Our Friends and Neighbors

Last Sunday marked the annual garden tour in our neighborhood ("our" meaning our home AND our store), which is always a great day for a host of reasons.

Firstly, we have opened our garden as part of the tour for the last four or five years, and we love seeing so many familiar faces returning every year. Gardeners are an interesting sort -- almost all of them are really, really nice, the kind of people you'd want to invite into your yard anyway, so it works out well.

Secondly, it's always a great day to get out and about in the neighborhood, catch up with neighbors and join in the festivities that invariably develop on such occasions. This year was no exception on either front: a great turnout of visitors to our garden, and a wonderful afternoon spent exploring the neighborhood.

I took a lot of photos, so both for the benefit of everyone reading (and to give myself more fodder for blogging!), I thought I would parse them out by topic.

Today's subject? The yard of our friend and neighbor (and Georgetown Garden Tour founder) Jon Dove, whom we at our house have unofficially dubbed "The Mayor of Georgetown."

Jon's house and life are truly straight out of a book; in fact, I've asked him if I can snap some shots of his interiors for sharing with the world, as they are completely divine. Our styles are so different, but his home incites envy in me upon every visit (a fact I know Jon loves, don't you, Jon!).

Jon was actually born in Georgetown and grew up in a charming home on the other side of the neighborhood. As a kid, he would fantasize about owning the house that has now been his for more than 15 years, which he purchased for something crazy like $35,000. (Don't even get me started on how low his mortgage payments are!)

Like me, Jon simply cannot resist a beautiful find, and he has amassed an entire basement full of things like antique toile curtains, metal lanterns, old garden furniture, and so on and so forth. This spring Jon began transforming his detached garage, previously used for storage, into what he calls a garden room, which is now filled with many of his basement treasures. I saw the finished product for the first time on Sunday, and I was completely wowed by its charm and beauty.

Take a look:



The view toward the back of the main house from the covered patio adjacent to the enclosed garden room.


How gorgeous is this vintage lantern, which he found at a salvage store for less than $100? Could you die?

A vignette from the enclosure, featuring the antique toile curtains someone gave Jon more than 20 years ago, when he was 20. Can you imagine being interested in toile curtains as a 20-year-old? Mine would have just gotten doused with beer or peed on by a cat.

I'll bet $100 Jon sits here on a regular basis and writes thank-you notes.

A giant cabinet housing Jon's handmade minature houses and buildings. Seriously.

And as if all that weren't charming enough, his garden is spectacular and actually received one of the area's most prestigious gardening awards a number of years ago, Pacific Northwest's top garden designation.

See for yourself:

A beautiful moss-covered fountain gently bubbling outside his front window.

His front door. Love it!






A few groupings on his front landing. That plate could go missing someday soon. I'm just speculating here.

I had to share a close-up so you can read the small print. I can relate!

On top of all this, Jon is a wonderful guy who does so much for his friends and his community. Darn him for making the rest of look so bad.

Stay tuned for photos showing the *inside* of Jon's home coming soon. Not to be missed!