CATEGORY: PORT TOWNSEND HOUSE
PHOTO: DELFT TILE

There is a story about the fireplace tile:  what I most wanted was real Delft illustrated tiles edged by real Delft border tiles.  Every time I saw them in a design studio in Seattle, I felt a heart twinge; they were so beautiful!  It would have cost me $700.00 just for the few tiles to surround the fireplace: one row and the edging pieces.  One day I would tell myself that it didn’t matter how much they cost, I was going to have what I wanted!  The next day, I would say to myself, “Are you CRAZY”?  And so I vacillated.  My friend, Linnea Hewitt told me that she had seen white tiles bordered on each side by tiny blue ones in a Scandinavian kitchen and thought they were so simple and beautiful.  That inspired me.  One day I was in a Color Tile store in Seattle and saw a small box of individual blue granite one inch square tiles on sale for $5.00.  They, and enough 4” white tiles to do the fireplace cost $16.00.  Linnea was right.  They were simple and beautiful.