A view of the Cass Turnbull Garden (Image: Plant Amnesty)
Kay Bullitt
On the Capitol Hill of the future, the Bullitt name will evoke ideals of environmental conservation, public space in the shape of a northern Capitol Hill park, and gardens — in its past, a legacy of lumber and broadcasting, and a remarkable Capitol Hill resident who used her family fortune to support “a dizzying array of causes spanning education, racial justice, international relations, politics, historic-landmark preservation and the arts.
It’s a legacy strong enough to create something nearly impossible on an increasingly packed Capitol Hill — a new park.
Philanthropist Kay Bullitt died this week at the age of 96. The Seattle Times reports:
She is known for having a hand in many chapters of Seattle’s history — she helped found Bumbershoot — but locally, she is perhaps remembered the most as an early proponent of desegregating schools, even during tense times. While at Radcliffe College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she worked with Black children at a community center.
Kay and Stim Bullitt’s family legacy already is part of one enduring landmark on Capitol Hill where the Bullitt Center rises along E Madison. The solar-powered, zero-waste project from the Bullitt Foundation, founded by Stim’s mother Dorothy Bullitt, debuted above E Madison and 15th Ave in 2013 bringing to fruition the dreams of the foundation and Earth Day founder Dennis Hayes to create a zero waste office building in the core of Seattle. Tenants have included a mix of academic and tech firms including the Bullitt Foundation, International Living Future Institute, University of Washington Center for Integrated Design, and speaker and music tech firm Sonos.
For residents living near Capitol Hill’s Harvard-Belmont Landmark District, the Bullitt family name will likely bring thoughts of a public park and garden — and maybe a place to go play with your dog.
The Bullitt Life Estate is a 1.5-acre property “nestled within the residential neighborhood” on Harvard Ave E just south of St. Mark’s, the city’s description in a neighborhood plan from 1998 reads. The property covers twelve lots and includes “a unique A-frame house” designed by leading Pacific Northwest architect Fred Bassetti.
In 1974, the property was deeded to the city “for future park purposes, effective upon vacation of the property by the owner” as a life estate, ownership that allowed the family to reside on the property after it had been conveyed to Seattle Parks.
In recent years, work has been underway to design and create the Cass Turnbull Garden as part of the site, a project from Seattle nonprofit Plant Amnesty honoring its late founder. The group describes the property as containing two major surprise elements — “how big it was and how overgrown it was.”
During the 1960s and 70s the area was a child’s playground dream. Giggling day camp children flung themselves into the huge cargo net strung from four large trees at
the north end of the site or crawled through an ingenious tunnel that Stim Bullitt had dug—by hand. The area, which had not been tended to since the early 1980s, became over time the dumping ground for lawn clippings and all manner of yard waste—the proverbial back 40. Logs of varying sizes amid the undergrowth were evidence of trees that had been taken down and left where they fell. Granite stones barely visible through the tangle of blackberries and bindweed indicated that the farthest corner was the location the Henrys’ five-car garage, which Maggie called the carriage house. While Jack felt overwhelmed by the scale of the project and the work it represented, George was beside himself—awestruck by the grandeur and beauty of the brick wall along the site’s western edge and the natural amphitheater it formed as it curved to the east at its southern end; the peek-a-boo views of downtown and Lake Union; and the overall potential the site held for creating a fitting tribute to Cass. “This is amazing, and we can do it!” George declared.
Neighbors in the area have already been enjoying the property. On Wednesdays, the Bullitt family was said to host community picnics and open the yard “as an off-leash area for neighborhood canines and their human companions.”
With design work from the University of Washington, the garden is hoped to range across a portion of the site with “an interpretive overlook,” sculptures, benches, and a “contemplative space” along with “meandering pathways” and space for an outdoor classroom and amphitheater. Meanwhile, whether Seattle Parks will be able to support a sure to be popular formal off-leash dog facility as part of the property remains to be seen.
For now, friends and loved ones are remembering a remarkable life and there can be hopes for new space in a parks-challenged neighborhood thanks to the special property where Kay Bullitt made her home. The process will now begin to share the land and gardens with her city.
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Giant hobby park within walking distance of volunteer park ? How many parks do we need, would have been a lot more interesting if she had allowed a small house village on steroids to help with the never end homeless problem.
So let me get this right, a Seattle icon famous for championing all kinds of wonderful causes and funding countless environmental efforts chooses to donate their land for a park. And all you can say is that she should have instead made it into a tiny house village. You wonder how many parks we need? I wonder about the inspirational generosity of someone who chose to give away something so valuable for everyone to enjoy. I guess you just can’t make everyone happy, even when you give it away.
Why do we need that tiny house village in that area? To ruin it completely? There are plenty of spaces for that outside of Capitol Hill. Affordable family housing, might be another story. Just , please, keep those homeless on drugs and on drugs with mental issues somewhere else. I would make priority for low income families and for those with mental illnesses, but not those struggling with substance abuse.
It’s funny when the people that wonder how the homeless problem became so bad spout complete contemptuous filth like this.
We’ve long ago run out of rugs to sweep the problem under.
In addition to all the important causes Kay Bullitt contributed to in her lifetime, she has now given us an amazing (and very valuable) gift. I was lucky to have met Kay one time when she was out strolling in front of her home, and I will never forget that encounter. Her generosity stirs my heart.
Thank you Kay for your generosity to your neighbors. I live in the neighborhood and love to bring my dog to her yard to play. We have no official dog park anywhere nearby, so her opening her yard to the dogs of Capitol Hill has a huge impact. I hope that the city keeps this park open to dogs!
Will you and the other dog owners obey the leash laws in Cal Anderson and Volunteer Park if you get this as an off leash area?
Weren’t the dogs allowed by invitation only? I never saw more than a couple dogs at a time on the lawn (and that is why there was a lawn instead of a mud pit).
You had to live in Harvard Belmont. I was told by the gardener that my condo across from Tashkent was too far. She said the park was full of crime.
I don’t live in Harvard Belmont and bring my dog their pretty often. Limited to four dogs onsite at a time, and you must sign a waiver of liability.
Having a rather eclectic history, Kay was a client who would come to my house for an appointment. My house was a 700sq. ft. Shack in a less desirable part of town. I have never met a more gracious person. She showed up for the first appointment in a honda accord wearing a tree frog on the front of a Woodland Park tee shirt. To Dorothy b Margaret and the rest of the family my condolences. I cry.
I met one or maybe two? of the Bullit sisters five or 10 years ago at Sleeping Lady resort near Leavenworth.
They were so humble, gracious and kind.
I live in a tiny cottage nearish to their property by St Marks.
I am with those who, if there is a park to be built and donated so generously, I just hope it does not become another campground, I’ve lived here my whole life, it was never a problem until about 10 years ago when seattle became the a new Mecca on the list of “best places to be houseless”.
I regret Î just cannot summon the compassion in me that I wish I could. The problem is so complex. I wholeheartedly want to thank the Bullit family for all they have done for the city of seattle that I’ve seen in my 60 years here.
All I see is another open space that will be ruined by homeless camping, drug use and trash. Seattle Parks won’t clean it and it will wind up being an insult to the original intent of the park.
Tashkent Park is like that now. It was donated by a family and the city is supposed to be maintaining it. Instead, the city lets campers ruin it regularly, dump trash and needles into it, and just turn it into a feral crime site. An embarrassment for Seattle.
What a generous gift! I hope there is a chance of connecting this property with Sreissguth Gardens. I would love to be able to wander through the area and down the winding parks to Eastlake and the lakefront.
Nina – Unfortunately they are a bit far apart with private land in between. We have considered how Streissguth Gardens better connects to other entry points in the neighborhood while maintaining the important “oasis” feel – it is the kind of long term consideration I hope goes into more parks/gardens.