Sunset Magazine discovers Grays Harbor’s “Hidden Coast”
When I was a kid living in California, my parents subscribed to Sunset magazine, which became my window on Western living. I poured over the pages of interesting homes and staged gardens with the relish of a design-starved youth. Nowhere in my working-class neighborhood could I find the striking architecture, seemly design and chic-but-casual outdoor entertaining that the long-established lifestyle magazine promoted in its inspirational editorial spreads.
Sunset is Western America’s largest-circulation regional magazine with a circulation of more than one million. Each monthly issue is devoted to four subject areas: Travel, gardening, food and home design. A staff of editors and writers based in Menlo Park, California tastefully captures life in the West.
So, it is with some personal delight that Sunset selected the Seabrook community in Grays Harbor’s Pacific Beach to be the 2013 Idea Town. Each year the publication chooses an outstanding architectural project to profile — and this year it helps to disprove the location’s Hidden Coast moniker. The Seabrook community is unique within the state for its Cape Cod beach-village concept. The 2013 Sunset Idea Houses at Seabrook includes two handsome homes with courtyard guest cottages and extensive outdoor living areas.
Visitors will discover casual and innovative design ideas as they tour the ocean-view houses, which represent a microcosm of the larger community-focused, pedestrian-friendly town.
I chatted with one of the Seabrook representatives, Ivo Andov, who said: “Sunset magazine is one of the few publications that understands the direction new towns and neighborhoods are headed. The main reason they chose Seabrook for their first-ever Idea Town, was the unique link the homes will have with the rest of the community we’re building on the coast. Our growing town aims to be nearly car-less. All the main necessities at Seabrook are located within a 5-minute walk. This is a very sustainable aspect of Sunset’s Idea Town and re-introduces a concept that we once cherished.
The way the Sunset Idea Houses were designed is a unique approach to community living in Grays Harbor County. The main houses, carriage houses and additional buildings create a mini-compound where multi-generational families can spend quality time together while enjoying the right amount of privacy. This is right in line with Seabrook’s design goals of creating a community where guests and residents create traditions that stand the test of time while interacting daily with their neighbors. The Sunset Idea Houses will provide the perfect mix of traditional and modern architecture, outdoor courtyard living and sustainability.”
If you go, Sunset magazine’s Idea Town at Seabrook is located at 4275 SR 109, Pacific Beach, WA 98571, 18 miles north of Ocean Shores on SR 109 in Grays Harbor County. The Sunset Ideas Houses will be available to tour from 10 am – 5 pm as follows:
Aug. 2 – 4, Friday – Sunday;
August 9-12, Friday – Monday;
August 15 – September 16, Thursday – Monday;
September 20 – October 27, Friday – Sunday
Cost: Adults, $17, with a portion of proceeds going to the Seabrook Community Foundation. For more information visit www.sunset.com/ideatown