Meet Timm Leighton, caretaker and groundskeeper for the Dominican Reflection Center, a waterfront mansion built in Woodway in 1930 on 15 wooded acres. It is owned by the Adrian Dominican Sisters and used as a residence and as a retreat center for nonprofit groups.
Pay range: This job is unique, involving skills in home construction and repair, along with landscape design and maintenance. The state might categorize this position as installation, maintenance and repair, with a pay range of $9.55 an hour to $30.13 and hour. There are 4,129 such positions in Washington.
Dan Bates / The Herald
Three things he loves:
* “I get the opportunity to do (landscaping) design. We’re always changing things or putting in something new.”
* “I do everything. Over the years, I’ve learned a little about a lot of things. It’s just taking things apart and figuring things out.”
* “For the nuns, the emphasis is on peace and justice and the poor. I’m working for people who are doing good. It’s not just a job, it’s a special purpose.”
Career path: Leighton worked at the mansion as a youth, later attending school for landscape design. He went back to work for the Dominicans full-time in 1983. “I came back and I never left,” he said. “It suits me.”
He said plant and landscaping design knowledge are important for the work, as well as a curiosity to learn many other things.
Leighton said he greatly enjoys the variety in the job, which can include fixing a leak in the slate roof, re-caning a chair, or maintaining bridle trails on the estate, which was built by the president of the Boeing Co. in 1930.
He notes that landscaping is hard work, involving toting around a lot of materials.
Only a handful of sisters remain at the house, Leighton said; about 78 have died during the 23 years he has worked on the estate.
Leighton is proud that people get to see the property and his work.
“This place is shared by many, many people,” he said. “Not a lot of people get to see a place like this.”
The beauty includes formal gardens and the elegant brick-faced mansion and carriage house. But it also has a natural beauty. There is a stunning panorama of Puget Sound. And Leighton noted that eagles regularly visit the property.
A recent interview with a Herald reporter was interrupted when a barred owl sitting about 15 feet above in a huge, second-growth fir started calling to its mate. Leighton said the owls have young on the property each spring before moving on to other hunting grounds.
Where will he go from here: He could retire in another four years, but doesn’t expect to do so. “This is a magnificent piece of property,” he said. “It has all these plants. It may sound silly, but I’m responsible for their lives, and the sisters’ lives, too.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
