Lifestyle
Summer Road Trips: 14 Small-Town Getaways
Leave the city behind for a weekend (or longer) and explore one of these tiny Northwest towns.
For many of us, it’s not a tough trade: swapping a reliable cell signal and ubiquitous WiFi for a sweet slice of small town heaven. Tucked away in all corners of the Northwest are tiny backwater hamlets, perched seaside, on idyllic bays or in mountain clefts, brimming with character, friendly locals and a peaceful main…
Statement Pieces Perfect for Springtime Entertaining
How to bring classic spring touches to your outdoor oasis
Here comes the sun! Kick off the spring entertaining season with a fresh take on elegant outdoor style. A neutral palette of black, white and gray comes alive with pops of soft, sunny yellow. Want to add some panache to your patio? Start with the beautiful basics, like Summer Classics’ Plaza loveseat and chair, featuring…
Take a Power Trip to Wild Horse Wind Farm
The Wild Horse wind farm near Ellensburg turns a small-town road trip into an eco-educational advent
From the moment they come into view as you climb the rolling hills just east of Ellensburg, what strikes you first about the turbines of the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility is their scale. Structures that looked like tiny black pinwheels on toothpicks stuck into the dry earth from just a few short miles…
Mid-century Modern Homes
Mid-century modern houses are architecturally en vogue—so much so that in Seattle, people are willin
Epitomized by the work of influential California architects Charles and Ray Eames and real estate developer Joseph Eichler, mid-century modern homes took root in Seattle when the city was expanding beyond its core into neighborhoods such as Magnolia, View Ridge and West Seattle. “The mid-century design was a move away from traditional, compartmentalized floor plans,”…
Eastern Escapes: Small-town Getaways
Head to the sunny side with a trip to these pastoral easterly locales.
Tieton{ Population: 1,191 }For the better part of the last decade, there wasn’t much more to the Yakima Valley town of Tieton than a handful of seldom-open storefronts clustered around a sleepy town square and a few abandoned fruit warehouses. But by a twist of fate involving a bicycle ride and a patch of goathead…
Northern Shores: Small-town Getaways
Bask in the vistas and stroll the quaint streets of these waterfront retreats.
Eastsound{ Population: 3,651 } Feel your city worries fall away as you rumble steadily northward up Puget Sound on one of our state’s iconic green-and-white ferryboats; you’ll be on “island time” by nightfall. Though it takes effort to get there—ferries depart from Anacortes; waits can top two hours in summer—Orcas Island’s biggest hamlet, Eastsound, is…
Coastal Idylls: Small-town Getaways
Three sweet seaside oases that let you leave your cares at the beach.
Ilwaco{ Population: 936 } When your cell-phone reception gives out and the air is sharp with a briny breeze, you’ll know you’re getting close to Ilwaco. Nestled into the southern end of the Long Beach Peninsula in southwest Washington, Ilwaco is part hard-working fishing port and part relaxed vacation destination. Harbor strollers can take in…
Visit Portland for Rothko Paintings and Good Eats
A retrospective exhibit of the abstract painter's career and two new eateries make the trek south ne
WHERE: Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon. WHY: For the Mark Rothko Retrospective (through 5/27; prices vary; 1219 SW Park Ave.; 503.226.2811; portlandartmuseum.org), which boasts 45 works by the Russian-born and Portland-raised painter, known for his rectangles of saturated color. The show spans the artist’s five-decade career, revealing his roots in figurative and surrealist work….
Three Tudor Homes For Sale in Seattle
Distinctive outside and cozy inside, Tudors are much sought after in Seattle.
What is the telltale sign of a Tudor? Outside, look for a steeply pitched roof, which gives a triangular aspect to the face of the house. Sometimes a double peak is employed, above a curved entryway. A decorative technique known as “false half-timbering” harks back to medieval building methods and is responsible for the distinctive…
House Meets Hound: How to Add Canine Charm to Your Abode
Early spring’s crisp air and afternoon sunshine lure us outdoors for fun with our four-legged friends. From Marymoor to Magnuson, a plethora of dog-friendly parks offer options for open running and playtime: and leashed, leisurely strolls through the neighborhood are a daily delight. The Brits have long brought doggie love elements into their dwellings. Want…
Architect George Daniel Wittman Gives a Dated Mercer Island Dwelling a New, Mod Attitude
A couple adopts a fresh approach for their latest remodel
No question: Their original remodel, at the tail-end of the 1990s, went slightly awry. First, the homeowners inherited an architect from their general contractor. This led to a series of misadventures; including discovering during one site visit that the window in the master bathroom was set too high to enjoy the scenic water views while…
Reuse, Recyle, Retreat!
The many new uses for discarded cargo containers now include camping structures.
Looking out the bus window on her commute into work at King County Parks’ downtown Seattle headquarters, Sujata Goel kept noticing more and more shipping containers piling up on the outskirts of the city’s sprawling port complex. Meanwhile, news stories started surfacing about how our trade deficit with China was leading to a glut of…
Burn Design Lab’s Eco Stoves
A Vashon Island company is saving lives—and the planet—one stove at a time.
In a design studio on Vashon Island, Peter Scott is cooking up solutions to big problems. His company, Burn Design Lab, is on a mission to reduce global warming and respiratory illness by creating highly efficient and affordable stoves that can replace the open-fire cooking pits used in developing countries. Those pits pump out emissions…
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