POULSBO, Wash. — Looking for a unique getaway under the stars? Try the “glass house” on the Kitsap Peninsula.
Courter Country Farm in Poulsbo is a dreamy, quiet retreat where guests can opt to spend the night in a beautifully appointed and fully functional greenhouse.
"We still do use it to start all of our tomatoes and peppers in the winter," said Denise Courter, who runs the farm with her husband Kevin.
The greenhouse sleeps two and includes a bed, chandelier, and small table with chairs for dining. Outside, there’s a fire pit and lawn games.
"There's a creek right down alongside the greenhouse, so at night you go to sleep listening to thousands of frogs,” Kevin said.
There isn’t an indoor bathroom but guests can use a nearby pink porta potty, sink and mirror.
While the greenhouse is temperature-controlled by nature, the Courters do what they can to make it comfortable.
"In the colder season we have a heated mattress pad in there,” Kevin said. “Clear nights, you get to watch the stars while laying in bed. We've had people stay in there when it's snowing."
Denise added, “They said, 'I feel like I'm in the middle of a snow globe,' it was so cool!"
For those concerned about modesty, there are moveable privacy screens and a strategically placed barn blocking views from the main house.
When they’re not in the glass house, guests can experience the rest of the farm, including a small “petting zoo” area where they can hold baby bunnies and turkeys.
There are also two resident alpacas who love getting sprayed with the hose – what Denise calls the “alpaca car wash.”
"They just love the water and it doesn't matter if it's rain or shine,” she said.
Guests can also learn how to milk the Courter’s goat Mary, or feed her (along with the farm’s chickens) by accessing feed bags in mailboxes strategically placed around the property.
When it’s time to take a break and log in to email, there’s an indoor space with other options.
"We have a saloon, we call it - a little game room with a pool table, they have WiFi, and a little kitchenette we've set up so they can bring their food and cook,” Kevin said.
The Courters encourage people to prepare food grown right on the farm, including eggs collected fresh from the chicken coop. They hope a stay will introduce guests to a new way of life because they are also first-time farmers.
"Kevin did 21 1/2 years in the Navy as a submariner, was deployed constantly,” Denise said. "We were living in Waikiki in a 600 square foot studio apartment when we decided we were coming back home to Washington, and we decided to totally shift gears and this was all new to us, but we knew we wanted to be together, we wanted to work together."
Work - and love – have created one-of-a-kind experience at Courter Country Farm.
Guests can book the greenhouse, a room in the farmhouse, or two different campsites. The space is also available for weddings.
KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email.