A Thank You to the Builder of The Quintessa and our Guests
We want to thank Lyle & Ann Spink, the original owners,
who built this home and have shared these precious photos with us!
We continue to feel so blessed to have found their amazing home 12 years ago which in turn
has given us the opportunity to share it with you, our special Q Vacationeers.
Lyle visited recently and so sweetly gifted us photos taken during the construction.
(Be sure to look for the last photo. You may realize that you may have actually met Lyle before!)
who built this home and have shared these precious photos with us!
We continue to feel so blessed to have found their amazing home 12 years ago which in turn
has given us the opportunity to share it with you, our special Q Vacationeers.
Lyle visited recently and so sweetly gifted us photos taken during the construction.
(Be sure to look for the last photo. You may realize that you may have actually met Lyle before!)
Site Selection & Preparation
If you look carefully at the upper left photo toward the middle,
you will find the original hunting shack belonging to a pair of brothers.
Lyle & Ann Spink, seen in the upper right photo, purchased the property in 1992
which has a year-round creek and plenty of wildlife, including deer, bunnies,
a variety of squirrels (including flying ones), as well as fish and crawfish in the creek.
In the evenings, our guest are sometimes lulled to sleep by a hooting owl : )
or equally likely, kept awake by howling coyotes : (
you will find the original hunting shack belonging to a pair of brothers.
Lyle & Ann Spink, seen in the upper right photo, purchased the property in 1992
which has a year-round creek and plenty of wildlife, including deer, bunnies,
a variety of squirrels (including flying ones), as well as fish and crawfish in the creek.
In the evenings, our guest are sometimes lulled to sleep by a hooting owl : )
or equally likely, kept awake by howling coyotes : (
Site excavation, footings & foundation work
Over the years, we have been asked about this property by many of our guests.
Lyle built this generous estate for his wife, Ann, and their children, completing their home in 1994.
They also ran it as "Spink's Ocean View B&B".
He used over 175 cubic yards of cement for the foundation,
11 truck loads of custom-built cabinetry,
and has over 10,000 sq. ft. under roof!
Lyle built this generous estate for his wife, Ann, and their children, completing their home in 1994.
They also ran it as "Spink's Ocean View B&B".
He used over 175 cubic yards of cement for the foundation,
11 truck loads of custom-built cabinetry,
and has over 10,000 sq. ft. under roof!
Carpentry, Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC & Roofing
and ... an amazing amount of drywall and flooring!
If you have stayed in the main house, you will notice that virtually
no two ceilings in the many bedrooms on Level 3 are identical (vaulted, flat, chalet, etc.).
Heating for both domestic (drinking and bathing) water, as well as
the hydronic system for heating the home, are achieved through a relatively
compact thermo-exchange unit fed by liquid propane
that provides our guests with endless hot water.
If you have stayed in the main house, you will notice that virtually
no two ceilings in the many bedrooms on Level 3 are identical (vaulted, flat, chalet, etc.).
Heating for both domestic (drinking and bathing) water, as well as
the hydronic system for heating the home, are achieved through a relatively
compact thermo-exchange unit fed by liquid propane
that provides our guests with endless hot water.
All the postcards in the middle of each photo above were created by Kathleen Marshall.
The card above is titled, "Once You've Slept on an Island"
The card above is titled, "Once You've Slept on an Island"
Last day at the Bayview Farmer's Market
Lyle built this beautiful home for his family when he was in his mid-60's.
A dozen years later, with his children grown, Lyle felt the need to "downsize".
So he took his plans to the next town of Langley by the Sea, about 10 miles away, and built another home for his wife, Ann.
The home only has the two middle levels, and the only change was having the master bedroom built on the first level.
Both Lyle and Ann continued to be active members of our Whidbey community with various organizations,
but also kept busy in other ways. With their daughter, Ann started Whidbey Cupcakes in Langley, and Lyle, for many, many years manned his booth intriguing farmer's market visitors with his handcrafted and repurposed golf clubs.
The clubs were converted into coat racks (with the clubs as the hangers), and the golf shaft was refashioned into fire pit sticks
with the ends made from a variety of clever items (i.e. blender = 4-point marshmallow stick).
Lyle is in photo above.
This was his last day at the farmer's market, and we purchased ALL of his remaining fire pit sticks.
(Please be sure to ask us for some if you are using the fire pit!)
Ponds ... and more ponds
You may have noticed that none of the original photos above show the large pond that Lyle put in.
This was not done until a later point when Lyle had many large boulders installed,
along with a variety of special trees and plants ~ at which time Lyle also built Ann a greenhouse.
(We later added a 2nd pond near the Cottage and a 3rd on the lawn for our guests.)
And a gazebo, pergola (which has been blessed with many weddings),
and a matching playhouse in the woods, a matching bus shelter for his kids (now moved further back to provide an electric charging port for guests with electric cars), and a matching 3-story Martin bird house.
P.S. You may also notice that The Cottage does not exist in the photos above. That is because Lyle didn't build it until a few years later
when one of his friends said, "You know, Lyle, I would visit you more if you had a cottage".
As a good friend would, Lyle built one and surprised his friend upon his return!!!
A watercolor painting of The Quintessa lovingly created by our dear friend and our son's elementary/middle school teacher, Mrs. Karol White.
A Big THANK YOU to all of our Guests!!!
We want to especially Thank You for visiting Whidbey Island and selecting
The Quintessa for your lodging and events throughout all these years!
Your family vacations, weddings, retirement parties, company off-sites and more
help keep 8 employees on payroll and approx. 12 during the summer.
Your visit to our Island is also appreciated by all the local shops, venues, and restaurants!
The Quintessa for your lodging and events throughout all these years!
Your family vacations, weddings, retirement parties, company off-sites and more
help keep 8 employees on payroll and approx. 12 during the summer.
Your visit to our Island is also appreciated by all the local shops, venues, and restaurants!
We enjoyed seeing the photos of the construction of the house that is now The Quintessa. We and our family so enjoyed our stay last July! The house is beautiful and Whidbey Island is wonderful with so many fun things to do!! I hope we can visit again.
Jane L.
Jane L.