About that wall

When we started to work out plans for the wall that transitions from the upper level where the garage sits and the front and south side of the house we didn't have much of an idea what would work. We wanted to create an area that would be functional while giving a welcoming and interesting entrance. It also had to compliment the craftsman/bungalow architecture of the house.

We worked out a general idea of what areas needed attention to define and control the edges of the landscape. We also developed what we began to call rooms. We wanted to transition from one area to another with something unique to welcome whomever might enter. With this in mind we hired landscape architect Lachlin Bethune from Maple Valley, Washington to come up with a master plan.

When we had a plan that we felt would work we interviewed four landscaping companies. We settled on Stonewood Landscape and Design owned by Tony Temeyosa. He has a lot of energy and ideas and we feel very comfortable with him. It has turned out to be an excellent choice.

The plan had a set of steps, pavers, and a formal wall along the front of the house an across the side yard. We studied walls whenever we were out driving. We looked at all of the materials available and couldn't find one we liked that could be built as high as we needed at its highest point. The plan already had machine built rock walls on either side of the house at the back and on the west side of the circle drive to retain the hillside.

Tony had started on the machine built walls and we still hadn't decided on what to use in the front. We kept looking and discussing it between ourselves and still didn't have a media that felt right. Finally Tony threw out the idea of a hand built rock wall. We had stayed away from that option because of the expense. Good rock was as much or more than the manufactured blocks and the labor was higher as well. We decided to look into this option and figure out if we could afford it.

First we checked out rock from a rock supplier. We took pictures of the types and colors for walls, steps and columns. We would take a picture of the rock and then one of the sign that gave the price per ton and face feet that a ton would cover. This let us look at the stone and figure out how much the cost would be for a face foot of wall. Then we stumbled across a wall built by the stone company to show different uses and styles. We were intrigued by this wall design.

When we showed the picturepicture on the left to Tony and Jeremy. (Jeremy was going to build this wall) They were both excited about constructing a wall that took both skill and artistry. Often they build walls that are straight and crisp out of blocks or cut stone. So we revised the plan to be a general guide for them.

Then we had to find the rock. I checked around at the rock suppliers and quaries. The type of stone that Tony suggested wasn't available because the quary supplying it couldn't blast the section that produced it. Finally I set out for a quary in Enumclaw. When I ask about the type of rock I needed they said they didn't supply rock for that purpose, that the 410 quary across the road was being reopened. I had gotten rock from them for other projects and was disappointed when they shut down so to hear that it was reopening was exciting.

I went over and found that no new rock had been blasted and it didn't look very open, but I checked the old office door and sure enough someone was there. The new owner was a young man with a strong background in geology and enthusiasm for re-opening the site. He said that they did not have any new rock down but the rock on site was for sale. So I was able to hand pick the large boulders and determine the piles of small rock from which we would pick the rubble surrounding the boulders.

With a plan and the rock Jeremy went to work. He proved to be a master. He built the wall in free form deciding how and where to use the larger accent boulders and the exact shape and line of its path. It is unique and has received rave reviews.

If you live in the Puget Sound area and want to contact Stonewood Landscaping you can go the the following website.

http://stonewoodlandscaping.com/