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DEDICATION

“Why have any stories if you don’t tell them to others?”
—Isabel Allende, excerpted from her NPR “This I Believe” essay]

We moved into our 1873 pre-Victorian Gothic farmhouse, the 3rd oldest residence in Oregon, in 1988, a month before my son Jesse’s 3rd birthday. Jesse started Montessori School, husband Gerry went into full renovation mode while still working at Eclectic Institute, and I continued as Creative Director at Meier & Frank, “Oregon’s Premier Department Store.”

I left M&F after five years and opened my own design business. The original parlor of the house was my office/studio. It was a light-filled room with 10 ½’ foot ceilings, a bay window where our upright piano stood among plants, original random-width wood floors and plaster floret around the hanging light fixture, and charm.

An agency in town referred a client to me. At the arranged time, three middle...