It's hard for me to overstate how much the Orange House improved our visit to Seattle. My wife and I were graduating and also putting up 3 family members and the house easily accommodated everyone between the 3 bedrooms in the main part of the house. If we had anyone else, there were more than enough inflatable/foam mattresses and even an extra cottage (which you have to rent in advance) that has one extra bed.

The location was perfect about 5 blocks south of "downtown" Wallingford including Molly Moon's ice cream, the QFC grocery store and Bottleworks—arguably the best beer store in Seattle. It's also about 7 blocks north of Gasworks Park right on Lake Union where you can bask in the fully beauty of Seattle with grass, trees, water and a view of the space needle. Also, Essential Baking has great bread and pastries.

The house itself is gorgeous inside and out. The gardens will make you envious of Joyce's gardening skill and eye for how to lay out statues, stonework and art perfectly in with her plants. The art that decorates her walls is perfectly Seattle and the whole place feels lived-in, but clean and tidy. It's like the best version of you—intellectual, artistic and attentive to detail—kept a whole house in good, clean shape all of the time.

Joyce is amazing, friendly and has lots of tips about what to do around the house. She even went well above and beyond the call of duty by insisting that we come back to take a nap after checkout time. The extra few hours of rest before our flight on the last day make an good trip amazing.