LA CONNER – The glass balls standing in for the dead caribou’s eyes gazed longingly west toward Skagit Bay.
His head is as out of place mounted on Joseph Kinnebrew’s kitchen wall as the fake yellow flowers hung from the animal’s antlers, but it’s there nonetheless.
Kinnebrew is an artist, a well-known one, and he said he abhors hunting and trophy taking.
Like many of the items and artworks placed in his home above the Skagit Flats east of La Conner, the caribou is there, he said, because it fits. And the flowers show it’s not a trophy.
Kinnebrew, 62, spent much of the past decade building and decorating the house with his late wife, Ellen. His goal since he bought the abandoned gravel pit in 1994 has been to make “an entire environment that was a work of art itself.”
More than a home, the property has served as Kinnebrew’s studio and an outdoor gallery for his massive steel sculptures.
Works Kinnebrew produced at The Quarry, as he sometimes calls his estate, have appeared in galleries around the world. His sculptures and paintings have been displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Library of Congress.
Kinnebrew now has the home on the market. The list price is $3.75 million. The three-story, 6,000-square-foot home is accompanied by a 2,000-square-foot guesthouse. Surrounded by several ponds and green spaces, the unorthodox home is full of winding hallways and unusual rooms that Kinnebrew said are designed to make a thoughtful living space.
Kinnebrew said he plans to leave behind several pieces of artwork as part of the sale, including some of the steel pieces for which he is best known.
Kinnebrew came to Washington from Sun Valley, Idaho, looking for property with privacy and what he called “inherent drama.” When he first visited the quarry site, he said, it didn’t look like much.
“There was virtually nothing here,” he said, “and I mean nothing.”
The property is near the top of a rocky hill at the base of a man-made cliff created by miners while cutting rock out of the hill until the 1950s. After spending two years importing soil to level the holes, Kinnebrew built a home of cedar with exterior walls that resemble an old cannery.
The large windows let in a view of the San Juan Islands and Skagit Bay, as well as Mount Baker and the Skagit Valley farm fields.
“We’re able to drown in the sense of order that exists in agriculture,” he said.
Most of the property remains forested, but the yard includes several ponds and numerous art pieces. Inside the house, a stream runs under a grated floor. Paintings abound.
“The notion is that art is something you need in your life,” Kinnebrew said.
The home’s distinct style has presented real estate agents with an unusual challenge.
“We’re marketing an artist and his art,” said Glenn Godden, who is marketing the home for real estate agent Barbara McMahon of John L. Scott Real Estate.
Kinnebrew said he believes now is the time to leave the home.
The Quarry, he explained, was his and his late wife’s place.
“We built this for us,” he said.
Now, he added, “it’s time to build another work of art.”
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