Posted by Dave Boehnlein on 04/10/2018
About the Winther House
The Winther House is a residential project on beautiful Bainbridge Island in the Puget Sound. The goal of the owners was to be able to provide more for themselves, be good environmental stewards, and have access to healthier food choices. They also wanted to figure out the best way to incorporate animals into their property.
Master Planning Process
Our design team spent some time walking the property to gain a clear understanding of the opportunities and constraints the land had to offer. We also spent time talking with the owners to make sure we had clear understanding of their goals and desires. Drainage was one of the major themes that needed to be addressed as there was an orchard with root rot and seepage into the basement. We provided several suggestions on how to deal with these issues in order from least intensive/expensive to most intensive/expensive. In this way the clients could logically approach the problem without spending more time and money than necessary. Another feature of the design was a basic plan for laying out their food production system and integrating it with the animals of their choice. We made recommendations on how to increase energy efficiency and resiliency in their home. Perhaps one of the most important pieces we provided was a list of things they could get started on right away and a list of things to research further. This included a recommendation to volunteer on other farms working with several different kinds of animals to figure out which species would be the best fit for their property and lifestyle. Until one has this firsthand experience, it is difficult to choose the right animals.
Follow-Up & Implementation
After providing the master plan we worked with a landscape installer that we helped to select to put together an implementation plan. This helped to guide the clients in figuring out a logical order of operations for tackling the implementation of the master plan. The implementation plan was put together in such a way that even if the owners never installed everything on the plan they would be improving the property every step of the way.
