Bloedel

Bloedel is an old estate on Bainbridge Island that has been turned into a private park. It has been a special place for our family over the years and my parents recently bought a membership in order to be able to enjoy it more often and share it with friends.
The tour begins with a Victorian gatehouse. My mom pointed out that many of her ideas of what makes an elegant and comfortable home come from the buildings here. Even the black and white tile pattern in their upstairs bathroom is reminiscent of the ones at the gatehouse.

The path away from the gatehouse towards the barns and forest:

The majority of the acreage is "cultivated wilderness."

The pathway to enchantment:

I inevitably feel the pull of archways like this. They have such a sense of mystery and promise. There must be something wonderful to be revealed after one comes through the dim, leafy corridor out into the sun!

There is!
We do live in the PNW after all.

The estate house overlooks the Puget Sound on the other side.

We missed the rhododendron blooms but the textures of leaf and water were still stunning. Growing up, I had a recurring dream of a house with beautiful gardens that I came upon after a walk through the woods. While the magic of my dreams was created from years of reading and imagination, this place inevitably colored all of them.

My mom brought me here for the first time the summer I turned ten to share with me some of the special things about growing up. She took a picture on this wishing bench.

My parents at the reflecting pool:

Playing with the tadpoles:


We took the ferry back over the Sound to cap off the day.