Old Man House Park Interpretive Landscape Design
client: The Suquamish Tribe
location: Kitsap County, WA | completed: 2012
Old Man House Park exists as a lovely, though somewhat neglected waterside oasis, surrounded by a housing development, disconnected from its important Tribal history. This was the “mother village” of the Suquamish Tribe and other Suquamish people, and of Chief Sealth (after whom the city of Seattle is named) who wintered on this site for about sixty years. In the early 2000s, the site was restored to the care of the Suquamish Tribe who hired Lehrman Cameron Studio to help with development and designs. The intent of our interpretation was to educate the public, including members of the Tribe itself, about the culture, history, and status of the Tribe and this historic site. The idea was to make the invisible visible, and form a relevant connection between the events of the past and the people and activities of today. It was also to give voice to a perspective favorable and proud of the past in a manner to inspire.