Wednesday, March 16, 2011 • Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber
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summer
The rebirth of a
A gardener’s nemeses
Sure, fuzzy critters are cute — until they lop off all your roses
cabin
A beloved family cabin takes on a new look — but continues to hold sweet memories — after Kay Longhi and her sister undertake a full remodel.
F
By SALLY FOX
For The Beachcomber
Longhi takes pride in the fact that she’s rescued a modest cabin and turned it into something that will stand the test of time. But hers was not simply an effort to transform a summer cottage into a beautiful home. Indeed, for Longhi, it was an intensely personal experience — in part, because of what this cabin meant to her and her family. Longhi, 62, grew up in the house next-door, where her 90-year-old mother Patricia Longhi still lives. Kay Longhi’s uncle Dudley George built the cabin, and for many years he and his wife Catherine summered there. It played a central role in her family’s life, she recalled — a place for family gatherings and holiday celebrations as well as a refuge for family members in need of a place to live during significant transitions. Five years ago, when her aunt and uncle stopped coming to the house, Kay Longhi and her twin sister Gail realized they didn’t want to see it leave their family, so the two women
Gardeners, beware: There are weapons of mass destruction lurking on Vashon. Evidence abounds. You go out to your garden in spring expecting to find a sea of tulips, and instead you discover rows of bare flower stalks. You turn and notice that your young apple trees have been pruned of all their new growth. Then in the corner of your eye you see the hooved culprits, sauntering away, barely acknowledging your presence. In summer, the reign of terror continues with a new adversary. You go out to harvest the first five plums off your new plum tree and find a disaster: broken branches, including the tree’s leader, on the ground and, of course, no plums. Your blueberries have also disappeared. Mighty claws have destroyed the fresh finish of woodchips you spread on your garden bed only yesterday; today it looks like a war zone. How can we peacefully co-exist with our furry assailants in the garden — the deer and the raccoon that even I can’t help but think are cute? Each summer, Islanders come to our Vashon Master Gardener clinics with tales of woe and questions about how to deal with pesky deer and raccoons. Rhonda Hart, author of “Deer Proofing Your Yard and Garden,” presents a variety of ways to cope with deer and describes the pros and cons of each. Perhaps you don’t like the look of smelly
SEE CABIN, 24
SEE WILDLIFE, 23
Story and photos by Leslie Brown
rom the outside, Kay Kay Longhi, above, and her sister Gail bought their aunt and uncle’s cabin in part so Kay could be next door to her Longhi’s small, brown childhood home, where her mother still lives. Her kitchen counters (top photo) are flush with the windows — no home perched above the backsplash needed. Below, a lamp she purchased during a year she spent in Thailand adds to her home’s elegance. north-end ferry terminal seems dancing with this challenge from generation Gib Dammann, Longhi’s architect, called it ordinary, a modest 1975 house to generation.” a classic Vashon remodel — a modest house, with a no-frills architecture.
Step inside, and one experiences a different story. After an 18-month remodel, the house now boasts dark-stained oak floors, a kitchen with soapstone counters and Turkish stone tiles, walls painted in hues of a warm gold and pale gray and, of course, large, woodcased windows looking out onto an expansive 180-degree view of Puget Sound. The living room and dining room spill into the kitchen, creating a bright, airy grand room. A bay window has been installed in the living room, adding to the sense of spaciousness. The kitchen, too, has been punched out just a bit, so that when Longhi is at the kitchen sink she has windows all around her. As remodels go, it was far from wholesale. The layout remained largely the same; only one interior wall was moved. And yet, Longhi said, the result feels transformational. “It’s a whole new house,” she said.
built years ago as a summer cabin, transformed into a place for year-round living, with modern appliances, energy-efficient windows, insulation and a touch of elegance. “It’s a classic model of what happens on this Island — sometimes successfully, and sometimes not successfully,” he said. “There are a large number of Islanders living in homes full-time that weren’t meant for full-time living,” he added. “We’ve been