Just weeks after Northwest artist Morris Graves' death, his most legendary studio, The Rock- a Zen like retreat on a wooded hilltop near Deception Pass-burned May 2001.
Property caretaker Terry Smith died in the blaze, said Chief Mike Noyes of Skagit County Fire District 11.
The fire erupted about noon, and when firefighters arrived, the house was engulfed in flames, Noyes said. The three-room cabin had no electricity or water and was heated with propane.
Smith called 911 on his cell phone. He told dispatchers, "My house is involved, and I'm not able to get out." Smith had Lou Gehrig's disease and used a wheelchair to get around.
Graves bought the remote 20-acre site in the 1930 and built the cabin as a contemplative place to live and paint. The work he did there skyrocketed him to fame.
For generations of Graves' fans, The Rock has become promontory above Lake Campbell, the cabin was an oblong, shotgun design, built of weathered, rough-hewn wood and perched on rock.
Soap Stone Fireplace remained
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