Morning, April 2, 2015, with Real Estate Agent Karlena Pickering
Elliott Road, "the worst road on Lopez Island." It ought to be maintained by the residents served by the road but apparently is not. There are sections where the road is mostly pothole. It is less than a mile from the county-maintained paved road to the driveway.
The driveway goes off on the left from the road. You see the house first on the right, then the well shed uphill from it. There is an electric meter box that hums audibly but not loudly near the house.
Here we are going in the back door, which is the most logical door to enter. The first thing you see is a sink and toilet. Weird. Turn left into the kitchen, with breakfast nook that has sliding doors to the West, uphill view.
From the breakfast nook you go into the main room, with views to the East. A big heat stove, room for a small croquet game. I understand the carpet will have to go! Real estate lady suggested 2' plywood squares set so grain is cross-hatched, then varnish.
From the breakfast nook you go into the main room, with views to the East. A big heat stove, room for a small croquet game. I understand the carpet will have to go! Real estate lady suggested 2' plywood squares set so grain is cross-hatched, then varnish.
On the south side of the house are two smallish bedrooms with lots of closet space. I envision them as a bedroom/office combo.
The upstairs is a half-loft on the west side of the house, with stand-up room around the bed but not much more. It is a really great room, but there is no wall between it and the living room, hence no sound privacy.
The deck wraps around the East (downhill), South (away from the driveway), and West (uphill) side of the house. The part protected by the eaves is sound, but the exposed part has seriously unsafe portions. Some of the beams and most of the decking would have to be replaced. You could fake it for a while by just laying plywood on top of the deck ...
Going uphill, West, you get to the well and the pumphouse attached. The well, mysteriously, is missing a well cap. You can see the plastic wrap on it. There is a black water tank outside the pumphouse.
Going uphill, West, you get to the well and the pumphouse attached. The well, mysteriously, is missing a well cap. You can see the plastic wrap on it. There is a black water tank outside the pumphouse.
The pump house is a nice little structure, which, with some work, could be turned into a studio (stove, insulation, more windows). It has two overhead lights. The door is on the North side, the window on the East side. There is a puddle under the window and mold on the cement floor. We decided the water came from runoff, not a leaky pipe, and that trenching would solve it. We could be wrong.
Going up the hill towards the West, we saw a collapsing sheep fence that might be on the property line.
Afternoon with Madrona
We drove along Nichols Road to get to Elliott Road this time. The house is locked but we found the septic system and the crawl space.
The septic system is on the South side of the house, and goes exactly to the South boundary line. It seemed like it had been worked on. Under the house, things looked reasonable, a little mold maybe on the beams but nothing scary, considering that it was built in 1973ish. Adding insulation and a vapor barrier seems like it would be pretty easy. The puddle is sort of visible. We are looking from South to North here.
I see that I didn't take enough big-picture pictures. These are looking uphill. You can see that it is mostly moss-covered rocks. In between the rocks are some soil-filled places, with yampah, camas, a native grass, some introduced grasses. There is a little clump of roses. You could turn one of the soil-filled places into a vegetable garden. My guess is that it is sub-irrigated. Later in the day, we went to Horse-Drawn Farms. I bought pork and Madrona bought vegetables. It was less than 10 minutes' drive away, I think.
The charm is in the details. I think if we bought this parcel we'd have to decide on fixed paths so as not to trample it. It invites exploring. I seem to remember that South Lopez has much less rainfall than the rest of the San Juans. If so, I could imagine spending a lot of time outside.
Here Madrona is showing two of the three forms of yampah. Then we're looking at a little rock cliffy formation. She shows me a fern that has gold undersides in spore season. Finally, there is a rowboat rotting away in the salal.