I was watching a video on YouTube of some people cycling around Seattle and they made a stop in Burien that I found curious. It was called the Russell Waterfall. This is just around the corner from somewhere I was visiting so I decided to pass by and take a look. I don’t know the “why” about this installation but there is a baby grand piano in the front yard that is a waterfall. It is just sitting there in front of a normal neighborhood house. I have seen pictures with the piano being a different color so I don’t know if it gets refurbished periodically or if the piano is replaced. It is a strange thing to find on a regular street, though.
Hi! My name is Page Russell and I am the homeowner and the maker of this piano.
The why: I had always intended to make a pond, then a met and married a beautiful woman who loves waterfalls. So I decided to add a waterfall feature. Later I saw a picture of a waterfall coming out of the keys of a piano, and I ventures to do it myself!
The first piano was a real one, picked up off the side of the road and weather sealed. However, it was not made of real wood and it eventually deteriorated. And by eventually I mean almost immediately, it lasted less than a year.
The current piano is not real. It’s fabricated from plastic lumber to replicate a baby grand. Even the legs are fake, having been 3d printed in my ender3. This version has lasted several years and is engineered to last a long, long time.
We have koi and goldfish, snails and frogs in the pond. A great blue heron has been hunting it lately so we had to add a net. It takes a lot of work to upkeep, but everyone in the neighborhood loves it and it’s a frequent stopping point for families. We are mildly surprised it hasn’t caused a car wreck, as people often hit their brakes hard when they see it!
We dress it up for holidays on occasion. Santa usually comes and plays the keys during Xmas, and a skeleton during Halloween.
Cheers!
-Page
Anyways, thought you might want to know!