FEATURED CASE STUDIES
Anderson Gardens
Architect: Rhodes Architecture & Light
Project Story: Tim Rhodes + Cheryl McIntosh
Photography: Cheryl McIntosh
I visited Anderson Gardens in the fall of 2023, twenty years after the renovation of an existing farmhouse and addition of three new homes focused on a central garden, to see the greenspace and the architecture supporting a community. The story, however, begins much earlier- originally, four lots were sold in May of 1925 as part of “Gatewood Gardens”. In the years in between, this land made history.
Rhodes Architecture + Light joined a group of neighbors, purchasing the original house and adjoining land in 2000 from Mary Anderson. From 1932, for seven decades, the land was a home, personal garden, and the place Mary, a teacher, and Lloyd Anderson, an engineer for the electrified Seattle trolley system, raised a family. Then, in 1938, Mary and her husband Lloyd started Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI) in the little white house high above Lincoln Park in West Seattle, taking mail-orders for climbing gear for the cooperative. The attic was the REI warehouse, the basement an assembly line for tents and waterproof gear and REI’s first office, a room off the old kitchen.
Garden courtyard view.
Garden courtyard view with light pouring in from the direction of the Puget Sound, where the other homes on the property look out to from a ridge in West Seattle.
Since 2001, eight families have gathered here and made the original Anderson’s home and land into a shared collective. The original neighborhood gave way to new families in 2010-12.
After so much history, this renovation on historic property was a delight to see the land and homes again in 2023 with nurturing gardens (shared and private), the soil yielding flowers, herbs and tomatoes, and the koi pond shaded by mature trees. The houses feel natural, fitted into the hillside, and cared for by another generation enjoying the greenspaces. Some changes are evident-new paint colors, added details, personalization-yet today the soul of the place is more vibrant than ever.
In addition to celebrating the history, Anderson Gardens was designed with the charge that smaller is better–the wellness of the community more important than scale and opulence. All interior spaces are greater close to plants and nature, and good daylighting abundant, which is crucial to the health and spirit of the residents. In our age of pandemic, the simple circle of houses shelters its own central landscape and encourages all to get out into the natural environment they care for.
In revisiting Anderson Gardens in the fall of 2023, we are reminded of the rich history that underpins this remarkable community. From its origins as a simple farmhouse and the birthplace of REI, to its transformation into a shared collective of homes and gardens, this special community has evolved over the decades while preserving its soul and purpose. The emphasis on community and a connection to nature remains steadfast, even more crucial in today's world.
The original home of REI, now an established garden property with multiple homes forming a shared courtyard.
Same front exterior, but from 1938! The home was remodeled by architect Tim Rhodes when he purchased the home and land with a group in 2000.
When the Anderson home was renovated in 2000, the planning for the four lots included shared space-a shared entrance, drive and gardens; homes and garages that opened to become workshops surrounding common land dedicated to Lloyd + Mary Anderson. Each house occupied private, “fee-simple” land yet the experiment Rhodes Architecture + Light designed was centered on community and a large greenspace for play, gatherings and growing food, the land becoming the focal point. Three new houses were built two years later. Lloyd and Mary’s house maintains appropriate pride of place in its original elevated place above the garden.
The steep hillside facing western views suggested a design on multiple levels of gardens, outdoor gathering, decks, terraces, and glass windows and doors, encouraging all interiors to open outward. Twenty years of planting and tilling have integrated all the levels of Anderson Gardens into the hill, yielding a bounty of variable spaces rich in landscape. Simple, hardy materials have held up well, and the modern farmhouse-like architecture feels natural in the setting.
Revisited twenty years later, at harvest time, the elements that make Anderson Gardens a great meeting place are highlighted in the rich fall evening. A play space surrounded by raised food garden beds and areas for vines, kitchen herbs, fruit, and flowers is central to the idea of meeting. A community path and various tiers of sitting and gathering spaces surrounding the garden are also important.
Anderson Gardens is shaped by and pays homage to its center. Thinking deeply about the boundaries of this place-the homes, walls, openings, planting beds, screens, trees, and plants was the key to creating positive space instead of land that could have been only “left over”.
