Adriann Weymouth of Serendipity Home Decor

In six years, I’ve painted each room in my home twice and I never was happy with the results.  And I was going to do it again – crazy you say.  This time I was going to get it right because I was working with an interior designer. 

I’m sure you’ve thought about it but fearing it would be too expensive, or that you’d get stuck with a room you wouldn’t like, you may have given up on the idea altogether.   However, using a design professional can, and should, be a good experience.  It can give your home continuity, function, and beauty.  And it doesn’t have to go over your budget.  Working with a designer can save you money in many situations by allocating resources wisely, eliminating decorating mistakes, and increasing creative thinking about your project. Interior designers work out optimal room size, traffic flow and lighting.  When it comes to choosing and coordinating the color schemes, paint finishes, cabinet styles and light fixtures that go into that room, that’s where an interior decorator comes in.

An interior designer will save you months of hunting down product samples and other research and prevent some potentially messy missteps. What’s more, the designer can do everything from simply acting as a sounding board for your ideas to undertaking more involved work, like buying paint and fabric, scheduling an installation and even supervising the job.

In my search for the “right neutral” to pull my art work and eclectic furniture together, I hired Adriann Weymount at Serendipity Home Décor, 1326 5th St., Marysville, WA, 360-659-5600, www.serendipityhomedecor.com to help me with my color choices.  Unlike decorators, she has a design degree from Washington State University.  She came to my home loaded with paint samples and from every known and unknown supplier.  After a quick tour and consultation, she started pulling out paint chips – I decided to leave her alone while I did some desk work.  In less than 30 minutes, she choose a new neutral for my kitchen, dining area, living room and hall, a plum accent color to create some drama for the dining area and to connect the fireplace wall to the dining area and new modern office color.  Total cost for her home consultation $85.00 – peace of mind is priceless.

Last week when I was looking at composite deck colors, I called her and she met me at Dunn Lumber, with my new exterior paint colors in hand, and she coordinated the deck and handrails for me. It’s going to look fantastic!

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The survey, which measures how affordable housing issues affect consumers, also found job security concerns to be the highest in 8 years of sampling, with seventy percent of Americans saying that job layoffs and unemployment are a big problem in their area; 8 in 10 cite these issues as a barrier to homeownership.  The telephone survey of 1,209 urban and suburban adults in the top 25 metropolitan statistical areas was conducted for NAR by American Strategies and Myers Research & Strategic Services for NAR’s Housing Opportunity Program.

Some key results:

• Americans continue to believe that buying a home is a good financial decision (77 % believe total strongly or not so strongly; 68% strongly so). 
• More than two-thirds of respondents (68%) say that now is a good time to buy a home.
• Job insecurity and the lack of jobs continue to be the primary obstacle to home ownership and market recovery. 
• They see the recession and job losses as the main reason for the foreclosure problem, a shift from last year when they more likely to blame homeowners who bought homes they could not afford.
• A majority of renters say that owning a home at some point in the future is either one of their highest priorities (39%) or a moderate priority (24%).   Just 21% of renters say that owning a home is not a priority at all.
• Frustration with banks is up:  now a majority worry that banks have made it too hard to qualify for a home mortgage loan. 
• Fifty-one percent say foreclosures remain a big or moderate problem in their area.  While there has been a significant drop in the percentage of those surveyed who say foreclosures have increased, 51% say that the rate of foreclosures is about the same as it was last year. 
• Most of those surveyed say that it is harder to sell a home in their neighborhood than it was a year ago. 
• Looking forward, 70% expect real estate sales in their neighborhood to remain about the same over the next few months.  A nearly identical number (69%), also expect home values to remain the same.
• Nearly one-quarter (23%) are now very concerned about the number of homes and condos for sale in their area—a number that is up 7 points from last year.
• Most are more concerned about the drop in home values than they are about home costs being too high.  Still, cost remains the significant barrier to many who would otherwise like to buy a home.

As always, your comments and questions are greatly appreciated.  Let me know if I can help with any of your real estate needs.

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The Everett Philharmonic Orchestra led by Dr. Paul-Elliott Cobbs performs a Valentine’s Eve concert

Who:     The Everett Philharmonic Orchestra

Soloist:  Susan Telford, Flutist & Juliet Stratton, Harpist

When:   Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 3 p.m.

Where:  First Presbyterian Church

             2936 Rockefeller Ave.

             Everett, WA 98201

Start your Valentine’s Eve with a concert of humor, romance, passion and virtuosity. Spoil that someone with a special concert performed by the Everett Philharmic Orchestra and Conductor Dr. Paul-Elliott Cobbs. They will share the intimacy of Mozart in their third concert of the season, That Magnifcent Mozart!

The performance boasts a tempting program featuring Mozart’s virtuosic Concerto for Flute and Harp. This demanding work will showcase soloists Susan Telford on the flute and Juliet Stratton on harp. Clearly a taxing work of facility and skill, this concerto will fill the evening with passion and romance.

Tickets are $25 each – Seniors and students are $20. Add a romantic dinner and you have the perfect Valentine gift. Festival seating, so come early. Doors open at 2:15. Tickets are available on line at EverettPhil.org or call 206-270-9729

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Perhaps the biggest question facing the housing market in 2011:  Is this the year housing actually hits bottom?  Home prices are expected to fall another 5% in 2011, though there are some who say price declines could be much worse.  Here’s our list of four issues to keep an eye on in 2011:

1. Jobs: Call it a cop out because it’s so obvious, but without more tax credits to juice sales, the housing market needs job growth. First, who’s going to buy a house when they’re not certain they’ll have a job in six months and when it looks like home prices are likely to fall another 5%? Mortgage rates spent much of 2010 at a level that hadn’t been seen since the Eisenhower administration, but it didn’t do to increase buyer demand. A crummy job market means that more homeowners risk falling behind on their payments, which would add to the supply of lower-priced foreclosed homes–further depressing prices.  Foreclosures are already expected to pick up in 2011, though the rising supply could be offset somewhat by very low levels of new home construction.  If jobs pick up, demand picks up and many of the other problems facing the housing market can more easily take care of themselves. If it doesn’t, prices will fall further, and more homeowners will fall underwater, or owe more than their homes are worth.

 2. Foreclosure delays: In September, some of the nation’s largest banks, including units of Bank of America Corp. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., suspended foreclosures due to potentially fraudulent document-handling procedures. Foreclosure filings were down sharply in November, a sign that the foreclosure machinery is proving to be slower to restart than the banks’ initial folks-there’s-nothing-to-see-here guidance. Banks say that foreclosure-document problems are a technical problem and that they haven’t evicted anyone who wasn’t delinquent. But regulators and state prosecutors have launched a series of reviews and Investigations could shed more light on abuses, such as misapplied or excessive fees, by servicers, their attorneys and other third-party vendors.  Meanwhile, some real-estate legal analysts have warned that problems may be more severe if loans weren’t properly recorded or transferred during the process of bundling mortgages and selling them as securities. If foreclosures are more difficult and expensive to process, banks and investors could step up bulk sales of loans or foreclosure alternatives such as short sales, where banks approve sales for less than the amount owed.

3. Washington: Next month, the Obama administration is set to issue an initial set of recommendations for how to remake Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the broader mortgage market.  Deficit hawks also have their sights set on scaling back the mortgage-interest deduction, though immediate action isn’t expected.  Meanwhile, regulators are also writing new rules on provisions outlined in the Dodd-Frank Act that will clarify how banks must retain some of the risk on loans that are bundled and sold off as securities and define what constitutes a “qualified residential mortgage” that is exempt from such rules.

Other questions loom: Will regulators and policy makers get more aggressive about banks’ treatment of second mortgages, which have hindered efforts to modify mortgages or to avoid foreclosures through short sales? Will policy makers (pay particular attention to the states here) take more vigorous measures to slow foreclosures or rework mortgages?

4. Lending standards and rates: The government continues to dominate the mortgage-lending landscape, with more than nine in 10 new loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or government agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration.  Policymakers might try to create more room for private lenders to return by allowing expanded conforming loan limits to fall in September. If mortgage rates continue to rise, that could lead buyers to scale back their purchases, putting pressure on home prices. While some analysts have raised red flags over the FHA’s finances and say that loans with 3.5% down payments are leading the agency to take on too much risk, others worry about tighter lending standards that could further pinch demand. Fannie and Freddie are raising fees that could hit borrowers with down payments of less than 25%.

Readers, what other issues are keeping you up at night about the housing market in the year ahead?

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Home prices across 20 major metropolitan areas fell 1.3% in October from September, the third straight month-over-month drop, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday.  The housing market, which appeared poised for a recovery earlier in the year, now could be heading for a second downward drift. 

“This looks like a double-dip [in housing] is pretty much on the way, if not already here,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Standard & Poor’s index committee.

Somebody who thought last year that it’s going to be straight up from here was wrong.”

Other news in recent weeks, however, has offered hope the economy is on the cusp of strong, sustainable growth. Retail sales returned to levels seen just before the recession started in 2007.  Manufacturing continues to expand. U.S. exports are back to where they were just before the financial crisis.

Optimism among heads of small businesses and large corporations is also near pre-recession levels.  And tax legislation that includes a one-year payroll-tax cut for most workers has boosted prospects.

Yet the twin forces of jobs and housing remain trouble spots.  The labor market has added a million jobs in the past year, but that pace is far too slow to offset an unemployment rate that climbed to 9.8% last month.

Job worries are hampering consumer confidence despite strength in holiday sales and a rising stock market.  The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its confidence index fell to 52.5 from 54.3 in November, as consumers’ views about job availability worsened.

The index, after rising through May as the economy showed early signs of improvement, now has retreated to its level of a year ago.  The percentage of people planning to buy a home is also back to where it was a year ago, erasing improvement seen in early 2010.

U.S. Consumer-Confidence Index Slips

In the Case-Shiller data, all 20 cities in the index posted month-over-month declines in October.

As for year-over-year data, only four areas—Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.—showed prices higher than in October 2009.  Six markets hit their lowest since prices started falling four years ago, dropping below their spring 2009 levels, when most regions saw prices bottom out.  The six were Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Tampa, Charlotte, N.C., and Portland, Oregon. 

Prices in several markets, including Las Vegas and Cleveland, are nearly down to 2000 levels. 

The housing index was driven down by factors including the expiration of a federal tax credit for buyers who signed contracts by April 30, which caused demand to fall off.

Prices also were weighed down by a huge inventory of foreclosed homes, which tend to sell at sharply discounted prices.

In recent months, according to the National Association of Realtors, foreclosure and other distressed sales have represented more than 30% of home sales—and more than half in some states, such as Nevada.

Wells Fargo & Co. projects prices will drop 8% more by mid-2011, given high supply.  “Demand is still dead in the water,” said Wells economist Sam Bullard.

Prices also face other hurdles: slightly rising mortgage rates, and homeowners who owe more on their houses than they’re worth, and thus may walk away as values dip further.

The owners under pressure include Tasha McLaughlin, a 33-year-old mother of two in Sacramento’s South Natomas neighborhood. She and her husband, Steve, bought their two-bedroom house in 2004 for $256,000, intending to stay about five years.  After 11 months of trying to sell it between 2006 and 2007, the family took it off the market.

Everyone is saying we should foreclose or claim bankruptcy, but I have a moral issue with that,” said Mrs. McLaughlin. “The more we try to pay the mortgage and pinch pennies, the more we get punished.”

Now, with a similar home down the block listed for $80,000, the McLaughlins are accepting that they won’t recoup their losses anytime soon. Their interest-only loan is set to increase their current $1,600 monthly payment to $2,200 in seven years.  If they were to default on their mortgage and walk away, they calculate that in about the same time, seven years, their credit scores would be stable enough to allow them to buy again elsewhere.
“I am just going to swallow my pride and walk out. I have to,” said Mrs. McLaughlin. “  The market for homes is not going up.”

Housing analysts agree that markets such as Sacramento, Las Vegas and parts of Arizona and Florida are at risk of more declines. “These places relied so heavily on mortgages and real estate for their economy that we’re going to see a two-tiered recovery,” said Chris Mayer, a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School. “Luxury spending is not going on across the country—it’s happening among highly skilled consumers who live in the places that have seen some recovery”.

Homes remain a key part of Americans’ wealth. Households held $6.4 trillion of home equity at the end of the third quarter, alongside $12.2 trillion in stocks and mutual-fund shares, according to Federal Reserve data.
For every dollar decline in housing wealth, consumers reduce spending by about a nickel in the subsequent 18 months, Moody’s Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi estimates.  He cautioned that other factors, such as the stock market’s strength and tax credits, could offset this effect.

“People feel poorer when their houses are going down in value,” said Jack Fitzgerald, chief executive of Fitzgerald Auto Malls, which has a dozen locations along the East Coast.  He is seeing many customers who could buy new cars choosing used cars instead, “spending as little as they can.” While sales are improving, he expects them to grow only slowly, given all the consumer uncertainty.

Still, the overall economy’s dependence on housing diminished greatly since the financial crisis, said Ivy Zelman, chief executive of Zelman & Associates, a housing-research firm.  ”Consumers have shown us they can still spend even if home prices go down,” she said.  But falling home values “put a lid on the recovery and the magnitude of it.”

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The New Everett Philharmonic led by Dr. Paul-Elliott Cobbs plays for the entire family

Who:       The Everett Philharmonic Orchestra
When:     Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Where:    Everett Civic Auditorium • 2415 Colby Ave • Everett

Finish off your Thanksgiving weekend with a delightful concert for the whole family!

Join the Everett Philharmonic Orchestra and Conductor Dr. Paul-Elliott Cobbs as they take you to lands near and far when they present their second concert of the season, Music for the Imagination, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, November 28th in Everett’s Civic Auditorium.  The performance spotlights an irresistible program featuring Peter and the Wolf.  Designed for kids from 3 to 93, the concert is certain to captivate and electrify the audience.  “It is geared for the enjoyment of the entire family,” said Maestro Cobbs of the upcoming performance.  “In Music for the Imagination,” he continues, “the orchestra bows, blows and beats out some of classical music’s most unique compositions, suggesting story lines limited only by the listener’s imagination.”

“The concert is not only for the young,” said Cobbs, “although observing the kids’ pleasure is a hoot in itself, adults will get a kick out of identifying the sounds and dreaming up their own tales as well.”

The Light Cavalry Overture of Franz von Suppé will open the afternoon with its stirring mix of intense imagery, fast horses and certain victory.  Next, Paul Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice will charm the audience while stretching one’s imagination to extremes, painting a clear picture of what might happen when an apprentice “leaps before he looks.”  Then the EPO will host bassist, Dr. Anna Jensen, as she performs Jon Deak’s B.B. Wolf.  This work gets to the heart of B.B. (as in Big Bad) Wolf, allowing the audience an in-depth look into this thoroughly misunderstood creature.

The afternoon will conclude with a narrated version of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.  This delightful tale introduces the sounds of the instruments as characters in the story.  Join Peter as he ventures out to the meadow, meets new friends and learns a few lessons along the way.

Family tickets are affordably priced $40 FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR (add more for $10 each!).  Individual tickets are $20.  Best work up a family-for-the-day (friends included).

Festival Seating–so come early.  Doors open at 2:15 p.m.  Tickets are available online at  everettphil.org  Or call 206.270.9729.

If you would like more information about this topic or to schedule an interview with Loma L Cobbs, Executive Director or Paul-Elliott Cobbs, Music Director, please call Cami Davis at 206- 270-9729 or email The Everett Philharmonic at info@everettphil.org

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The National Association of Professional Organizers ( www.napo.net) reports that 50 percent of homeowners say their garage is the most disorganized space in their home, says Lisa Engel, a representative for ClosetMaid ( www.closetmaid.com).   “The biggest mistake people make is that they don’t do the first step of making sure everything they have in the garage are things they want to keep.  The garage should be an extension of your house, with a combination of open and closed storage.  The open storage is meant to give you quick access to the items you use on a more frequent basis.”

Summer is now a distant memory and the busy holiday season is just around the corner, now is the ideal time to streamline your garage.     Here are some tips for creating an organized garage where you can store the stuff you need – even your car.

Take inventory:  In order to create an efficient storage system for your garage, decide what you absolutely want to keep, things you need to discard and items you can donate to charity.  If you haven’t used an item in the past year, it’s probably time to dump or donate it.  Categorize what you have – this will help you understand how much open and closed storage you need and how it should be organized.

Choose a layout.   A garage gives you three solid walls you can use for storage. Take note of any windows, doors or electrical and plumbing systems (like a water heater) that need to be accessible.  Depending on what you need to store, an open vinyl-coated wire system with hooks, hang-ups and wire baskets provides organized and ventilated storage for items you want to see and access easily. Steel, wood-grain and melamine-laminated particle board cabinet systems can give you closed storage for items you want away from the elements. Take advantage of the vertical storage opportunities in your garage – hang a ladder you don’t need to access daily up high, or use hooks to store hoses, extension cords, mops or weed whackers.

Recycling center:  While people have stored their primary garbage can in their garage for years, more recently homeowners have been faced with finding creative and efficient ways to store their recycling containers. If your garage includes a staircase to the inside of your house, create a simple “closet” under the stairs to conveniently store the garbage and recycling bin out of the way.  There are also heavy-load wall brackets that lift and hold the recycling bins off the floor, giving you more floor space.

Lock away hazards: Store pesticides and chemicals safely away behind closed doors where children and pets can’t get to them.  Make sure you read labels and store the chemicals and pesticides at the proper temperature and use upper cabinets (with locks, if possible). Also avoid transferring hazardous household chemicals to other containers, which can lead to dangerous accidents when someone misidentifies the substance in the container.

Hobby space:  Create an easy-to-use space for your hobbies: Adding a crafts center, potting table or tool bench to your garage – with lots of easily accessible storage on each side – allows you to enjoy your hobby without taking over the entire space.

Personalize storage:  Consider installing individual lockers for each child. This not only creates specific storage for skates, balls and gloves but also helps kids keep track of their own stuff.  You can also create a “mini mud room” by combining three vertical storage closets together with hooks for jackets and gym bags.

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Join us for a Workshop facilitated by Frank Mallinder. ALL SEEKERS Welcome.

Things, people, thoughts and especially emotions are what get in the way of living a Meaningful Life.  All of the research on happiness indicates that too many people have lives that don’t require them to joyfully employ their special gifts. 

We will explore:

• What a meaningful life means to you.
• The Four Stages to living the Meaningful Life.
• Life controlling patterns and the effect that emotion has on the “Law of Attraction”.
• How to master creating a Gap between Stimulus and Response.
• New research on the power of intrinsic goals versus extrinsic goals. 
• The 3-steps for sustaining your ‘Big Change’ and elevated energy. 
• What the Real Secret to Your Meaningful Life is.

This will be a highly interactive workshop in which you will be able to ask questions, receive coaching from Frank and tap into his intuitive talents to assist you on your path to joy and abundance.  You will leave the session with renewed energy, expanded insights into who you really are, a deeper connection with those in attendance and a roadmap for the next stage of life. 

To register send an email to: deansinbalance@frontier.com “Frank’s Workshop” or call Mary Helen Burke Dean @ 425-252-0979  

 SPACE IS LIMITED – REGISTER TODAY!!

Fee:      $30.00 
Date:     Sat, Oct 16th, 2010
Time:     9 to 3 pm (lunch provided)
Place:    Hartley Mansion
             2320 Rucker Ave.
             Everett, WA 98201

Who is Frank Mallinder?

To discover this, go to http://www.wisecoach4u.com/

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10 One-of-a-Kind Places to Call Home

1. Old Firehouse – 117 Broad St, San Francisco, CA 94112
Status: For Sale — $975,000

San Francisco’s Firehouse 33 was in the business of fighting fires from 1896 to 1974. Up until 1921, it had two horses, a steamer, a Dalmatian and a rotating crew of firefighters. When bigger fire engines were built in the 1970s, Firehouse 33’s doors could not accommodate the wider girth and so, the original Firehouse 33 became obsolete and a new Firehouse 33 was built around the corner. An entrepreneurial couple bought this firehouse and turned it into a home/business — the “San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures” business. It has two beds, two baths and 4,000 sq ft of space, plus interesting amenities such as the original redwood lockers the firemen used, lots of closet space, a garage that can fit six cars (and a firetruck, if you had one) and of course, a fire pole!
> See more photos of the firehouse

2. Old Church — 601 Dolores St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Status: For Sale – $7,490,000

Only in San Francisco will you find a fabulously restored Gothic Revival home – that was formerly a church. At 17,000 sq ft, it is said to be one of the largest single family homes in San Francisco. The living room features a soaring, coffered, hand-painted ceiling with seven enormous chandeliers, stained glass windows (naturally) and arched windows looking out to Dolores Park. Climb to the tower meditation room and deck for a 360-degree view of the city.
> See more photos of the church

3. Round House- 122 Olmstead Hill Rd, Wilton, CT 06897

Known as the “Connecticut Round House,” this property has been listed for sale a couple times before being recently removed with a list price of $1,750,000 (it was listed in 2008 for $2.3 million). Designed by architect Richard T. Foster, it is a cylindrical masterpiece that sits 12 feet off the ground on its “base” and has the ability to rotate slowly 360 degrees, taking in the nearly four acres of land and a pond. It takes about 50 minutes to complete an entire rotation and can be stopped, slowed down or sped up. Made of steel, glass and shingles, the 3,000 sq ft home was renovated in 2005 and is completely walled in glass. It features custom ash cabinetry, state-of-the-art Xenon interior lighting, marble and limestone bath finishes, and “Smart House” technology in the main house.” Plus, there is a separate guest house and in-ground lap pool.
>See more photos of the Connecticut Round House

4. Cave house – 1101 N 11th St, Festus, MO 63028 

The “Cave House” was on the market in a distress sale in 2009, but it appears the owners were able to re-work their adjustable-rate loan and have now happily settled back into cave life. The 17,000 square foot house — er, cave — is in Festus, MO, and has three chambers: a front chamber that contains three bedrooms; a middle chamber that holds the laundry room, storage, and a spare bath, and the back chamber that still has the stage where Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, Ike and Tina Turner, and many other entertainers performed. Obviously, the owners of this cave are very well connected. No furnace or air-conditioning needed; geothermal and passive solar systems keep the home comfortable year-round. (Photo courtesy Caveland.us)
> See more photos of the Cave House 

5. Earth ship – 6 High Meadow Dr, Taos, NM 87571
Status: For Sale – $265,000

That’s right — you won’t find this “earth ship” in a well-manicured cul-de-sac in most regions of the U.S., but your chances are much greater in New Mexico or Arizona. Called “Sol Ship,” this one-bed, one-bath earth ship is designed for off-the-grid living and uses passive solar thermomass construction that heats and cools the interior. But don’t worry — you can tap into traditional systems if you have a craving for microwave popcorn. Many earth ships are a little rough around the edges with recycled materials visibly poking out (tires, cans, bottles) but this is a higher-end earth ship with an indoor koi pond and hand-plastered walls with whimsical sculpted displays around the fireplace and walls. Two underground, 3,000-gallon cisterns hold water. Own this home and no one will insult you about your carbon footprint, because it doesn’t exist.
>  See more photos of the earth ship 

6. Geodesic home – 2643 Birch Ave, Batavia, IA 52533 

Geodesic dome homes rode a wave of popularity in the 1960s and 70s, but their construction is now limited due to challenges in code requirements. While the exterior is round, the interior of geodesic homes contain many angles — just try to find a wall in which to hang a photo, or a long flat wall to position the couch. This four-bed, 3.5-bath dome home sits on 20 acres.
> See more photos of this geodesic home

7. Lake Union Houseboat – 2466 Westlake Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109
Status: For Sale – $975,000

This is a quintessential houseboat Lake Union that has never been lived in. The shingled-style master craftsman design offers two bedrooms and one bath.
> See more photos of houseboat

8. Old Barn – 9424 Windsong Loop NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Status: Recently sold — $542,000

The Bainbridge Island barn was built 104 years ago and was used as a dairy farm before being converted into a home. It retains its barn shape with soaring, cathedral ceilings with exposed beams and rough-hewn floors. Rolling barn doors serve as shutters to two bedrooms and one original wall reveals the original penciled shopping list that includes 2,100 pounds of seeds. Sixteen windows in the open living area draw passive solar heat and natural light.
> See more photos of the barn

9. Shoe House — 197 Shoe House Rd, Hellam, PA 17406 

Shoe store tycoon Mahlon Haines built this landmark home in 1948 as an advertising gimmick. The house features a front door with a stained-glass portrait of the owner himself, an observation platform, and even a shoe-shaped doghouse. Fittingly, Mahlon once used the home as a guest house, offering weekend stays to elderly couples. Read more about the Shoe house. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2202

10. Decommissioned missile site – 1874 N Batum Rd, Othello, WA 99159
Status: For Sale – $3,500,000

We saved the best for last and no — this is not a joke. This is a decommissioned military Titan 1 missile complex that is being listed as a potential residential property and it’s for sale for $3.5 million in Othello, WA . That’s the “front door” in the photo above, which is a two-ton hatch that leads down six flights of stairs to a network of subterranean rooms and tunnels that all connect to a 125-ft diameter “superdome” with a 65-ft ceiling. Eighteen Titan 1 missile sites were built during the years 1959-1962 between Colorado and Washington state. This one has three underground missile silos that measure 160-ft deep and 40-ft wide. This site can withstand and survive any nuclear blast. Twenty years ago, a man purchased this property from the government and intended to turn it into a youth camp, but he died before he could realize his dream. Enjoy your own private well, generator power, and live off the grid. Not much curb appeal, but this beauty was built to last!
> See more photos of the decommissioned missile site

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More than 150 Pablo Picasso masterpieces are coming to Seattle.  The works in this exhibition come from his personal collection—works of art the highly self-aware artist kept for himself with the intent of shaping his own artistic legacy. 

Drawn from the collection of the Musée National Picasso in Paris—the largest and most important repository of the artist’s work in the world—the exhibition will feature work representing every major period from the artist’s prolific output over eight decades.

Walking through the exhibit will be like paging through a fully illustrated biography on the Spaniard.  There’s La Celestina (1904) from Picasso’s introspective Blue Period, completed in the shadow of a close friend’s suicide; The Weeping Woman (1937), depicting longtime lover Dora Maar who Picasso said was always in tears; self-portrait The Matador (1970); plus a range of sculptures, photographs, and prints.  

For tickets and reservations contact:

 www.seattleartmuseum.org

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