New listing on Olympia's Eastside $255,000

Immaculate modern rambler with a plethora of recent upgrades on 1/4 acre! $312,000

Holiday Ranchettes Home For Sale $360,000

Custom Home on Nearly 2 Acres with In-Ground Pool $446,000

6449 Nels St SW, Olympia, WA 98512 FOR SALE in the Tumwater School District Offered at$429,950

The Village at Mill Pond: CRAFTSMAN STYLE + CONTEMPORARY LIVING

A COMMUNITY AND HOME THAT ARE UNIQUELY YOURS

When searching for your next home, it’s important to know that it is one of a kind. Select the home design that fits your lifestyle, then choose one of our professionally designed color palettes to make it your own. We encourage you to look around and see why The Village at Mill Pond is not just an ideal place to buy a home, but an exceptional place to live.

The Development team of Mill Pond has put forward a one of a kind vision which Ron Thomas, our nationally recognized local architect, has brought to life. Together, the development team has built several beautiful and significant projects in the Olympia area; but the Village at Mill Pond is destined to become the crown Jewel of the Region. As a team, Mill Pond brings many years of experience in custom home design and construction and delivers a truly exceptional quality home in a neighborhood that is unsurpassed in its unique and desirable features. We are building only a limited number of each of these fine homes, you will need to reserve yours now!

The Village at Mill Pond contains not only a Commercial Center and Community Building at its center, but it is also located in the heart of Olympia, close to hospitals, schools, parks, waterfront access, and the famous Olympia Farmers Market. Nestled along the Puget Sound, Olympia boasts sweeping views of the Olympics, dark evergreen forests, and thundering rivers, all accessible within just a short drive from the city limits.

Download the Brochure

Open daily 12-5

Directions: Follow Lily Road NE Northbound (about mile past St. Peter's Hospital) Mill Pond community is on the right.

5221 80th Avenue SW, Olympia Just Listed For Sale

New Listing in Woodsmuir $219,000

Get Ready to Garage Sale

A well-planned garage or yard sale can make room in your home, get rid of unused items and make some money but it needs some planning to be successful.

• Start early to research and plan
• Promotion is key
• Display items attractively
• Price items right
• Organize checkout

In Olympia, Fridays are generally the best day but there may be some exceptions.  Experienced garage-salers believe that a well-planned one-day event will do as well as a multi-day event.  Serious purchasers will look for the “new” sale and most people don’t come back multiple days.

Advertise in local newspapers and free online classified sites like craigslist.  If several families are going together for the sale, mention that in the ad; it will be a big draw.  Mention your bigger-ticket items like furniture, equipment and baby items. Tools are a big draw too.

Garage sale signs can be purchased or made at Staples, Fedex Office or Kwik Signs.  Signs need large lettering so they’re easy to read while people are driving. Most important info: Garage or Yard Sale, address, date and time.  Directional signs are also important.  Balloons and streamers to attract attention to the signs are very helpful.

Consider using the service Square so that you can take credit cards.  The cost is 2.75% per swipe and can be done on your smartphone or iPad.  You’ll need to sign up at least two weeks in advance to receive your reader.

Unless you’re having an estate sale, keep your home locked.  You don’t want people wandering through your home while you’re outside.  If you start to accumulate a lot of money, take some of it inside.  Don’t discuss how much money you’ve made during the sale or how successful it has been.

People will want to bargain; it’s the nature of the game.  Consider this strategy: less negotiations early in the sale and possibly, more toward the end of the sale.

Trick or Treating at the Fire Department

Harvest Festival This Saturday

Mark your calendar for a Farm Harvest Festival this Saturday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Enjoy live music with the Oly Mountain Boys from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., have your family's photo taken on an autumn themed set with a vintage tractor, savor hot cider and other treats from our bake sale, pick out the perfect pumpkins for this Halloween, and win something wonderful in our raffle! Kids can decorate their pumpkins at our arts and crafts table, play harvest themed games, pet the bunnies and chickens, feed the alpacas, and more.

This is a fundraising event, held on location at Nature Nurtures Farm, in Olympia, WA, that invites families to meet all of our animals, feed the goats, make new friends, and celebrate the season while supporting our program for at-risk youth.

Available at additional cost will be a photo set where visitors can have their kids' or family's picture taken. We'll be offering 4"x6" prints on site or a digital copy, great for holiday photo cards. (Cash or check only please for admission, concessions and raffle tickets.)

Admission is $10 per person, children four and under are free, parking is free. Dress to be outdoors and in a barn -- boots, coats, and umbrellas are recommended! More information is available on our website, http://www.naturenurturesfarm.org/Harvest_Festival_2013.html.

Tour the Inspiration Home

Would you like a home that costs less than $200 to heat for an entire year? The Inspiration Home was created to raise awareness that everyone can own a distinctive and stunning home that is energy efficient, healthy, low maintenance, and, most importantly, affordable. 

Whether you're considering a new home or looking for ways to make your existing home more efficient, we invite you to the Inspiration Home Tour to see, touch, and discover the innovative products and building techniques that make this house extraordinary.

• Admission: FREE, $5.00 donation requested. 100% of the proceeds benefit The Salvation Army.
• Dates: Saturdays & Sundays, August 18-19 and 25-26
• Hours: 10 am to 4 pm
• Location: 1402 13th Ave SE in Olympia, WA 98501

Tour Requests: No photography, backpacks or strollers allowed in home(s). Flat shoes only, no heels. Smoking, food and beverages prohibited in house and on grounds.

Get Wet: The LOTT Clean Water Alliance Science Center in Olympia

On Saturday, I went on a field trip with my son's boy-scout troop to LOTT.  Now I'll be honest here, I wasn't overly excited for a field trip to LOTT.  If I could have chosen, surely I would have traded my husband to get out of this one but instead, there I was, as the trusty parent which is par for the course.


My memories of lot were years of going on a camping vacations concluded by pulling the trailer into downtown Olympia to 'dump' (no pun intended but all the while clever).  Dumping sometimes seemed to take forever, depending on the number of vehicles in front of us.  My memory recalls I never opened the vehicle door for fear of the stench.  And if memory serves, which is spotty at best, I think one time the mechanism broke and my dad ended up with a mess on his hands.  Enter latex gloves.


So on this field trip, I was extremely impressed.  The original sewage Treatment Plant for the area was built in Olympia by the City to meet its own waste water needs in 1949.  Much upgrading has happened over the past 50 years and In 2004, the first upgrade at the Budd Inlet Treatment Plant occurred, with the addition of a new Class A Reclaimed Water sand filter system. The same year, construction began on LOTT's first satellite facilities – the Martin Way Reclaimed Water Plant, constructed Wetland Ponds, and Groundwater Recharge Basins that make up the Hawks Prairie Reclaimed Water Satellite.  Our visit to LOTT's WET (Water Education and Technology) Science Center is an exhibit gallery and classroom which opened in 2010 to provide the community with a fun, hands-on opportunity for learning.


Four important details we learned on our two hour long visit included:

1. LOTT stands for Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Thurston County
2. LOTT is made up of over 100 acres total
3. LOTT's energy bill is over $100,000 each month
4. Can you guess when a very high usage of toilet flushing occurs each year?  During Superbowl halftime.

The heart of LOTT's system is the Budd Inlet Treatment Plant. Wastewater flowing to the plant currently comes from almost 50,000 homes, apartments, and commercial/industrial connections served by the sewer utilities of Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater. From homes and businesses, the wastewater flows through a series of underground pipes to the plant. The treatment plant is located at the north end of Adams Street, between downtown Olympia and the Port of Olympia.

About 10-12 million gallons of wastewater flow through the Budd Inlet Treatment Plant on an average day. During the wettest months, flows have averaged as high as 22.3 million gallons per day (mgd). The quality of the water LOTT discharges is regulated by the Washington State Department of Ecology under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

For both residential and multi-family customers, the High-Efficiency Toilet Program is worth checking out.  You may be eligible to participate in one of the high-efficiency toilet (HET) programs - programs where proven, state-of-the-art HET fixtures are available to City of Olympia water customers.  HETs use an average of 1.2 gallons of water per flush.  If you currently have toilets that use 3 gallons or more per flush, you can save an average of 37 gallons per day, or over 13,500 gallons per year, by installing HET fixtures!

There are two HET Programs available to City of Olympia water customers;  one for sewer customers and one for non-sewer/septic customers.  Please note: These programs are subject to available funds;  program ends when funds are expended, or by December 31, 2012.

City of Olympia Sewer Customers:

The LOTT Clean Water Alliance is offering sewer customers FREE HETs!  LOTT offers fixtures free of charge because the installation reduces wastewater flow to the treatment facility, and can help delay the need to build new treatment capacity.  Download the forms below (PDF) for available toilet models and additional information:

        Toilet Models         

        Residential Program Application

City of Olympia Non-Sewer Customers 

The City of Olympia is offering water customers who do not receive sewer service HETs at a reduced rate - splitting our cost 50/50 with our customers!  Download the forms below (PDF) for available toilet models and more information: 

         Toilet Models 

         Residential Program Application  

Contact WATER WISE Staff:

• Water Conservation Program Office, 360.753.8271
• Email:  waterwise@ci.olympia.wa.us

The WET Science Center is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10am to 4pm, located in LOTT's Regional Services Center, at 500 Adams Street NE, in downtown Olympia, just two blocks northeast of the Olympia Transit Station. For directions and printable map, click here. 

wet science center guide