Bill Barrow & Chris Miller
Associate Brokers
LOCAL LINKS.... Make BainbridgeNeighbors your gateway to everything good on & about Bainbridge Island...
Coldwell Banker
McKenzie Associates
10048 NE High School Road
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Put Over 60 Years Experience to Work
For You
206-780-6125
206-780-6146
Find and connect with everything on and about Bainbridge Island as quickly as possible:
▪ The Bainbridge Events tab takes you to the Bainbridge Island calendar of events.
Feel free to submit events that you or your organization are sponsoring.
▪ Expanded Bainbridge Island community information, web links, free classified ads, recipes, and selected regional links are found under the Community Links tab.
▪ The Bainbridge Images tab includes links to some interesting vintage videos of Bainbridge Island and to pictures of favorite island events.
▪ We have also added enhanced Bainbridge Island residential real estate information and Market Watch statistics for home buyers and sellers, or those who just want to keep their fingers on the pulse of the Bainbridge Island real estate market. Click on the Market Watch bar above.
▪ If you are thinking about moving to Bainbridge Island, click on MLS SEARCH above to search the entire MLS for residential homes and condominium homes on the island. The PERSONAL RETRIEVER link will take you directly to a web page where you can save your favorite properties and get immediate alerts when a similar property on Bainbridge Island is listed for sale. INFO FOR BUYERS provides quick links to a variety articles and tips, as well as knowledgeable local mortgage loan professionals.
▪ INFO FOR SELLERS is just that... Links to tips and statistical information about the current Bainbridge Island real estate market. You can also request a confidential valuation of your property via PRICE MY HOME.
Your suggestions, comments, and questions are always welcome.
Bainbridge Woman's Old Advice Relevant to a New Set of Chicken Farmers
Shortly before her death, longtime Bainbridge islander Minnie Rose Lovgreen confided to a friend at her bedside that she'd long wanted pass on her recipe for raising chickens.
Stored in her head were 60 years' worth of observations and know-how about how to care for brooding hens, raise baby chicks, build coops, promote quality egg production and calm irate roosters.
Lovgreen's friend Nancy Rekow was quick with a solution and a tape recorder.
"Minnie was always talking about writing a book about chickens, but she was always running around doing things," Rekow said. "I said, 'OK Minnie, we're going to do your book.' So, while she laid there in the hospital bed, we talked about all things chicken."
Esther’s Fabrics:
Still Going Strong After 50 Years
Jenn Rhoads might be the ideal person to run Esther’s Fabrics. Well, other than Esther Fox herself, who opened the shop on Winslow Way 50 years ago, then owned it for more than 20 years.
But it’s her legacy that has kept the store open continuously since 1959. “It’s still Esther’s store,” said Rhoads, who worked as a fashion designer before buying the Winslow institution nearly six years ago. “I’m just holding down the shop here. I never met her, but I’ve heard great stories about her. Her spirit is still here.”
A Respite From Seattle,
A Ferry Ride Away
A green and white ferry, running at a soothing rumble, takes only about 35 minutes to cover the nine miles across glassy Puget Sound from the busy terminal on Seattle’s waterfront to Bainbridge Island, Wash., which is much less hip, but much more tranquil.
Boutiques, galleries and restaurants have gathered on Winslow Way, the main street through Winslow, the island’s largest village. But there is also a Christian Science Reading Room, a bakery, a drugstore and two barbershops, both with striped poles.
Pickleball: The Fastest Growing Sport You’ve Never Heard Of
Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island...
Living History: Fort Ward home
is alive with WWII secrets
A house is rarely just a house. But Sarah Lee’s house comes with something extra.
“It’s a responsibility to the ghosts,” she said.
An article Lee published some time back in the journal CRYPTOLOG elaborates.
“There are ghosts in our house,” she wrote. “Well, we’ve never ever actually seen them, but we know that they’re here. After all, it’s impossible to walk into our house and not sense the ‘ghosts’ of the hundreds of young men and women who worked here from 1910 through the ’50s.”
Gary Prisk Publishes First Novel
Our long-time island friend and client, Gary Prisk, has just had his first novel published. Digger, Dogface, Brownjob, Grunt is now available at Amazon.com.
Monikers for infantrymen: A "Digger" is Australian and a "Brownjob" is British. The cover art was created by George Foster (Chicken Soup for this and that fame). Gary notes that they had a saying when we were out of water or the enemy was about: "Get fat if you can."
Let us know if you’d like to read a copy of the book jacket notes.
Robot Bicycling Companion Never Cheats Bainbridge Island Inventor
Joules the bike-pedaling
robot wasn’t built so much for his looks, power or speed. His most important attribute
is his honesty.
Carl Morgan, who built Joules at his Bainbridge home over the course of a year, wanted a tandem bicycling partner who never, ever cheated.
“I was talking about tandem cycling with my son, and the issue was how you know the other person, the one behind you, is actually pedaling,” Morgan said.
The simple answer might have been a strategically-placed rearview mirror. But for a retired electrical engineer who wanted to keep his hands busy, the better answer was to sequester himself in his garage until he built a cycling partner devoid of laziness.
READ THE FULL STORY
SEE THE JOULES WEB SITE
Bainbridge Grange, at 80, Brought Back to Life
It didn’t matter much when blackberry
vines began to swallow up the sign outside the Bainbridge Grange Hall.
With its blues faded to gray and its gold bleached to beige, the old wooden sign had long since aged beyond recognition to all but the most sharp-eyed passers-by.
“That sign definitely represented the spirit of this building and its membership,” said Nancy Pearson, one of many islanders who were puzzled about the purpose and history of the North Madison Avenue building.
If the sign represented the old Grange, which had dwindled down to just three active members, the new brightly-colored signs draped across the building and along the road represent a revival that’s pumping new blood into the Grange.
In the last three months, membership in the fraternal order has doubled to almost 50 dues-paying members. Money through grants and donations are flowing in to pay for improvements on the 80-year-old building, and local groups — including dog, yoga and gardening enthusiasts — are making greater use of the hall.
Weekend Farmer board game still sowing seeds for fertile minds
David Rohrbacher remembers being part of the first assembly-line crew for the Weekend Farmer board game, which his father, George, created more than 30 years ago on the family’s farm near Goldendale.
David was only 3, but old enough to join the rest of the family to cut up sheets of play money and cards, apply rubber bands and place them in boxes for shipment.
Now, the game, which can be fun but has always been more of an educational tool than frivolous entertain-
ment, is still going strong with sales of more than 600,000 since its inspired creation and hurried production occurred in the summer and fall of 1979.
Rohrbacher eventually left the game behind in the sense that he grew up, went away to college, became a college basketball coach, married, reconsidered the transient life of coaching, then decided with wife Holly to settle down on Bainbridge Island and have a family (two young boys).
But he returned to his roots several years ago when he took over the family business.
Property Buy Could Bridge a Gap
in Bainbridge's Grand Forest
A grander Grand Forest is in the works.
Bainbridge park advocates are teaming up to purchase a 31-acre property that would bridge a half-mile gap between Grand Forest Park’s two largest sections.
“It’s just a gorgeous property,” Bainbridge Island Land Trust Executive Director Asha Rehnberg said. “It has a mix of forest (and) a meadow that, on a clear day, has stunning view of the Olympic Mountains.”
Known as Hill Top Tree Farm, the largely undeveloped property could feature trails and possibly an off-leash dog area, community garden or an open play area in its 7-acre meadow, Rehnberg said.
READ THE FULL STORY
Rare guanaco wool makes a local appearance
Linking an island in the Puget Sound with a nature reserve in Argentina’s Patagonian Steppe may seem unlikely, but anything is possible as the distance between global cultures continues to shrink.
For instance, entente occurred a couple of years ago when Bainbridge Island’s philanthropic nature bumped into a small tribe of poverty-stricken Mapuches that had discovered how to safely remove rare wool from guanacos – a wild camelid specie that migrates throughout the lower slopes of the Andes Mountains.
Island knitters will find skeins of this natural, rustic fiber at Churchmouse Yarns & Teas in Winslow. It is believed to be the first time the wool has been legally offered for sale in the U.S.
Composting Without Heavy Lifting
While most islanders are looking for ways to get rid of their garbage, Michael Bryan-Brown is helping them keep it.
He runs the West Coast branch of Green Mountain Technologies, a firm focused on changing the face of composting.
The business designs and manufactures a number of products that take the work out of composting. Its machines store the compost, turn it, chop it and process it into usable fertilizer.
“The long-term goal of Green Mountain Technologies is to allow people to take in the waste of their own home and use it,” Bryan-Brown said.
Cabinet Meeting
Can’t afford a full kitchen makeover? Sprucing up the cabinetry is an easy fix for a fraction of the cost.
There are two options: replacing or refacing. Refacing includes covering the existing cabinet doors and drawer fronts with a wood or plastic veneer and replacing knobs and door hinges. Replacing cabinets requires removing them entirely and starting from scratch. So what’s best for your home? Here are a few things to consider, according to HGTV.
First, check to see if the cabinets are structurally sound. If you have problems opening the drawers, closing the doors, or if the cabinet’s interior isn’t as large as you need it to be, simply rejuvenating the look isn’t going to help in the long run. Also consider the age of the cabinets: Those made 20 to 30 years ago were typically built using thicker wood and sturdier construction. Such cabinets can often be refaced instead of replaced.
Next, consider how long you’ll remain in your home. Replacing the cabinets will add to the home’s value and could be worth the extra money if your home will be on the market in the near future. But for a potential buyer, a modern renewal of the cabinets with up-to-date veneers might be enough, making refacing your cabinets a cost-effective, viable solution. The typical cost of refacing with plastic veneer can cost up to about $3,000, while wood veneers can run up to $7,000. If you’re still considering replacing, make sure you budget accordingly.
Stock cabinets are pre-made in specific styles, shapes, and finishes. Basic cabinets (top and bottom) for a 10x12-foot kitchen start at $4,000-$5,000. Semi-custom cabinets give you more options, because they're built after you place your order. They're about double the cost of stock cabinets. Glass fronts, special trim patterns, and the like with increase the budget. Finally, custom-made cabinets can cost four times that of stock cabinet prices, or more. Delivery and installation of new cabinets, according to Costhelper.com, can run at least $10,000.
IKEA.com offers a free downloadable kitchen planner that lets you plug in the size and shape of your kitchen, along with details such as door, window, and electrical outlet locations. You then choose and place various IKEA cabinets. The planner automatically calculates the total materials costs.
Kitchen & Bath Design Trends
If you’re pondering a kitchen or bath makeover,
consider these top design trends for 2010, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association.
The most popular kitchen design style is traditional, followed by contemporary, while the Shaker style is showing resurgence. White and off-white shades are strong in kitchens; beige and bone in bathrooms.
Cherry and maple wood cabinets are the favored choices for kitchens, while alder is gaining popularity. The most common finishes are medium natural, dark natural, glazed, and white painted. Hardwood flooring in kitchens will continue to dominate, but ceramic, porcelain, and natural stone tile remain popular for both rooms. Granite is still king for countertops, but quartz is gaining popularity. Brushed nickel is the favored finish in both rooms, followed by stainless steel and satin nickel. For baths, white fixtures are the most common, followed by bisque and off-white.
French door and freezer-bottom refrigerators remain popular, while under-counter refrigerator drawers and under-counter wine refrigerators are being incorporated in many of the latest kitchen designs.
Pull-out and pot-filler kitchen faucets offer more flexibility for home cooks. Cooktop-wall oven combinations are gaining popularity. More dishwasher drawers are being installed in kitchens for their convenience and their ability to wash small loads of dishes, thus saving water and electricity.
Spring Cleaning
Spring means it’s time to organize, de-clutter, clean, and toss out. Use these hints from HGTV to help get started.
Before the Scrubbing
●Remove any clutter around the house.
●Tackle the junk drawer. Throw out old pens and markers, broken rubber bands and paper clips, old candy, and any random scraps of paper.
●Donate books you don’t wish to keep and clothes that you don’t wear.
●Put everything that you can’t quite part with in a box. After six months, toss out or donate anything you haven’t used.
●Clean out your medicine cabinet, dumping any lotions, makeup, prescriptions, or other products that have expired.
●Pitch old magazines. Keep a binder for your favorite articles or recipes.
Deep Down Clean
●Vacuum your mattress; wash the mattress pad in hot water.
●Rub shaving cream into dirty upholstery and vacuum once it’s dry.
●Run drapes through the dryer’s air-fluff cycle, along with a wet cloth to attract dust, for 15 minutes.
●Rinse window screens with soap and water.
●Use a dry sponge to clean lamp shades, upholstery, computer screens, suede, and leather.
●Make sure to clean the coils underneath the refrigerator and the screen in your stove’s exhaust hood.
Protect Your Home When It’s Alone
Summer should be a relaxing time, especially if you’re planning to go on vacation. Whether you’re leaving home for a week or a month, you can rest easy with these tips:
• Arrange for someone to weed or mow the lawn.
• Have mail or packages picked up by a friend, forwarded, or held by the post office.
• Stop newspaper deliveries and ask a neighbor to pick up freebie newspapers and circulars.
• Lower your telephone ringer and never leave an outgoing message that says you’re away.
• Use timers to turn lights off and on at the appropriate times. Compensate for having lights on when no one’s home by turning off other appliances that are often left on, such as DVD players, computers, and microwaves. Also consider connecting a radio to a timer.
• Leave blinds open in their usual position.
• Ask neighbors to park their car in your driveway.
• If you leave your car in the driveway, be sure to remove the garage-door opener from plain view.
• Double-check all doors and window locks.
• Tell a trusted friend or neighbor where you’ll be.
Purchasing New Construction
When buying a newly constructed single family or condominium home, be sure your interests are protected by the terms of your purchase and sale agreement and/or builder’s construction warranty. It is an industry myth that there is a statutory, one-year warranty for all new construction in this state.
According to the Washington Realtors® legal hotline, “There is no lemon law for new construction. Washington law will not recognize a claim of negligent construction... Absent a contractual provision that a builder violates, a buyer probably has little or no recourse against the builder.”
A Strategic Time to Buy
We’ve all seen the news reports about the real estate market slow down. Those reports have motivated many home buyers to wait until they are certain that the market has reached the bottom before they buy, so they can get the best deal.
This might not be the best strategy, here’s why:
First, it is nearly impossible to accurately predict the ups and downs in our real estate market. According to several analysts, prices generally are now at or near the bottom of the cycle. In some areas the market is already coming back and seeing a gradual increase in values. The larger selection of homes that are listed these days makes it easier for you to find your ideal home in the right location. Once the slump is over, that selection will dwindle. With so many properties on the market, sellers are willing to negotiate price and terms and even offer incentives. This is the best way to make a deal rather than waiting for home prices to drop significantly. Furthermore, mortgage financing is still available at near record low interest rates.
True, it’s tougher to qualify for a loan today, but if you have good credit and a decent “credit score” you should have no problem in obtaining financing with very favorable terms.
If you are considering a move and want detailed information on Bainbridge Island real estate and homes for sale, call Bill & Chris or stop by our office. We have solid experience with all types of island properties, from traditional farmhouses, ramblers, and condos to luxury view and waterfront residences. We can also assist you with Bainbridge Island building lots and investment properties. We always respect your privacy & put your priorities first.
