In the summer of 1998, John Albers, and his wife Santica Marcovina, both Research Professors of Medicine at the University of Washington, were touring the Olympic Peninsula and fell in love with a house overlooking the Port Washington Narrows in East Bremerton. Santica was attracted by the house nested on a hillside with a backdrop of a native Madrona and maple woodland while John’s major interest was in the two acres of lawn punctuated by old fruit trees remaining from the original orchard. The house was for sale, John and Santica immediately made an offer and after a few months moved from West Seattle to their new location. While Santica was busy in making the house their home, John, an avid gardener, started his plans of transforming the lawn into a garden. Taking advantage of the beautiful Southwest facing slope framed to the west by the Olympic Mountains, John laid out paths of granite steppingstones, without changing the topography, to define the distinct garden areas he had in mind. Different varieties of conifers were first planted in strategic locations to provide backbone and structure to the garden followed by a large variety of trees, shrubs, and perennials.