Everything about Craig and Rose Olson’s home on the northern tip of Camano Island is grand.
Perched on a high-bank waterfront lot, their 7,000-square-foot Northwest contemporary home features expansive views of the water, numerous islands and snowy Mount Baker.
The lush 10 acres include a mix of their green lawn, dramatic conifers and Japanese maples that run down toward the water and up the steep rise behind their property where the buffalo, quite literally, roam.
The home, billed as “Everything Grand Scale,” is one of five of the Camano Island Home Tour on Saturday.
Originally built in 1995, the Olsons’ home was updated in 2005 to include new finishes from top to bottom.
They also added a wine cellar, a gigantic, plush media room and, Craig Olson’s favorite, a covered outdoor barbecue pavilion with a fireplace, infrared heat lamps, a kitchen area and a built-in flat-screen TV.
“It’s man heaven,” Rose Olson, 47, said of the brick pavilion. “Craig loves a project. Every year it’s something different.”
The Olsons, whose two sons, Craig Jr., 20, and Evan, 17, live upstairs, delight in sharing their home, which has become an entertaining playground, especially for Seahawks fans.
But let’s get back to the grandeur.
It starts at the entrance where two 100-year-old Japanese maples flank a large covered porch over a two-story wall of intricate leaded glass windows and doors.
Travertine, granite and marble tile flooring starts outside and continues in the same pattern inside, where a two-story wall of windows brings the view into a living room with a grand piano and a large fireplace.
Rooms are extra large. Stairwells and hallways are wider than typical. Dramatic slab granite gleams on the kitchen counters and in the master bathroom shower on the main floor.
Upstairs, a catwalk with glass block walls connects the boys’ bedrooms, which feature built-in desks underneath walls of windows facing Skagit Bay.
Although the home is the focal point of the tour, those who don’t mind a bit of a hike should explore the upper and lower grounds here.
While the lower grounds simply surround the house and palm-tree lined deck, visitors should also pop across the street to the upper grounds on another section of the Olsons’ property, also open for the tour.
Two giant white eagle sculptures border the upper driveway. Not far off, extra-wide stairs take visitors to two super-sized custom-made pergolas and a sparkling pond. Streams gently cascade over large river rocks both above and below the pond.
Craig Olson, 47, who is president of Washington Energy Services, particularly enjoys a copper-roofed gazebo placed next to the pond among the pergolas.
“It’s just peaceful,” he said.
Visitors can hoof it up the hill even farther to see the Olsons’ buffalo herd.
Though the three buffalo, including a young one born last fall, usually live on the couple’s ranch in Othello, Craig Olson enjoys them so much he brings them west for the summer.
“They’re awesome, man,” he said. “I just love looking at them.”
Still farther up the hill, visitors will find The Hawk’s Nest, a large rustic-looking building with a fireplace, bar, casino gaming tables, football regalia, neon signs representing nearly every NFL team, and numerous hunting trophies, including exotic South African creatures such as Cape buffalo.
If all this sounds altogether too masculine, just head back to the house for another spin.
The Olsons have achieved a balance in their estate through numerous pieces of fine art displayed throughout their home, including pieces by Camano Island artists such as Karla Matzke, a friend who helped Rose Olson hang the art creatively.
Paintings, sculptures, glasswork, Indonesian masks and family photos add warmth and charm in the Olsons’ many spaces.
Rose Olson said she doesn’t buy things as often as her gregarious husband. In fact, she feels like she’s always the one saying, “No.”
When it comes to art, however, she’s the one excited to spend a bit.
“I do like art,” she said. “I like the community on Camano.”
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com
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