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We are Bob and Meg connor, the owners of the
Gnome House, Maggie’s Manor, and an
awe-inspiring 140 acre paradise on Orcas Island,
in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. We
consider ourselves blessed to have been able to
live in beautiful, sunny Deer Harbor on Orcas
Island, for 35 years so far.
Here is our story.
In 1974, just before the first of our three sons
was born, we chose to change our life
dramatically. We were living in an apartment
house, with a postage stamp lawn, involved in
numerous businesses taking our energies; it
became our #1 goal to change our lifestyle to
be more compatible with our family values.
We both wanted our children to grow up in an
environment similar to Bob’s childhood in
Poulsbo,
Washington, reveling in and thriving because of
a rural, simple, old-fashioned, family-oriented
lifestyle.
It is true that the Puget Sound area is known
for its rainfall, but Bob knew about the areas
with less rain and more sunshine. After
searching for our perfect property in the
Pacific Northwest, we discovered the wonderful
San Juan
Islands, located in the rain shadow of the
Olympic Mountains. We sold all of our
Seattle businesses, bought 150 acres, and
promptly moved to an island. This was over 36
years ago, and our delight in our property is
stronger than ever. We love everything about it.
We know that still today, there are few who
comprehend the enormous ecological value and the
boundless diverse beauty of the jewel that we
steward.
When we purchased our property in 1974, we
had money for a down payment and enough for a
starter house, and no jobs. Undaunted, we move
to Orcas Island, with our 10 month old son. In 1975, we started a sawmill
and construction yard with two other Orcas
Islanders on the NW corner of our property, and
started to thin Douglas Fir tree stands in order
to finish our house and help neighbors build
theirs. When we started, there was neither
power nor phone within a quarter mile and no
houses for half a mile in all directions.
Although the population of Orcas Island has
increased from 2600 year-round residents in 1975
to 4300 year round residents in 2007, the
idyllic lifestyle and natural beauty of Orcas
Island has really not changed very much.
In 1977, when my mother moved up here to help
us with our farm and enjoy our growing family, a
great friend of ours to whom we offered an
individual homesteading opportunity, and I
started a shared ½ acre organic subsistence
garden, our first very early farming venture.
The garden and neighboring field would grow to
become a gathering place for the families of
Deer Harbor who were of like mind and
circumstance. Hardly a weekend went by that
there was not a ball game or campfire/potluck.
After my mother passed away in 1996 we named it
Grandma’s Garden and offered the bounty to those
involved in elder care. This was rural living as
I knew it from childhood.
In 1978, our second son was born, and in
1982, our third son was born…and now we were
five. All three of our boys reveled in the rural
island life, with endless outdoor creative
adventures, sports, and just good “clean” fun
all of the time. To this day, they love
the outdoors, enjoying hiking, skiing, camping,
mountain climbing, etc. The Orcas Island School
was and continues to be a very good one,
preparing students well for college. During
their school years, all three of our sons were
very active in all sorts of activities,
especially sports. Bob was baseball coach
for 15+ years, and both of us attending every
game that our boys were in, either coaching,
score-keeping, or cheering our voices hoarse.
Our sons still love to visit Orcas Island often,
and are now sharing their childhood lifestyle
with their own families. We have a 6 year old
grand-daughter, a 22 month old grandson, and
grand baby #3, a grand-daughter arrived on May
9th, 2008. How thankful
we are that all 3 of our sons, their wives, and
their children all live in the Pacific
Northwest, just a couple of hours from us!
Our Land and Its“Development”
Because we were absolutely dedicated to rural living,
including agriculture, we applied for the
designation of Agriculture Open Space on a large
portion of our farm. The San Juan County Land
Bank worked with us to establish wetland
delineations and vegetation management plans for
wildlife. We stalwartly persisted in the
maintenance of a large segment of the property
for agricultural use. Today we harvest mainly
wild beyond organic berries and fruit. We knew
at an early point in our ownership of this land
that diverse use was the only sustainable
solution and practical model for land use on
what has now become a most unlikely area for
agriculture because of desirable
Orcas Island’s exceptionally high costs per acre
compared with other areas of Washington. We have
always combined farm, residential, education,
eco- and agro-tourism and other creative uses on
our diverse 140 acres.
All 140 acres of our property here in
Deer Harbor, is devoted to wildlife habitat
preservation and enhancement. We dedicated
(through an easement with the San Juan County
Land Bank) about 80 acres to preservation,
vegetation management for wildlife habitat and
farming, and continued maintenance of our open
meadows and rocky outcroppings. “The property
as described in this Conservation Easement is an
important ecological area containing salt and
freshwater wetlands, open grassy areas,
hedgerows and woodlands. This mosaic of habitats
has combined to create nearly ideal wildlife
habitat and offers outstanding scenic qualities
that can be enjoyed by the general public from
the County roads. It is the intent of this
management plan to augment the Property owners’
excellent stewardship by providing a blueprint
for maintaining these values, in perpetuity,
through a regular program that combines control
of successional vegetative growth with selective
plantings”.
For all you bird-watchers out there, we also donated an
easement for the enhancement and enjoyment of
wildfowl, in what is now known as the Frank
Richardson Marsh. After we made the first
donation of a wildfowl easement on that
property, we have continued to document birds
and have pictures of well over a hundred
different species on our web site. . We knew how
important this freshwater marsh was to the
entire ecosystem of wildlife and human life in
Deer Harbor.
We were happy to name and dedicate the marsh to
Frank who so passionately touted its value to
all who would listen. To this day it is used for
education and enjoyment by wildfowl enthusiasts
from near and far.
Another of our passions has been spreading and sharing
information, science, and love of preserving and
studying the environment around us.
Environmental education using living, working
examples always increases the effectiveness of
communicating our interconnected ecology. One
only needs to take a brief tour of our property
to become aware of the momentous
interrelationships of the greatly diverse
environmental features. Streams, forests, salt
and fresh water marshes, the estuary, fields and
ponds open to the bay and on to the world’s
oceans. Most of the ecological systems of the
San Juan Islands and much of the resources are
represented. We have been fortunate to have an
innumerable amount of networking and use of this
environmental example. Pre-school,
middle-school, high school, undergraduate and
graduate programs, Universities from the Pacific
Northwest and British Columbia Canada, visiting
environmental professors and researchers from
institutions from around the U.S. and Canada and
from as far away as Australia, and Europe have
visited and used this property even in its
beginning stages of restoration.
Probably one of the most significantly beneficial
developments in agriculture in our lifetime is
the re-realization that the wild and minimally
managed agriculture styles may be an answer to
the wild/human transition areas of our entire
planet. If we and Nature’s more wild inhabitants
can thrive in harmony, we will have made an
intelligent return to the past or perhaps go
back into the future. The Bullock family was one
of the homestead/brave purchasers of part of our
property. Their brand of
agriculture/permaculture and environmentally
friendly lifestyle coupled with their abundant
energy and gift of teaching is admired by people
from all over the world. Every year is a new
adventure in research, restoration and education
through the permaculture seminars that happen in
and around their property and encompasses all of
ours as well.
Estuaries are called ‘nurseries of the sea”, as they are
vital to the survival of many, many species of
wildlife. There is an on-going enormous effort
to restore the viability and vibrancy of the
Deer Harbor Estuary, which is located on our
property. To have helped in the restoration of
runs of spawning salmon to “Fish Trap Creek” at
the mouth of our estuary will be a dream come
true! There are Federal and State agencies who
have given large grants for the endeavors
currently underway: silt-reducing plantings,
bridge modifications to increase tidal flow,
wildlife ponds, etc. On
May 17th, 2008,
this project will be showcased to the “world”.
1.
2003, Salmon Recovery Funding Board REED Barbeque
Meg and I sponsored and members of the REED
Project organized a Salmon Barbeque on our
property to deliver a message about the status
of the project. It was well attended. Sandy
Wyllie-Echeverria, an environmental research
professor at the University of Washington,
brought visiting scientists from across the
globe. We hope to have another one, perhaps this
September.
2.
2005-2006, Donated use of 18’
Greggor
runabout for Scientific Research
As an example of the shared equipment for
stewardship projects idea, we offered the use of
our runabout to several local marine scientists
for two years running. This helped reduce the
cost of the research which allowed for more
extensive coverage.
3.
2005 to present, Wildlife Release Point
Meg and I have admired the work of Wolf
Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, and have
offered our property as a release point for some
wildlife species and some educational
opportunities. We made a release in 2005.
4.
2007 Environmental Learning Center/Research Lab for
Deer
Harbor
Several scientists, educators, and local
environmental champions have been working on a
proposal from a vision I have had for over 30
years. The proposal is forthcoming.
5.
Stay tuned for exciting
information soon. |
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