By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The tall trees are the first thing everyone notices when they drive into Beaux Arts. A couple are probably old growth judging from their massive girth, says Katherine Johnson, who moved to Beaux Arts in 1968 and is known around town as a "tree person."

The tree canopy is especially noticeable "when you drive in from Bellevue on a hot summer day and you get a 10-degree temperature drop," Johnson says.

Many of the town's finest gardens have been planted by new residents who see what a special place Beaux Arts is and want to maintain its traditions, Johnson says.

Beaux Arts was founded about the same time the Olmsted brothers were in Seattle laying down designs for grand boulevards and parks.

Melissa Clausen, who grew up in the village, is also the town historian, an informal title passed from volunteer to volunteer. One project has been to chronicle the history of each home, a challenge even though there are only about 116 houses.

The community history book is filled with photographs of homes, some taken during the 1930s as a WPA project. Many names of families who owned the homes are listed, as are some family photographs collected through the years.

One of the older homes is Toad Hall, a delightful shingled home with tall peaks and wild strawberries growing along its front walk. Its whimsy is found in the Wind-in-the-Willows frog that greets visitors from its fence post perch. It sits holding its bulging belly.

The house was built in 1911, back when there was old-growth timber to hold up lath and plaster walls. Ann Boynton says she and her husband fell in love with the house but couldn't afford its asking price -- $35,000. After a year of dickering they bought it in 1961 for $25,000, she says.

Getting a loan took a little work. One mortgage company refused, calling it an "alpine shack." The fact that it was located a half a block from Lake Washington didn't matter back then.

The house still has some original siding. A few years back, when it needed a new roof, Boynton wanted it to match the shingles so she looked around for a craftsman. "I found an old geezer up in Concrete to put on a new roof. By the time he got through he said he would never do that again," Boynton recalls.