About Pragghollow

Hi! We are Chris and Brenda Praggastis. We live just outside of Seattle in the house we built over 30 years ago on 10 acres above the Cedar River Valley. Married for more than 35 years, we've had the privilege to raise and homeschool our four children, teaching them white water rafting, backpacking, hiking, and the appreciation of the beauty that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Now grandparents, our greatest ambition is to live like Tookish hobbits, gardening, entertaining all of our hobbit friends and family, and going on great adventures. Why Pragghollow? Well, we really like the Tolkein books, and it seemed fitting.

When we found the Rainshadow Retreat on Whidbey Island we knew it would become a mecca for our friends and family with similar Tookish inclinations. Our desire is that the property be self sustaining, drawing enough guests to support its upkeep and stewardship. We hope that every visitor will take a bit of the joy of the place with them and will leave behind some of the same good feelings the place inspires in us.

Making our vision come to life required a cooperative effort among family, friends, and the incredible local artisans here on Whidbey. Scroll through our photos and videos to see our process. Scroll down to see the credits for the amazing people who contributed to our home.

Meet the Amazing Local Artisans Who Helped Us

Ben Brager of Monarch Metal Works took what was for us a problem: a beautiful wormwood staircase that did not meet current safety codes, and turned it into an opportunity for artistic expression. Ben added solid balusters and raised railings, then wove in ivy and hummingbirds to lift the whole stairwell into the expression of whimsy that we were hoping to achieve with the house. See Ben in action in the photos above and visit his website to learn more about his amazing work.

Micah Noack is well known on Whidbey as one of, if not the best, electrician on the Island. He and his team have literally touched every circuit in our house, upgrading lights, adding lights and outlets, upgrading smoke alarms, solving mystery outlets.... He and Nick, Josh, and Abby are part of the Rainshadow family. We are so grateful for their careful work.

We knew we would need a hot tub if we wanted to open a short term rental. But we knew nobody on the island and were anticipating astronomical prices, permits, and headaches. All of our fears went away when we met Mike.

From Day 1 his only concern was that he create what we really wanted and not jump ahead in planning. He gave us the space we needed to modify and made great suggestions. Mike is an exceptional carpenter, kind person, and great guy to know. We are so grateful for his contribution to the our property.

Pacific NW Hot Tubs provided us with top of the line service at reasonable prices and they were so kind and easy to deal with. We found the hot tub we wanted but had to wait for the land to be cleared and gravel to be layed. Dennis worked with us and taught us how to take care of our tub. They carefully delivered the tub, rolling it into place on the newly compacted gravel. The delivery, chemicals, cover, and hydraulic cover lift were all included on top of the amazing price they gave us.