Rose and Lynn Goltz’s creation sows curiosity for garden tour
By Seth Schmidt
Do gnomes play and move about?
Rose and Lynn Goltz’s four-year-old twin grandchildren, Emeri and Remi, wanted to know.
“I told them that during the day, our gnomes remain absolutely still and stay in the same spot,” Rose laughs. “But at night they all move around, and probably do all kinds of naughty things.”
The grandchildren aren’t the only people curious about the gnomes hanging out near the Goltz home. The Tracy couple has fashioned a unique gnome house from a 12-foot tree stump.
The whimsical creation is home to 15-20 elf-like gnome figures, plus a menagerie of squirrel, owl, and turtle characters. Miniature steps, doorways, windows and balconies add to the fun.
In some circles, the gnome house became the talk of the town.
“People wondered what are those Goltz’s doing now?” Rose smiles. “We’ve had a lot of questions and people stopping by to look at it.”
The fanciful gnome house can expect more out-sized attention next week. The Goltz yard is among the sites included in the Tracy Area Garden & Quilt Tour, Wednesday, July 11, from 2:30 to 8 p.m. (See related story Page 8).
Idea takes shape
A gnome house would not exist in the Goltz yard, if not for a sewer and water project that dug up the streets on both sides of their East Hollett St. home last summer. Six mature green ash trees shaded the boulevards of their corner lot. Warned that the street excavations might damage tree roots, the Goltzes were given a choice. The trees could be left, but if construction killed the trees, it would be the homeowner’s responsibility to remove them. Any replacement trees would be their own expense. Or, the 50-foot trees could be removed prior to construction, and replacement trees planted at no cost to the homeowner.
The couple chose to have mature trees removed and young replacement trees planted, but Rose wanted a 12-foot stump left from the largest ash.
She’d read an article once about creating a gnome house out of a tree trunk. Now she had the chance to bring the idea to fruition.
For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.