Location & Site

Location

The location of the Taltree development is right on the border between Redmond and Kirkland.


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This land belongs to a small area that was only incorporated into Redmond a few years ago. The land lies right on the border between Redmond and Kirkland (in fact, the street and possibly the sidewalk are part of Kirkland), so it feels more connected to Kirkland than Redmond.

It is just north of Bridle Trails, which is a large park area that feels fairly undeveloped -- there are a lot of old trees lining the roads, and many of the houses are fairly secluded. It is also located just north of NE 70th Pl/Old Redmond Road. This makes the location well connected -- one direction will take you to I-405 and then into Kirkland; the other way will take you into Redmond.

Right at 132nd Ave and 70th Pl is a small shopping mall -- it has a few small restaurants, Ace Hardware, Red Apple Market, Bartell's Drugs, Tech City Bowl, and other shops and restaurants. It should provide some good basic services within walking distance.

Site

The site itself is two half-acre lots that currently each have a small house on them. The rest is fairly wild. There are a lot of tall trees (hence the name), especially pines, and at least one mature oak tree. We also found some clumps of black bamboo, which is apparently somewhat rare. Overall, there is a nice diversity of plants, and a good selection will be retained once the site has been fully developed. Part of this will be a screen of trees and plants at the road to add some privacy to the site.

The site is moderately level, but slopes up from the street for a total rise of about 10 feet at the back. Since our house will be located at the far end, it will be raised up a good amount from the street, which should help to make it feel a bit more secluded.

The current plans for the site include saving a nice group of pine trees just to the north of our house, while the south will be a bit more open. However, on the next lot over to the south, there is currently a group of tall pines; hopefully these will provide us with a nice view, while still having enough open space to get some good southern light into the house.