Sound View Garden

(This is a 2017 garden description. Gardens for this year’s tour can be found here.)

As with many mid-century homes and gardens, remodels have upgraded this property, but changes didn’t come for this 1951 charmer until the Lovejoys bought it in 2003. Some original trees remain strong to this day: two 60-year-old Japanese maples still flourish in the courtyard and southwest corner of the house, and a majestic 80-year-old magnolia is central to the backyard.

The maple by the driveway shades lithodora and ‘Lemon Gem’ dwarf Japanese holly, while perennials and evergreens fill the small front yard and encircle the bioretention planter. Sprinkled here and in the courtyard are abelia, gaura and five species of hebe. Penstemon and echinacea attract bees and birds in this Certified Wildlife Habitat. A large entry gate to the courtyard frames the view of the graceful, old Japanese maple, central to the courtyard.

On the south side of the house, keep an eye out for fairyland art and the impossible-to-miss sweeping Puget Sound views. The stairs lead down to the treasured magnolia that shades an outdoor living room. Walking down the garden path below the magnolia, circle past hydrangeas, dahlias and peonies toward a shake garden shed (with vintage 1940s windows and door) and a vegetable garden. Continue up the stairs toward the patio, then pass a purple smoke tree and more of the perennials so clearly loved by the owners. A galvanized marine-grade steel rail surrounds the deck, creating a trellis to support an enormous purple and white passion flower vine. You have come full circle. The beautiful reminder of the past, with trees that have been allowed to thrive well beyond the half-century mark, is blended to the present, with the loving addition of the new.

Not wheelchair accessible.