Stone House Café

10/16/15 The Stone House Cafe

Tucked against the southern shore of Lake Washington is the Stone House Café, which is as literal an interpretation of its name as any café can be. Even the restroom incorporates the original stonework of a former service station built in the ‘20s. With indoor and outdoor seating decked out for Halloween, a full-service restaurant and a bakery, the Friday Urban Sketchers had plenty of choices this morning. First choice for most of us was coffee and some form of decadence from the bakery (I chose a pumpkin scone, but I drooled as cinnamon rolls, sticky buns and Danish passed by).

Suitably fortified, I warmed up with a sketch of the hacked-up tree across the street (below) – an ideal subject for #inktober and my Pilot Parallel pen. Despite the hack job, this tree seems to express a certain insouciance that I tried to capture.

By then the morning had warmed up along with my hand, so I settled in for the Big Kahuna: the Stone House Café building itself. Sue and I both liked the shadows on the north side of the building that highlighted the stone contours and the building’s high peaks (although looking into the sun for an hour wasn’t much fun).

Our thanks to the café staff for making us feel at home! For both indoor and outdoor sketching, the Stone House is a keeper.

10/16/15 Across the street from the cafe