick frame) reality.

“A handful of key donors, joined by nearly 300 members, have been instrumental in making immediate and tangible progress possible by providing private funds,” Ready says. “Because MHT didn’t have to rely on public funding — which would have severely limited the eligibility of people who could apply for one of these houses — we have been able to be innovative and respond quickly to this community need.”

The McKinney Ridge neighborhood in Mazama — the land and all of the development costs — is being completely financed by a single donor, Lee Whittaker.

Whittaker and his late wife, Marilyn, spent a lot of time at their Mazama home during Marilyn’s illness and realized how scarce affordable housing was for people in the service industry. “He’s a creative problem-solver with a

The Canyon Street homes are nearly ready for occupancy. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE METHOW HOUSING TRUST passion for community-building” says Ready of Whittaker. “Investing in the housing trust’s model was his way of tackling the housing shortage head-on.”

When the project is complete, Whittaker plans to deed the affordable homes to MHT to manage.

STRATEGIC THINKING

The neighborhood will also include market-rate homes and shared common space amenities.

Whittaker’s creative brain is ticking away on his plans to build a greenhouse, a workshop and a solar array on the McKinney Ridge property as well. Although the homes won’t receive solar power directly, the array will generate funds to offset the energy costs of the low-cost housing members of the community.

And, Ready says, Whittaker has committed to an operational support gift to the MHT for the next 10 years, which will require a community match.

“Lee recognized that for MHT to scale up quickly and build enough homes to make a difference, we need sustainable operational funding early on,” Ready says. “He’s thought about this very strategically. It was his idea to incorporate marketrate homes into the McKinney Ridge property.”

The market-rate homes, says Ready, will not only help

diversify the neighborhood, but they’ll also help maintain affordability for those in the MHT homes, as market-rate homeowners will pay a higher percentage of homeowner association fees.

In Twisp, Ready says, Moccasin Lake Foundation and an anonymous donor collectively enabled MHT to purchase the land, begin site development and construct the first five homes. A number

“Because MHT didn’t have to rely on public funding — which would have severely limited the eligibility of people who could apply for one of these houses — we have been able to be innovative and respond quickly to this community need.”

Danica Ready, Executive Director for Methow Housing Trust 39

of other donors have pitched in to help, inspired by foundational donors and the MHT board of directors pledging the construction cost of one of the homes.

“It was important to the donors that we be able to get started right away and say ‘yes’ to more people in this community, that we broaden who we serve well beyond those who would be eligible for projects built using public funding with strict restrictions that don’t match our community’s needs,” Ready says.

The first nine homes will soon be occupied by a broad crosssection of Methow Valley residents: seniors on a fixed income, first- through fourth-generation valley residents, newcomers to the valley, nonprofit employees, service workers, people with disabilities, entry-level school district staff, an artist, and a yoga teacher.

“We’re serving the people we want to serve,” says Ready. She adds, “these people took a leap of faith buying a home that existed only on paper. We think they feel

well-supported in this process.”

Ready and the MHT staff say they can already see the characters of the neighborhoods emerging, as they get to know the first round of occupants. And with the second round of homeowners lined up for the next phase of completed homes, those neighborhood identities will only grow and blossom.

Despite construction being onschedule, with final occupancy inspections scheduled for midApril, January’s partial shutdown of the federal government might affect move-in dates for about a third of the new homes, since those owners are dependent on USDA 502 Direct Mortgage loans.

Says Ready of the 35-day partial shutdown, “it was long enough that it’s hard to imagine that it won’t delay things. Our partners at the Rural Development Office are committed to our applicants

It was important to the donors that we be able to get started right away and say ‘yes’ to more people in this community

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Danica Ready, Executive Director for Methow Housing Trust but no one knows how much of a backlog of work they faced when they returned to work and where our application falls into that backlog.”

But, Ready says, no one is going to lose the opportunity to purchase an MHT home due to the shutdown. “The MHT will allow our applicants the time they need to close on the sale.”

EVALUATING FIRST PHASE

MHT is in the process of

evaluating nearly every aspect of Phase One. “We’re assessing and reassessing everything,” says Ready. “We’re looking at our policies and application process, questioning whether we’ve fully addressed equitability. We’re going to find out how livable the houses are, what the neighborhoods feel like. And we’re going to do an energy efficiency audit, which we’ve engaged contractors to help us with.”

New homeowners’ feedback will, of course, be instrumental to this assessment process. And with more homes being built in 2019–2020, the findings will be immediately applicable to improvements.

One example of improvements to the next round of Canyon Street homes, says Stefan Hampden of CAST Architecture, which provided plans for the Twisp houses and consulted on the Mazama homes, includes “taking better advantage of the vaulted ceiling spaces in the homes,” which were incorporated into the original designs in

40

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Construction is well along on the Methow Housing Trust’s homes near Mazama. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE METHOW HOUSING TRUST order to “capture light and make the modest home size feel more spacious.”

Other changes were made between the initial design process and the actual building of the first round of homes. For example, the original design called for small yards on both north and south sides of the homes. “But

then we realized if we shifted each home to the north,” says Hampden, “each could have a useable yard on the south side of the house, instead of minimal yards on both sides. There’s no throwaway space. The edge of one house is the beginning of the side yard of the next.”

Hampden says that CAST

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Architecture was invested in the project from the moment the firm became aware of the MHT. “We build a lot of custom homes in the Methow Valley,” he says, “and we enjoy tailoring projects to clients’ needs. But it’s also very rewarding to be able to create something special for folks who wouldn’t otherwise be able to hire an architect.”

Also, site considerations, budget constraints, and overall challenge of creating neighborhoods with homes that could be built economically but which still had unique character “forced CAST to come up with creative solutions,” says Hampden. “That was a super fun process.”

Hampden adds, “Part of CAST Architecture’s mission is to do pro bono work and go after work we believe in, in terms of social justice. The MHT project spoke

to us and we wanted to be a part of it.”

The social justice that Hampden refers to is, after all, at the root of MHT’s mission to preserve affordable, quality housing for residents of the Methow Valley. In bridging the gap between the valley’s high property values and the modest incomes of many residents, MHT tackles the complicated issue of distribution of wealth and privilege in the Methow Valley one neighborhood at a time, and in the process nurtures a stable and diverse population of residents who are grounded and united by a love for this special place.

Says one MHT home applicant, “To be able to afford a home here in the Methow Valley is unreal.

We are so grateful for this opportunity to grow our family roots in this beautiful community.” 

Your place in the Methow is special. Help keep it that way.

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R E A L E S TAT E

Buying a house that needs work can seem like a great way to save money as homeowners typically ask for less for a house that needs a lot of repairs. For some buyers, this is a good option; it allows them to get many of the benefits of designing a home without building from scratch and means a smaller loan amount and smaller monthly payments.

However, don’t be blinded by a smaller loan. Home renovation is expensive, and you’ll either be paying a contractor a fair amount for updates or doing a lot of the work yourself. LearnVest spoke with a real estate agent about what you should consider

when you’re thinking about a house that needs some TLC.

DO YOU WANT A DREAM HOME?

A fixer-upper allows you lots of opportunities to make the house your own.

Since it already needs the work, you can rip up the floors, knock down a wall or two, change the lighting fixtures or baseboards, put a deck in the back, add a window — make it what you want. This is typically less expensive than building a new house.

CAN YOU DO THE WORK YOURSELF?

Consider your knowledge and ability to do the needed contracting work. How much time the work will take and do you have that time? What tools will you need and will you buy or rent tools?

Do you know what you want

the house to look like, and are you able to do the design work?

If you’re going to do any of the work yourself, including building anything new, making structural changes or doing electrical or plumbing work, check the local zoning laws and get the necessary permits.

DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR RENOVATIONS?

You might need to budget for some professional work, such as having an architect do the design work or paying an electrician or plumber. You also should look at the type of renovations needed; rooting out black mold, redoing the foundation or replacing the roof are very expensive.

A conventional mortgage will not pay for remodeling work, but homebuyers can get a 203k loan, which is insured by the Federal Housing Administration, that allows for renovating. 

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Tour offers inside story of how the Methow embraces the outdoors

C

onfluence Gallery and Art Center presents its 18th annual Methow Valley Home Tour on Aug. 3. This year’s theme is “Embracing the Outdoors,” reflecting the Methow’s celebration of its many outdoor recreation offerings.

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“The Methow Valley celebrates outdoor living,” a Confluence Gallery press release notes. “Whether hiking Easy Pass, skiing Tour of the Methow, running over the Tawlks-Foster Suspension Bridge, fishing in Pearrygin Lake, sledding Goat Creek Road, or watching deer eat garden plants, people in the valley love the outdoors.

The 2019 Methow Valley Home Tour will reflect that joy.”

The Winthrop house pictured, designed and owned

by Tom Lencheck, PBW Architects, “is a stunning example of Methow homes ‘Embracing the Outdoors,’ the press release

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continues. “The recent remodel added a screened outdoor bedroom and extended the outdoor living and dining areas.

This home, along with seven others on the Confluence Art Gallery’s 2019 Methow Valley Home Tour, will feature outdoor living spaces, gardens, connections to trails and breathtaking views.”

The Methow Valley Home Tour annually offers an exclusive peek inside some of the valley’s most beautiful and distinctive homes, and an opportunity to learn about design, architecture and innovative construction methods.

Tickets will go on sale starting March 1 at www. brownpapertickets.com. For information, call (509) 997-2787, or visit www.confluencegallery. com. The tour will be from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person or $20 per person for carpools of four. Tickets with a tour map go on sale at Confluence Gallery in Twisp July 30 – Aug. 3. Tickets with a tour map go on sale at The Mazama Store on Aug. 3, 9 a.m. – noon. All ticket-holders must pick up a tour map and wristband at Confluence Gallery or Mazama Country Store in Mazama. 

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LIVING

The evolution of healthy rural communities The right ‘ingredients’ can preserve and enhance rural life

BY RAY JOHNSTON

A

s cities grow, ‌ small towns and rural areas can be left behind.

This has happened before and will happen again. But in some rural areas, the vitality that once came from the extraction of natural resources is being re-created by keeping our “natural capital” close to home, and through a localism that encourages new ways of working and living.

Before cities and towns, foraging and hunting kept a population on the move until agriculture allowed people to stay in one place. Crops and food animals 44

were grown, raised, processed, stored and shared. Cooperative effort allowed for more time to create community.

Rural communities survived by producing products that the larger population needed and were tied to the land: food, minerals and wood.

In recent decades mining, logging and food production have shifted to industrial- and corporate-based processes.

Population in rural areas has waned as job growth has slowed through automation or, sometimes, through competing international trade. In lessdensely populated areas, public resources decline in proportion to declining populations. Rural communities find themselves questioning their relevance.

RECIPE FOR A HEALTHY TOWN

However, those who revere the rural life find a way to remain, and the ingredients needed to sustain a community are being revised and re-envisioned. If a community is lucky enough to be in a naturally beautiful environment, then a tourist industry provides a level of stability. But tourism alone creates its own problems: low wages, cyclical ups and downs, and stratified society.

As the old economy faded, people worked two or three jobs. In a

few cases, more-savvy residents altered their lives to survive by finding new markets or supplementing their work in other ways. Some developed boutique products while others exported expertise in their field in order to make ends meet.

New times demand a level of creative diversity to sustain a strong and balanced local economy. People have to develop new skills or find new markets for their skills, become aggressively entrepreneurial in developing new products, and sometimes still have to work at multiple jobs to help themselves — and their towns — thrive.

As the ring of influence of population centers expands, driven by current economy and technology (.com), rural communities find themselves with some new options. People are looking for relief from the density of the city.

For many, this means a weekend retreat, but others are reviewing their urban lives and considering what options might exist. A change of career might be viable for some. For others, perhaps the choice of career includes a choice of environment. For some, the profession that was based in the city can be shifted to a rural environment and conducted remotely.

Today, in some places, the flight from rural towns to city centers is changing direction. In a balanced rural community, the outflow of young people can be temporary. As a younger generation sees opportunity and community in the place they are from, they frequently return.

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

Some of the ingredients of a strong, resilient and healthy rural economy include a diversity of businesses and products, the ability of people to work remotely to reach larger markets and keeping young people from fleeing to the big city. Strengthening social ties is an equally important ingredient: the idea that we look after each other and cooperate to make sure everyone’s needs are met.

Philanthropy that is inclusive, with goals that are defined by the community, plays a big role.

Community benefits in the “old” rural economy were top down, coming from one company or individual. But in the “new” rural economy, a consortium of advocates and interest groups from all corners are required to make a healthy place. The recipe includes active groups organized around the environment, recreation, the arts, education, social services, economic development, information, communication and health. And, of course, philanthropy plays a part as an essential ingredient.

In our own valley, we are lucky enough to have organizations that fill all these slots. They include the Methow Conservancy, Methow Trails, Methow Arts, Classroom in Bloom, Room One, Friends of the Winthrop Library, the Twisp and Winthrop Chambers of Commerce, Methow Valley Citizens Council, Aero Methow Rescue Service, the Methow Housing Trust and TwispWorks, among others.

Behind the names of these

Arts & Culture: Methow Arts, Confluence Gallery & Art Center, Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, The Merc Playhouse, Winthrop Gallery, etc.

Library: Friends of the Winthrop Library, Twisp Library, North Central Regional Library District, etc.

Environment: Methow Conservancy, Methow Valley Citizens’ Council, etc.

In the “new” rural economy, a consortium from all corners are required to make a healthy, vital community.

Social Services, Health: Room One, Jamie’s Place adult family home, Aero Methow, The Cove, Methow at Home, etc.

Recreation: Methow Trails, Winthrop Rink, Wagner Pool, Evergreen Mountain Bike Assoc., MV Backcountry Horsemen, etc.

Economic Development: TwispWorks, Winthrop Chamber of Commerce, Twisp Chamber of Commerce, etc.

Agriculture: Methow Conservancy, Farmers’ Markets, etc.

organizations are citizens and representatives of corporations that are not necessarily making money off this rural environment, but rather supporting its health through investments in

a place and a community that bring benefits to everyone, no matter where they stand on the economic ladder.

Each ingredient supports other vital cogs in the economic

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machine. Recreation, for instance, provided by Methow Trails, requires a staff that is supported by user fees. As a result, jobs are created and the recreation provided is a benefits to the hospitality

industry and many others.

Another example, TwispWorks, employs a staff through philanthropic grants and fees, puts together education, investors, business creators and artists on a campus that creates economic health in the valley. TwispWorks also provides a cultural anchor contributing to the sense of the valley as a destination. The Methow Conservancy finds ways to preserve land, save farms through working easements, sustain agriculture and support recreation while providing living wages to those who help make it happen.

So, the rural company town or the town that grew along the crossroads of rural transportation paths is changing. Transportation paths aren’t the same, nor are the corporations that influence the environment. In the place of these generators a variety of new ones are rising.

Recreation is replacing industry based on extraction of resources and innovative development of products is replacing mass production. Humans are creative!

Some rural communities will not have enough of the ingredients to make the recipe. Logging, mining, agriculture and governmental land management are not being supplemented by the mix of locally instigated enterprises we’ve been talking about. But, where they are, a way of life is evolving that is deeply satisfying and durable.

Ray Johnston is a principal in Seattle-based Johnston Architecture. 

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Magical, but not by magic Turning the glossy page

Beneath the breathtaking beauty of views like this up Big Valley near Winthrop are the often untold stories of landowners who chose to protect their property with a conservation easement or ensure it is enjoyed forever as part of our public lands.

Photo courtesy of the Methow Concervancy 46

C O N S E R VAT I O N

C

rack open just about any major newspaper, travel magazine or tourism-related Instagram feed these days and you are likely to recognize a beautiful photo or six of the Methow Valley, always accompanied by an upbeat article aimed at convincing you that there is no better place to plan your next vacation or home than the magical Methow.

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Typically, the author will eloquently tour you from bakery to bakery, trail to trail, and barstool to outdoor patio, capped by a

suggested list of lodging options or spa treatments sure to ease your aching muscles at the end of a long day of adventure.

Often, these articles tend to bump up against their 500-word limit and stop there.

If they were allowed go deeper than the gloss on that trademark photo of the North Cascades, they’d quickly discover that much of what makes the Methow Valley such a unique and special place is rooted in what is both obvious and invisible at the same time.

Ingredients like: an intentional community of people and business owners who genuinely care for the place they call home, clean flowing rivers, ready access to public land, and a critical mass of iconic open space, habitat and agricultural fields protected forever by conservation easements. There are, undoubtedly, lots of beautiful mountain valleys in the West, but the community of people inspired to care for the land in the Methow Valley is unique and so often overlooked.

Look more closely at the glossy

magazine photos, and you’re likely to recognize the landscape in the photo as a place that will forever look pretty much just as it does today. Often it is a conservation-minded private landowner, or public land manager who is responsible for that reality.

Never did it get that way by magic or accident.

APPRECIATING THE PAST

Whether you have just discovered the Methow Valley for the first time, or are seriously considering putting down roots here, it is worth taking time to understand the history of the place, and how our human relationship with the land has shaped this valley over time. Odds are, there is a long history and cast of characters responsible for the view you dream of enjoying outside your future kitchen window.

By taking time to understand

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Spring on the Heckendorn hillside just outside of Winthrop is a burst of color and represents one of several exciting new public access opportunities the Methow Conservancy is working on. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE METHOW CONSERVANCY the history of the Methow Valley — from the Methow Tribe who called this land home for centuries to the more recent events, people and organizations that have shaped it over time — you’ll grow to have a deeper appreciation for the place and your own relationship with it. The magic will grow, and you’ll find that the land of the Methow Valley serves as an important common denominator for all those fortunate enough to call it home, or the home of their heart — no matter how diverse we may be otherwise.

If you’re ready to turn the (glossy) page and grow a deeper connection to the Methow Valley, consider picking up one of the following books at your local

bookstore as you settle in some shade along the river to read this summer: “The Smiling Country: A History of the Methow Valley,”

by Sally Portman; “Mazama: The Past 125 Years,” by Doug Devin; “My View of the Methow from Moccasin Lake Ranch,” by James C. Pigott; or “Lost Homeland: the Methow Tribe and the Columbia Reservation,” by Richard Hart.

Tomorrow’s history is waiting to be written today, so get to know the people and organizations who are working to shape the Methow Valley in real time, and thank you in advance for taking an active role in insuring that the Methow Valley always remains a richer and deeper place than a glossy spread will ever convey! 

About the Methow Conservancy For 23 years, the Methow Conservancy has existed to inspire people to care for the land and water of the Methow Valley, working with over 120 landowners to create permanent conservation outcomes for their lands. To learn more about their work, explore 48

conservation opportunities for your land, discover upcoming natural history education programs, or learn about opportunities to purchase a conserved property in the Methow Valley, visit www.methowconservancy or call (509) 996-2870; 315 Riverside Ave., Winthrop.

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Building versus buying I t’s hard to find the perfect house; for most people, it’s a matter of finding the house that meets as many of your wants as possible for the price you can afford.

However, if you know there are some must-haves that you’re just not finding in what’s on the market in your area, consider building your own home. Realtor.com looked at the pros and cons and building versus buying.

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(509) 826-0880 • 18 E. RIVERSIDE DR, OMAK, WA 98841

The median cost of buying an existing house in the United States is $223,000, which, for the average size lot, is about $148 per square foot. A new home in a comparable market is likely to cost just short of $300,000.

However, homes being built today are typically much bigger than older homes; the median size of a new home is 2,467 square feet, compared to the 1,500-squarefoot homes of the 1960s.

That works just to just more than $100 per square foot. It also means you’re paying only for what you want; hardwood floors increase the value

of a home, but if you don’t want hardwood, it’s not worth paying extra for it.

Of course, there is no typical real estate market in the United States, so check out your market.

MAINTENANCE COSTS

A new home means new appliances, water heater, HVAC system, new plumbing and wiring — all of which are less likely to break down and need to be repaired or replaced, which can get expensive. If they do break down, many of those appliances are likely to be covered by warranties, and builders also frequently offer a new construction warranty with an upfront cost.

ENERGY BILLS

Build a new home, and you can get energy smart appliances and a well-sealed house that keeps hot or cold air during the right season. Realtor.com reported that homes built in this century use about 20 percent less energy in heating than older homes.

Again, this is a larger payout upfront for lower electricity bills throughout the year.

APPRECIATION

Building a home is more of a financial gamble, particularly in a new neighborhood.

There aren’t enough data to know how a new neighborhood will age or how the style of a new house will work 10 to 20 years down the line. Older houses have a stronger track record on which to base value.  49

DIRECTORYIOFIADVERTISERS APPLIANCES

LaDoux’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

ARCHITECTS & DESIGNERS

Aiello Architecture . . . . . . . . 24 CAST Architecture . . . . . . . . . . 30 David Coleman Architecture . . . 13 Howard Construction and Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Integrated Design Concepts . . . 35 Johnston Architects . . . . . . . . 3 Lawrence Architecture . . . . . 51 Patricia Brennan Architects . . . .12 Prentiss, Balance, Wickline Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 The Patterson Company . . . . . 15 Zervas Group Architects . . . . 52

ARTISTS

Ginger Reddington . . . . . . . . 33

BUILDING SUPPLIES

Bear Creek Lumber . . . . . . . . 31 Methow Recycles . . . . . . . . . 28 Methow Valley Lumber . . . . . 14 North Cascades Builders Supply 3 North Valley Lumber . . . . . . . 29

BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS

Arron Hendrickson Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Big Valley Builders . . . . . . . . 29 Blackcap Builders Collective . .25 D. McLane Construction . . . . . 18 Ekblad Construction . . . . . . . 31 Eric Claussen . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Evans Concrete Construction . . 47 Howard Construction and Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Hungry Mountain Construction 48 Impel Construction . . . . . . . . . 9 Noah Constructor . . . . . . . . . . 34 North Cascades Construction . . 42 Palm Construction . . . . . . . . .40 Parks Construction . . . . . . . .37 Schuler Build . . . . . . . . . . . .36 The Patterson Company . . . . . 15

CABINETRY

Alpine Designs . . . . . . . . . . . 11

CAFÉS & COFFEE ROASTERS

Blue Star Coffee Roasters . . . . 13 Lariat Coffee Roasters . . . . . . .42 Mazama Store . . . . . . . . . . . 34

PLUMBERS

HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING

PORTA POTTY RENTALS

Fisher Refrigeration . . . . . . . . 47

Methow Green Clean . . . . . . . 45

Cascade Mechanical . . . . . . .33 Fisher Refrigeration . . . . . . . . 47 North Valley Lumber . . . . . . . 29

CONCRETE & GRAVEL

HOME & GARDEN

CLEANING SERVICES

Cascade Concrete . . . . . . . . . 25 Evans Concrete Construction . . 47 J.A. Wright Construction . . 33, 34 Palm Construction . . . . . . . . .40

CONSERVATION CONSULTANTS

Methow Conservancy . . . . . . 37 Okanogan Conservation District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Plantas Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

DAMAGE RESTORATION

Hungry Mountain Construction 48

ELECTRICIANS

Milsteadt Electric . . . . . . . . . .27

EQUIPMENT SALES & RENTAL

Cascade Concrete . . . . . . . . . 25 Washington Tractor . . . . . . . 23, 42

EVENTS/FESTIVALS

Confluence Gallery . . . . . . . . . 11

Shady Creek Gardens & Ponds . 23

INSULATION

All Valley Insulation . . . . . . . . 19 Methow Valley Lumber . . . . . 14 North Valley Lumber . . . . . . . 29

INSURANCE

VIP Melbourn Insurance . . . . . 12

INTERIOR DESIGN

Harmony House Interiors . . . . 15 Zervas Group Architects . . . . 52

IRRIGATION SERVICES & SUPPLIES

Carlton Landscape Construction 8 Cascade Pipe & Feed . . . . . . .49 Eric Claussen . . . . . . . . . . . .43 MVM Quality Drilling . . . . . . . 21 Washington Tractor . . . . . 23, 42

LANDSCAPING SERVICES & SUPPLIES

FINANCIAL SERVICES

J. Bart Bradshaw, CPA . . . . . . .23

Carlton Landscape Construction 8 Cascade Concrete . . . . . . . . . 25 Cascade Pipe & Feed . . . . . . .49 Eastern Green Hydroseeding . 18 Eric Claussen . . . . . . . . . . . .43 J.A. Wright Construction . . 33, 34 Methow Natives . . . . . . . . . . 41 Plantas Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Shady Creek Gardens & Ponds . 23

FLOORING

LODGING

EXCAVATING

B & B Excavating . . . . . . . . . . 31 J.A. Wright Construction . . 33, 34 J. Haase Excavating . . . . . . . .33 McHugh’s Excavating . . . . . . . 37 Palm Construction . . . . . . . . .40

Harmony House Interiors . . . . 15 Methow Valley Lumber . . . . . . 14 North Valley Lumber . . . . . . . 29

Central Reservations . . . . . . .52

FORESTRY SERVICES

METAL WORKERS

GALLERIES

ORGANIZATIONS

GARBAGE/ CONSTRUCTION WASTE SERVICES

PAINTERS

Brothers Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Confluence Gallery . . . . . . . . 11

WasteWise Methow . . . . . . . . 17 50

GEOTHERMAL SERVICES

MASONRY

Eric Claussen . . . . . . . . . . . .43 The Slagworks . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Methow Conservancy . . . . . . 37 Okanogan Conservation District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 New Dimension Painting . . . . .22

Methow Plumbing . . . . . . . . . 41 J.A. Wright Construction . . 33, 34

PROPANE SALES & SERVICES

Okanogan County Energy, Inc. . 45 North Cascades Propane . . . . 28

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Methow House Watch . . . . . . .36

RADIO

KTRT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

REAL ESTATE

Blue Sky Real Estate . . . . . . . .49 Coldwell Banker Winthrop Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mountain to River Realty . . . . 40 Windermere Real Estate . . . . . 8

RETAIL

Hotspot Firepits . . . . . . . . . . 22 Lariat Coffee Roasters . . . . . . .42 Mazama Store . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Methow Natives . . . . . . . . . . 41 Shady Creek Gardens & Ponds 23

ROOFING

Triple T Roofing . . . . . . . . . . .24

SEPTIC DESIGN

J.A. Wright Construction . . 33, 34 Monetta & Associates . . . . . . .43

SURVEYORS

Tackman Surveying . . . . . . . 22

WELL DRILLING & PUMP, SALES & SERVICE

MVM Quality Drilling . . . . . . . 21

WINDOWS & DOORS

Methow Valley Lumber . . . . . 14 North Cascades Builders Supply 3 North Valley Lumber . . . . . . . 29

WOODWORKERS

Alpine Designs . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Eric Claussen . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 New Dimension Painting . . . . .22 Swanson Woodcraft . . . . . . . 27

We rely on over three decades of experience in the valley to create beautiful homes inspired by their surroundings.

104 riverside ave, ste c | winthrop, wa 98862 pbwarchitects.com | 509.996.8148 (winthrop) hello@pbwarchitects.com | 206.283.9930 (seattle)

Lawrence Architecture lawrencearchitecture.com 206.332.1832

Est.

1982

Book locally & support our community! We appreciate it very much & hope to serve you well.

Stop by the reservation station, at the back of the Purple Sage Gallery, 245 Riverside Ave. 509-996-2148

Hello, Methow Valley HOME fans.... we are changing our business name to Methow Reservations. Good bye to Central Reservations, we are now in alignment with the community we know so well and love to promote.

We will still be on the old west Winthrop boardwalk & still have over 36 years of history renting legal, licensed nightly rental homes and local Inns, as well as extended stay homes.

The Methow Reservations Gang Kyrie, Stacey, Kathleen & Halley

www.MethowReser vations.com