In Innis Arden, you live by the rules -- or get sued

By Lynn Steinberg
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Enforcing the Innis Arden rules and regulations falls to the Innis Arden Club's board of directors, whose nine members concern themselves less with elements of design than with disputes over views.

All development is governed by covenants set out when William Boeing first developed the community 49 years ago. They regulate everything from the height of trees to the remodeling of houses.

In the past, conflicts have been managed in a most unneighborly way -- through the courts.

The community has a reputation for being upscale -- posh even -- but some of the ramblers in low-lying areas look ordinary as can be, like well-scrubbed Plain Janes, with perfectly trimmed lawns and manicured shrubs.

Climb up toward the bluff though, and the houses -- even the more modest among them -- look resplendent, if only because the setting is so spectacular, with stunning views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains beyond.

BMWs and Cadillacs are parked in some of these driveways. Older-model Buicks and station wagons in others.

Emerald green lawns roll down to the street, since there are no sidewalks. The winding roads and dead ends give the area a secluded feel. On a recent afternoon, the only sound was the clip-clip-clipping of a gardener's pruning shears as he trimmed a hedge.

To outsiders, Innis Arden may seem like an inhospitable place with its "Private Property" and "Innis Arden Residents Only" signs.

There is no commercial development. A preschool operates in the clubhouse, which serves as a gathering spot for residents on holidays and other special occasions. In summer, families often congregate around the private outdoor swimming pool. The swim club admits non-residents, but only if there is space and with the understanding that they can be bumped if an Innis Arden resident wishes to join.

Nancy Rust, a former state legislator and president of the Innis Arden Club's board of directors, has lived in this community for nearly 40 years. She and her husband built their home in 1959, raised six children, and weathered a bitter dispute over the height of their trees, ultimately cutting several of them down after a neighbor complained.

Despite such disagreements, Rust says Innis Arden has been a wonderful place to live. "There is a real sense of community."