Home and Garden Edition: Something new, something blue and built for the view

The couches and loveseats inside Donna Martinsen's new home all face outward, toward Hungry Point, turned away from the modest flat screen in the corner.

Martinsen and her husband, Jim, moved into a rustic blue ranch on N. Nordic Drive in May 2017. For 53 years they had lived in a house on Wrangell Ave. that overlooks their new home.

"There was no straw," said Ms. Martinsen, starting into why they moved. "It was just, that house was too big for us."

The couple are in their 70s and wanted a home with a view. The property they built on had been in the family for about 90 years, and currently sit...