Can’t afford to fly to see the magnificent garden at the Shinto temple in Kyoto? Why not wander by the funky house at the corner of 43rd and Burke with gorgeous flowers and wondrous tchotskis in front?
Six years ago, the house was unrented, unpainted, and inhabited by squatters. The police visited regularly to quell disturbances and with them came fines and notices from various city agencies. The UW professor who owned the house decided to turn it over to its present occupant, Terry Martin, rent-free in exchange for his cleaning up and beautifying it.
A world traveler with a special affection for the Orient, Terry quickly fixed up the house and planted a glorious curbside collection of flowers complemented by exotic small statues and ornaments he bought or discovered everywhere from Bangkok to Egypt to Value Village to QVC. He describes his preferred style as “Asian funk”. Sprinkled here and there are small models of temples, castles, and canal row houses that can be illuminated by candle from within. Terry heard that Seattle was once #1 in the country in sidewalk planting strips, and if his strip is any indication, it probably still is.
The tiny sculpture garden is set amidst a lush garden of dahlias (“the man’s flower,” he calls it), lilies, snapdragons, cosmos and sweet-pea. The dahlias, in particular, are thick-petaled, brilliant and succulent and worth a visit in and of themselves.
Terry, a mustachioed, easy-going and gregarious man, has a multitude of techniques for keeping his flowers spectacular-looking. These might be called “secret techniques” were it nor for his instant enthusiasm for telling anyone who wanders by how he gets his results. I’ll divulge that the least of the secrets is Miracle Gro, but for more than that, you’ll have to ask him. Though he disdains weeding (“weeds are natural”, he says), he somehow still keeps his garden looking neat. Well, neat enough.
His collection of statuary changes from time to time, perhaps a bit more often than he would wish. Admiring visitors have occasionally walked away with some of his favorite Buddhas and gods. He now puts rivets through the base of some special treasures and drives the rivets into stones supporting them. He is remarkably unperturbed about the pilfering in view of how dearly he misses many of his departed favorites. As a deterrent to curb-lifters, he has a four-legged motion detector that growls at night when unwanted visitors try to walk off with a statue (visitors that have, sadly, included a neighbor or two). This has helped keep this 43rd Street crime ripple under control.
Terry would like nothing better than to spend the rest of his life traveling in Far East and Middle East. He says he plans to continue to spend his money buying flowers and traveling through Cambodia or Egypt even if it means he’ll die in a cardboard box. Right now, surrounded by his dahlias and Buddhas, he looks like a very happy man.
(Ed Note: Terry’s sculpture garden is one of the many pieces of art that is featured on Wallyhood’s collaborative map of the Wallingford Outdoor Art. Please add what we’re missing.)
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My partner and I have long admired this gentleman’s sculpture garden and beautiful flowers. Out for a walk a couple of months ago we actually ran into him and spent 20 minutes or so chatting. He was very friendly and obviously delighted by our enjoyment of his creativity. He told us about the people lifting his little statues and stuff too, but he pretty much shrugged it off. He also said people have left him presents for the sculpture garden sometimes too, which we thought was cool.
I checked out the art map. Great idea! I was trying to figure out how to add things to it, but can’t. How do I contribute to the map?
@Yani, you have to have a Google account (e.g., Gmail, but you can create one with it). Once you’re signed in, you should see an “Edit” button:
http://img.skitch.com/20100805-muyg2i15qsi52cnkgpcmudkywk.jpg
Click it, then click the pushpin, then click where you want to place it. Kind of arduous, but that’s the way it works.
Went to Bartels tonight, to get something, and I ran into that man, Terry, with his dog, a scary beast! (Terry) Was At Bartels, just now, then when I came home there is this story about him in Wallyhood. What a strange coincidence, they call that,
something, don;t they?
I would have liked to have found out more about him, as I too, am a world traveler, and just got back from 6 months in India…
must go check out his crib .
His dog’s name is… Minkey? Sweet dog who loves him, and is playful.