After working at a television station in the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles and surviving a divorce, all Dave Fraser wanted to do was find happiness.
So, he decided to make a change – a drastic one.
Mortgages, car payments, oversized houses and yards – no one he knew was happy maintaining all their “things.” And neither was he. So he chucked most of his belongings.
“Then I went further,” he said. “I asked myself, ‘What would make me happy without material things?’”
Remembering a childhood on Whidbey Island spent building forts and fishing for salmon near Deception Pass, Fraser came home to the Northwest. He bought a falling-down cabin on a third of an acre next to the Pilchuck River in Machias.
That was nearly 10 years ago. Since then, Fraser, 53, has transformed a shack surrounded by scrubby grass into his own fort in the woods. He’s created a simple home and garden that is private, comfortable and attractive, all on a shoestring budget.
Fraser’s home is shockingly small. The cabin is the size of a large walk-in closet. When he gets out of bed, he’s one step away from the kitchen sink, the toilet and a tub.
The cabin is bright and clean with a wood floor and light from arched windows. A gas fireplace provides warmth in the colder months.
There is no furniture or closet. The few shirts and pants he owns are hung neatly on a coat rack attached to the wall. He keeps a few pairs of underwear and rolled socks in a drawer in the kitchen. Even his dog, Babee, a Yorkshire Terrier, fits the scaled-down size of his life.
He may have pared down his possessions, but he does maintain some creature comforts. Controls for a 13-inch screen television, the fireplace and the lights are next to the bed.
Fraser, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, could afford more but prefers less. His goal, he said, is to be simple about life. He wants to breathe fresh air and revel in the small pleasures.
“It’s all about not throwing away the things that matter,” he said.
Fraser’s home may be pauper size, but he has a king’s view. The Pilchuck River swooshes softly past a rise in the front yard. He built a covered deck to take in the view, and sometimes he pulls a chair down to the river, rolls up his pants and sits with his bare feet in the water. A bend in the river provides Fraser with his own private rocky beach.
In his yard, he’s created what he calls “an evergreen jungle.” Untended grass, weeds and some evergreens surrounded the cabin when he bought it.
He kept many of the native plants, tamed the grass, and added shrubs and ferns and potted trees. Behind the cabin, he built a concrete pool and a fountain, which serve as a centerpiece for his Japanese-style meditative garden and there’s a Japanese cooking pot, like a kiln, that’s large enough to cook a turkey.
Honeysuckle winds around a trellis, creating a frame for the wooded bank across the river. Pairs of chairs sit by the fountain, under the trees, on his red-painted deck and by a fire pit.
He built an outdoor shower – a pipe jutting out of the cabin – and after a long, warm bath in the early hours of the morning, he likes to run out the door naked and cool off under a stream of breath-snatching cold water. It’s a habit he picked up in Norway, where he taught English as a Second Language.
Fraser values privacy. His property is hidden behind a towering cedar fence with a locked gate. A “No trespassing” sign is posted near the path that leads down to the river. In the past, people floating by on inner tubes have stopped at the bend in the river in front of his cabin. He said he doesn’t mind, but he doesn’t like it when they venture into his yard.
“It’s peaceful and restful here,” he said. “It’s just how you use the space and where your values are.”
Herald writer Debra Smith may be reached at 425-339-3197. Send e-mail to dsmith@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
