When Covid hit in 2020 I began building a Japanese-style garden in a forested area of our property, consisting of sinuous pathways, teak benches, granite lanterns and a heavy stone water basin, as well as various plant and rock features. Within this garden there is a raised area, about five feet higher than the surrounding terrain. Here I cleared a path up to the top, built a curved staircase using pressure-treated 6" x 6" logs, and cleared and leveled a shaded seating area at the summit. The view from this spot is splendid, looking through alder and native cherry trees out over our house and landscaping, so I temporarily placed a table and four chairs on the spot, where we could relax in the cool breezes and take in the lovely scenery and marvelous sunsets.

Still, I always wanted to build a structure by myself from scratch, and the more I looked at this high location in our Japanese garden, the more I thought it would to make a perfect spot for an enclosed structure. I envisioned a place where I and my wife could relax—read, listen to music, and play guitar. It would be a neat little hideaway close to nature.

And so it was that on March 21, 2025 I began building a 10' x 10' rustic, Japanese-ish garden studio. I wanted it to be solidly made—like a good house; well-insulated and able to withstand the rain and snow of our Puget Sound climate. I also wanted electricity brought to the structure, which meant having a 100-foot trench dug for wiring from our main house. My primary goal was to finish the exterior during the summer months, while the weather was warm and rain seldom fell. If the interior was not finished at that point I would at least have a light and warm structure to work in during the winter months.

Although I did the great majority of this construction myself, there were a few occasions where some of the work required more than one person—lifting heavy walls, holding lumber from both ends, etc. I would like to thank the following people for helping me with these two-person tasks when I needed it: Lisa Nason, Eric Conzelmann, Stuart Lovejoy, Paul Elkins, Stephen Bowden, Matt, Debbie, and James Ferguson, and Galloway Electrical, for bringing power to the structure from our main house (per city code).

It's been a fun and challenging project, and I hope you'll enjoy this summary showing how it went.

Click on each image below for larger views and brief descriptions.