Dunn Gardens: Initial Impressions

Dear Diary,

Dunn Gardens, a seven-acre private park in northwest Seattle, poses several ethical questions for you and me.  You see, now that I know about it, I know of two parks in North Seattle where restrooms are hidden behind a paywall.

There are important differences between the two in this respect.  Woodland Park Zoo isn't a member of Museums for All; Dunn Gardens is.  Woodland Park Zoo has physically structured its entrance to ensure payment; that's spectacularly untrue of Dunn Gardens.  Woodland Park Zoo, on the other hand, is very near count 'em ten free park restrooms, some of which are open 24 hours; Dunn Gardens is pretty much it for public restrooms within a square mile or three.

So ethics can only dictate so far.  Thanks to a very helpful employee, I was able to take slightly more photos than this page contains; I can't imagine that happening at Woodland Park Zoo.  And if that's unfair to the zoo, too bad.

Just the facts, please

Dunn Gardens is at 13533 Northshire Road NW.

It started as the summer home of Arthur Dunn, who died in 1945.  In 1952, before annexation by Seattle, the family sold some acres to avoid the land being condemned by the local school district.  As a result, some neighbouring houses, built on the sold land, claim to belong to the Shire.

There are indications many places, ranging from the paperwork related to the 1994 addition to the National Register of Historic Places (38-page PDF) to English Wikipedia, that there have been many restrictions on how open to the public the gardens really are.  However, today they're open year round, people needn't be guided by docents, and the remaining main restrictions are two.  They don't have much parking, and their hours are short, seven per day, closed Sundays.

In the unlikely event that a homeless wanderer was in whatever part of northwest Seattle is closer to Dunn Gardens than to Carkeek Park or Bitter Lake Playfield (nothing in Shoreline would be closer, but I have reason to hope both those parks' restrooms are 24 hours), the parking probably wouldn't matter, but the hours probably would.

Doing things right

What I think I like best about Dunn Gardens is several apparently recent innovations that have been done conspicuously well.

This includes the plumbing.

They didn't have to get a wheelchair-compatible restroom, or a year-round water fountain, but they did.  Their membership in Museums for All is recent.

I don't know how valid their apparent belief that their main market is the elderly is, but they're doing that right too.  An all terrain wheelchair, an automated external defibrillator, handrails in both restrooms.

A Place to Be

Dunn Gardens costs $10 per visit or $50+ per year.

They have maps more convenient than this one.  I recommend those maps' use.

I'm not, personally, that much into gardening.  Both my parents were, and the scene outside the office feels homelike to me.

But I'm not completely insensible to beautiful plants, as you perfectly well know, dear Diary.  In futures in which I don't return to homelessness, I'll probably want to come back occasionally, and not just to check on the plumbing.

Good night, dear Diary.