Location
The Farm is located in
Freeland, WA, which began its existence as a socialist utopian commune in the early 1900s, with the land of the town to be
given away free - hence FreeLand. It also gives an idea of the political leanings of South Whidbey Island.
We found Lucky Dogs Farm thanks to Doc. The Farm is close to
Double Bluff beach, with a 2 mile long stretch of beach where dogs are allowed off-leash, and we passed by the house on our visits there with
him. When we decided to move to Whidbey Island and saw that the place was for sale, we found that it had everything we were looking for: 4+ acres of land, a great house, and views of Mount Rainier, the Seattle
skyline, and Useless Bay (named by sailors in the 1800s because the shallow bay made it useless to their tall ships).
The Barn, Vegetable Garden, And Greenhouse
When we bought the house, it didn't have a garage, and at first we planned to have one built. But we decided to build a 36' by 36" pole barn instead, and it's worked out great. The barn is designed as a 3 stall horse barn with a hayloft, center lane, and tack rooms, but we partitioned it to use as workshops, for storing the cars and tractor, and an indoor play area for the dog daycare when the weather was cold and rainy.
We fenced in a 2000 square foot area with raised beds for a vegetable garden, and then found a great deal on a used greenhouse frame with glass panels, so we built a raised foundation for the
greenhouse frame to give it more headroom and built that next to the garden.
The House and Grounds
The two fields and garden take up about 2 acres, so another 2 acres of grounds surround the house. We've replanted the landscaping around the house, put in several large planting beds, planted a row of fruit trees along the fence, and built a flower and shrub garden with 12 planting beds around the patio. We're hoping the hedge around the patio fills in to make the patio garden a "secret garden"
For a slideshow of the house and grounds, click
here
