Here is a home with just the right amount of space inside and out. Along with 3 upstairs bedrooms—including a primary suite with a walk-in closet and private full bath—the main floor offers a bonus room perfect for guests or a home office. Updated flooring extends from the living and dining room into the kitchen and down the hall past the laundry to the bonus room. Quartz countertops, pantry storage, and pull out shelves make for a convenient kitchen with a half bath nearby and sliding doors to the fenced yard. A new gate leads from the paved driveway to the back where mature trees give shade and an attached shed is ready for tools. There’s even a garden studio complete with a mini patio, skylight and glass doors—with so much other storage space the bright garage can be saved just for parking. With a 2024 roof, a 2023 gas furnace and plenty of other updates, this Puyallup house near groceries, cafes, parks and schools is ready to be the place you call home.

A quick look at this rambler shows the brand new roof, the large lot with its fenced back yard, the practical simplicity of the single-level layout and an attached garage. Look closer and the house will show you original oak hardwood floors, a big front window, French doors to the covered patio and a hallway full of closet storage. Give it a little more time and you’ll find a gas furnace new in 2021, the 2018 electrical panel and updated wiring throughout. The family room—2 steps down from the open living area—has easy access to a ½ bath. In spring the rhodies, lilacs and dogwood bloom. In summer there’s plenty of shade out back. All year long the waterfront town of Steilacoom is only 5 minutes away with a beach park, cafes and historic homes. Set on a street ending in a cul-de-sac, this Lakewood home is surrounded by parks, lakes and shoreline, with JBLM just over 4 miles away for a short commute.

Summer: fleeting, fading, blossoming, full. Whatever summer is, it isn’t over yet. And you have my permission—nay, encouragement—to scorn all the advertisements and strikingly unseasonal displays that try to tell you otherwise. This article is like a home recipe for savoring summer in and around Tacoma. Mix the ingredients to your taste—sky gazing with a dash of free outdoor music, sun-warmed berries with a sprinkle of salty PNW beaches, roadside bouquets with a side of community festivals for spice. It’s a whole year until summer comes again so there’s no need to save room; go ahead and clean your plate.

This is not an ultimate, all time, best of the best, win or go home, top 5 list. No, we aren’t really bringing that kind of energy to life. This is the 5th edition of 5 things we like in Tacoma from a list of way more things we like in Tacoma. Sound good? A monthly free film, nacho cheese to balance your diet, the habit of drinking coffee where the seals can see you, an opportunity to notice and collect, and a very particular sort of blind date. Some of it’s free. All of it’s good. We’re not making any other claims (who needs all that best-stress anyway?).