A fashionable, sought-after neighborhood -- minus the attitude

By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Laurelhurst's stately, manicured homes blanket a hilly peninsula overlooking Lake Washington. The views, public and private schools, quiet streets and nearby shopping at University Village make this an attractive, pricey place to live.

Laurelhurst even has a private waterfront park residents refer to as "the Beach Club." It is where Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates swam as a boy.

Over the years, Laurelhurst has become what La Jolla is to San Diego: a fashionable, sought-after neighborhood, minus the hoity-toity California attitude.

Though disproportionately white, Laurelhurst residents represent a plethora of professions. It is home to judges, a retired U.S. senator and a slew of doctors, lawyers, university faculty, artists and politicians, including Seattle City Councilwoman Sue Donaldson.

It also is a place where celebrities pop up. Melanie Griffith and husband Antonio Banderas rented a waterfront house last year. Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped by in June to dine on salmon and caviar at a dinner party hosted by Laurelhurst residents Stan and Alta Barer.

Gary Larson, The Far Side's creator, lived in Laurelhurst before moving to adjacent Windermere.

And musician Michael "Duff" McKagan paid $1.4 million for a Laurelhurst brick tudor. His neighbors know him as the guy with the great lawn. Their kids know him as the bass player for Guns N' Roses, the Los Angeles rock band that produced such hits as "Welcome to the Jungle." Even the titan of Microsoft, Gates, grew up in Laurelhurst, a neighborhood where residents typically earn more and are better educated than the average Seattle resident.

Despite its WASPy, blue-blood reputation, residents insist Laurelhurst is not pretentious. Nor is everyone a millionaire, though some are and have waterfront mansions to prove it.

Bob Caldwell, a Microsoft executive, just bought a house on Surber Drive Northeast, which he plans to replace with a new waterfront home. The property was on the market four days before Caldwell bought it for $1.95 million.