About Us

We are Bob and Meg Connor, the owners of the Gnome House, Maggie’s Manor, Maggie’s Getaway, and Grandma and Grandpa’s Getaway, prime vacation homes, and an awe-inspiring paradise on Orcas Island, in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. We consider ourselves blessed to have been able to live in beautiful, sunny Deer Harbor on Orcas Island, for 48 years so far.

In 1974, just before the first of our three sons was born, we chose to change our life dramatically. We were living in an apartment house, with a postage stamp lawn, involved in numerous businesses taking our energies; it became our #1 goal to change our lifestyle to be more compatible with our family values. We both wanted our children to grow up in an environment similar to Bob’s childhood in Poulsbo, Washington, reveling in and thriving because of a rural, simple, old-fashioned, family-oriented lifestyle.

It is true that the Puget Sound area is known for its rainfall, but Bob knew about the areas with less rain and more sunshine. After searching for our perfect property in the Pacific Northwest, we discovered the wonderful San Juan Islands, located in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. We sold all of our Seattle businesses, bought 150 acres, and promptly moved to an island. This was over 48 years ago, and our delight in our property is stronger than ever. We love everything about it. We know that still today, there are few who comprehend the enormous ecological value and the boundless diverse beauty of the jewel that we steward.

When we purchased our property in 1974, we had money for a down payment and enough for a starter house, and no jobs. Undaunted, we move to Orcas Island, with our 10-month-old son. In 1975, we started a sawmill and construction yard with two other Orcas Islanders on the NW corner of our property, and started to thin Douglas Fir tree stands in order to finish our house and help neighbors build theirs.  When we started, there was neither power nor phone within a quarter mile and no houses for half a mile in all directions. Although the population of Orcas Island has increased from 2600 year-round residents in 1975 to 4600 year-round residents in 2010, the idyllic lifestyle and natural beauty of Orcas Island has really not changed very much.

In 1977, when my mother moved up here to help us with our farm and enjoy our growing family, a great friend of ours to whom we offered an individual homesteading opportunity, and I started a shared ½ acre organic subsistence garden, our first very early farming venture. The garden and neighboring field would grow to become a gathering place for the families of Deer Harbor who were of like mind and circumstance. Hardly a weekend went by that there was not a ball game or campfire/potluck. After my mother passed away in 1996, we named it Grandma’s Garden and offered the bounty to those involved in elder care. This was rural living as I knew it from childhood.

In 1978, our second son was born, and in 1982, our third son was born…and now we were five. All three of our boys reveled in the rural island life, with endless outdoor creative adventures, sports, and just good “clean” fun all of the time.  To this day, they love the outdoors, enjoying hiking, skiing, camping, mountain climbing, etc. The Orcas Island School was and continues to be a very good one, preparing students well for college. During their school years, all three of our sons were very active in all sorts of activities, especially sports.  Bob was baseball coach for 15+ years, and both of us attending every game that our boys were in, either coaching, score-keeping, or cheering our voices hoarse. Our sons still love to visit Orcas Island often and are now sharing their childhood lifestyle with their own families.  We have a 19-year-old grand-daughter, an 14-year-old grandson, a 14-year-old grand-daughter and her 10-year-old sister. Our second grandson arrived December 2015, and his sister in 2019.   How thankful we are that 2 of our 3 sons, their wives, and their children all live in the Pacific Northwest, just a couple of hours from us! Our middle son and his family currently live in California for their job but hope to return to the Northwest someday...

 We have been renting our vacation rental houses since the early 1990s, loving that we can share our beautiful and treasured property with so many other wonderful guests, now friends whom we love to see on their repeat visits, and new guests soon to become friends, when they make their first visit to Orcas Island.