Welcome! Our backyard cottage is:

Clean: The cottage is all new construction from 2011. We clean professionally between guests and we work to keep the living spaces uncluttered and open. We will follow Vrbo guidelines for cleaning in this time of the pandemic, and we will leave at least three vacant nights between guests. For more details, please request one of our attachments that describes our response to the pandemic. ("The Phinney Cottage in the Time of the Pandemic.")

Private: The cottage is a completely self-contained unit detached from our house. The entrance to the cottage is down seven gentle steps (see photo) from our driveway. It includes a kitchenette and a bathroom with a shower stall. Enjoy your own patio for outdoor eating, coffee drinking or reading. You may park off-street in our driveway if you require that.

In a Great location: Easy neighborhood walks will take you to all manner of restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, and the usual retail attractions of the big city. The Woodland Park Zoo is so close we can hear the siamangs at feeding time. Phinney Ridge rates as “very walkable” with a 79 “Walkability Score.” If you walk over the top of Phinney Ridge, go down to and around Greenlake, and then return to our cottage, you will have taken one of America’s best urban five-mile walks. The location also is perfect for parents visiting children going to the University of Washington or Seattle Pacific U.

Comfortable: The cottage has natural light on all four sides plus a skylight. All the windows have shades (and screens in season.) The bed is a queen-size top-of-the-line convertible couch. [The cushions on the bed were replaced in 2018.] There is plenty of hot water from a dedicated water heater. The mini-kitchen includes a microwave oven with an exhaust fan, a two-burner stovetop, a mini-fridge, an automatic water boiler, a blender, and a toaster. We have supplied the kitchen with the basics if you want to take meals in. There is plenty of short-term storage, free Wi-Fi, a flat-screen TV, and an iPhone hook-up so you can play your own music.

Safe: We live in a quiet neighborhood with families with kids and grandkids. Our cottage is at the end of our driveway and it is illuminated by motion-detection lights and protected by dead-bolt locks.

Attention to detail: Rick Treston, one of Seattle’s true craftsman builders, managed all construction. The bathroom and the foyer are finished with imported Italian tile. The patio features tumbled blue stone pavers. There are hand-finished surfaces throughout. The kitchen counter is granite. The landscaping was designed and installed by Classic Nursery and Landscaping of Woodinville, WA.

Solar powered: As of early 2013, the Phinney Cottage is now powered by solar panels on our property. Go green!

Tale of the Tape: Inside dimensions over-all: 13’ x 25’ or 325 square feet; Main room: 206 sq. ft.; Bathroom: 38 sq. ft.; Patio: 112 sq. ft.

Updated: 3July2020

Keywords: cottage, private entrance, quiet, University of Washington, Seattle Pacific University