Keeping up

NY Times focuses on bold Madison Park home

Whether you like it or hate it, you'd have to admit that the newest residence to grace the neighborhood is one standout house. This modernistic "passive" home in Washington Park, which was completed last month at 4211 E. Lee Street, has received a lot of unsolicited commentary from passersby since construction began (the term "architecturally aggressive" is a relatively neutral example). But the press has been very favorably disposed, as in a laudatory New York Times story appearing earlier this week.

As The Times reports, a certified "passive" house costs more to construct because it must meet certain energy efficiency and airtightness standards. This new house in Madison Park is one of the first such "green" residential structures certified in Washington State; and its developer, Cascade Built, touts it as the first ever constructed in Seattle. Cascade's principal, Sloan Ritchie, his wife Jennifer, and their two children are the first occupants of this impossible-to-miss new dwelling.

Preschool has openings

The Madison Park Cooperative Preschool, housed in the Madison Park Beach bathhouse, still has openings for the fall classes starting in September.  As of earlier this week, there were still spaces available, as follows:

1-year olds (Tots): Monday & Wednesday 4pm to 5:30pm

2-year olds (Two's): Tuesday & Thursday 9:15am to 11:15

2s/Young 3s: Monday & Wednesday 11:30am to 1:30pm

Those interested in registering a child should contact the Coop's Registrar for more information: registrar@madisonparkcoop.com.

New on the scene

Artist and physician Valerie Collymore, has brought her business, Valerie Collymore Fine Art, to Madison Park. She now has some of her impressionist oil paintings on display at 4031 E. Madison Street, where she can be found on Fridays (4:30 until 7 pm) and Saturdays (9:30 am until 2:30 pm). She is participating in this year's Madison Park Art Walk and was recently included in the American Impressionist Society's 14th Annual National Juried Show.  (That's her piece, "French Riviera Memories," shown above).

[Photo of "passive house" by Aaron Leitz, lifted from the Cascade Built website.]