The sleepy hollow project is a series of five walls of Eatonville, Washington's "Lynch Creek" basalt. They were built with a focus on sheer faces in order to optimize the presence of each overall form.

With the lower portion of the backyard falling away to a serene vista of an estuary of Puget Sound, the first necessity was to replace a failing wall of sedimentary black rock. Upon demolition, the fluctuating grade in the capping area provided a unique oppertunity to create an irregular, yet fluid form. Thus, the "angel wing" wall was born; a mixed media structure incorporating a staircase of Idaho Quartzite, and a flowing cap that followed the natural grade of the hillside.

The leftover stonepile was substantial, and became the "horse shoe" wall. Built on the site of an old compost pile by the edge of the forest, the structure came to express a dramatically tapered form.

With the location of the house atop a hill, the client next desired a "visible" wall, as the prior two were terracing and thus, faced away. In August of 2005, a 50' x 2' arc was created for viewing from the kitchen window.

The need for a second terrace, below the first wall still persisted. At 60' x 4', the the structure would be quite large. Reflecting the theme of a mammoth dry creek bed for seasonal run off at the bottom of the hollow, granite boulders were first placed along the wall's projected trajectory. My desire was to create a union between the naturally occuring world of stone and the man-made.

The latest addition is another 50' long wall that is freestanding, and purely aesthetic in value. Mimicking the inside curve of the "visible" wall, it helps to create focus on the nearby waters of Puget Sound.

A staircase on the western side of the house is planned for 2007.