Most residents happy with tranquil lifestyle

By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Though Mukilteo has its challenges, most residents seem satisfied with their lifestyle.

Charles and Gayle Pancerzewski live in a large custom home on Church Avenue. It overlooks Mukilteo's Pioneer Cemetery and Puget Sound. An old snag in the cemetery is frequented in the winter and spring by bald eagles, the couple says.

Three years ago, they bought an adjacent vacant lot and transformed it from a tangle of blackberry vines into a magical garden with a boulder-studded waterfall and stream, plus a wide variety of plants, shrubs and trees, including some from the mountains that took five men to transplant. Some of the boulders that were set in place weigh as much as 12 tons.

The landscaping theme of the garden is mountain-to-sea, says Pancerzewski. In the past three years, the couple has invested about $100,000 in landscaping, including a Dan Klennert sculpture of a giant fish made of welded horseshoes, metal files and shovel heads.

Across town in Harbour Pointe, the living is equally good, says Elizabeth Hoover, a member of the Mukilteo Historical Society. The homes are new and the streets nicely landscaped. Many of the couples moving in are young and want to be active in their community.

Hoover and her husband, who moved to Mukilteo from Walla Walla, attend church in Seattle. While it's nice to visit the city, she says, they enjoy their more tranquil Mukilteo lifestyle.

"It's like living in a small town," Hoover says. "We have the best of both worlds."

Continued:

• New meets old in this waterfront town
• Railroad, shoreline helped city grow
• Commuter hub hardly at a standstill
• Harbour Pointe's growing influence worries some