San Rafael, California - Retired Lawn

In 1975 after having replanted dead grass in his front yard twice, Michael Duffy decided to cover the entire yard with decorative stone. Inspired by his recent lawn conversion he purchase Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from a local store, and installed them in the stone surfaced garden. He next added the lawn mower and hung a "Retired" sign above it. He was soon asked by people to add lawn to his sign as it looked like a Retired Lawn.

Taking a lead from the front yard, he set about covering his back yard as well with the stone surface, and created a shrine to his 16 year old grandson, who was tragically killed in an auto accident.

The entire garden has recently been repainted, a job that is required every few years due to weathering. The home owner is a very friendly gentleman and while the site is on private property he is most accommodating and interested in visitors. Best time to photograph the site is early morning when it is in full light. [Phil Pasquini, 11/02/2008]