To become Buddha, bring him home
WALLA WALLA -- Buddha arrived via flatbed. Facing the rear on the back of a trailer, the giant likeness of the founder of Buddhism appeared to be blessing traffic as a truck carried it through town late Wednesday morning on the way to Hobson Street.
All 14 glorious feet of the bronze patina statue, wrapped and strapped on the back of a truck, made the trek from Portland as a centerpiece feature of one of Walla Walla's newest guest houses.
His arrival at Buddha's Guest House at 978 Hobson St. drew crowds of curious neighbors from their homes.
"That's quite a neighborhood addition," Hobson resident Tom Carter said as he marveled at the piece. "I think it's cool."
Daniel Cardoso, owner of the statue, was awestruck as the layers of protective covering were removed, shining light on the piece that's been in storage for seven years.
"One of the reasons I bought him is because I love his face," Cardoso said.
Believed by Cardoso and his wife, Genevra Fitts, to be one of only two such statues in the U.S., the mammoth piece was delivered to the quiet neighborhood to be a focal highlight of a vacation home designed for peace and meditation.
Putting it in place, however, was a grueling effort. About a dozen helping hands -- some from Walla Walla firm Old School Movers, which was commissioned to transport the statue -- helped to move the piece from the truck to a platform in the backyard of the home.
Though hollow inside, the fiberglass statue weighs more than 700 pounds. Possibly more than that. No one knows how much without putting it on a scale. "It felt like a ton," noted one volunteer mover.
Nevertheless, volunteers seemed to maneuver the piece with surprisingly little trouble between the fence and a tree in the yard. The first guests to lay their heads at Buddha's Guest House for its official opening will arrive this weekend, Fitts said.
The smooth transition to the platform in the yard was part of a yearslong journey for the statue.
Cardoso, a Portland restaurateur whose ventures include Aztec Willies, Mayas Taqueria and Santa Fe Taqueria, first saw the statue years ago at a Japanese restaurant where he liked to eat. The owners told him they had special-ordered the custom piece in Asia. When the restaurant closed, Cardoso offered his number in case they might consider selling it.
A week or so later, they called him back. Cardoso paid $10,000 for the statue, which is valued between $12,000 and $20,000.
How the piece came to reside in Walla Walla this week was part of another journey: a love story.
Two years ago at a spiritual conference in Olympia, Cardoso met Fitts of Walla Walla. The two fell in love and married, but have not quite landed on a permanent residence. Fitts, a licensed massage practitioner, travels between Portland and her home here.
She and Cardoso decided to convert her Hobson Street home into a Walla Walla vacation property on the weekends she's away.
They enlisted Alexa Palmer, who manages numerous other vacation homes as well as bed-and-breakfast Fat Duck Inn, to oversee the operation.
They also have worked with local resident Bill Gunnyon on transforming the backyard into a respite of serenity.
The goal is a meditative atmosphere that will include massage therapy and private yoga sessions for guests at the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home.
Situated between Pioneer and Wildwood parks, the home is billed as a sacred getaway in its online listing. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the living space provide a clear view to the Buddha statue of the backyard sanctuary.
A listing on the Vacation Rental By Owner site for the property shows a special of $200 per night through the end of this month. The regular cost is $275 per night. A brush with a giant Buddha is just part of the experience.
This story was originally published March 26, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "To become Buddha, bring him home ."