One summer while in high school my buddy Steve and I decided to work for ourselves. So we piled our lawnmowers and other yard care equipment into the back of Steve’s 1968 Ranchero, posted flyers on the local boards and also handed them to several real estate agents in our hometown of Bainbridge Island. We didn’t lack for work that summer, and we made a pretty good buck.

One of the more interesting jobs came from a realtor who asked us if we’d be interested in helping clean up the overgrown yard of a mansion on the southern Hood Canal. He was paying well, and said he’d cover our travel time too, as it was about an hour and a half drive each way.

So we spent a few days mowing the yards and hauling away brush from this grand estate, 10,000 square feet, 12 bedrooms, 11 baths, library, pub, theater room (this was the 1970’s), huge dining room. It was set on over 8 acres, with several hundred feet of waterfront and a spectacular view of the Olympic Mountains when the northwest weather permits. At the entrance stood a drive-through 3 bedroom gatehouse, and there was also a caretaker’s house, and a chauffeur’s cottage. They were preparing to sell the estate to someone who was going to convert it to some sort of resort. We didn’t give it much thought then; we just got paid and went on to the next job.

Fast forward 20 or so years and I return home after serving in the Navy in several places around the world. I had thought of the mansion a few times, even told how I almost had lost a lawnmower to the pool as the yard was so overgrown. I began to try to locate this fantastic place and see if it still existed. I had driven many stretches of the Seabeck-Holly highway and had not seen anything looking even remotely familiar. The memories had been filed away again, as I had to attend to family, work, school and the myriad other of life’s requirements. Until last week…

I was checking out the real estate listings on Seattle’s Craigslist and saw an add for a mansion on the southern hood canal, and the photos that were with the add convinced me I’d found the place. Last Friday I had the day off and I printed out a map to the property and headed out. I was a lot farther south than I had driven, probably since we were working there, but as soon as I drove through the gatehouse I knew I’d finally found the place of my memories. The current owner, Phillip Hughes, was gracious enough to allow me to walk the grounds and snap a few photos.

It is currently a Bed and Breakfast by the name of the Willcox House. (It was originally built for Colonel Julian P. and Constance Willcox circa 1937.) More info can be found at: www.willcoxhouse.com