COEUR d’ALENE — Jim Duffield can remember when the land between Fourth Street and Government Way was populated only by alfalfa and trees.

His family once owned eight acres of that land. The Duffields moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1947, his parents building their house on Fourth Street by hand.

While his father was a flight instructor at Weeks Field — now the Kootenai County Fairgrounds — his mother provided for the family through her garden. Much of what the family ate came from the plants she grew and the animals she raised.

“We were relatively poor. But we always had a place to live, a car to drive and food to eat,” Duffield recalled.

While Duffield’s mother “scrimped and saved” to make ends meet, he said, there was one thing she would splurge on.

“Once a year, in the spring, she would treat herself to one brand-new iris,” Duffield said.

Over the years, these irises multiplied in the garden that Duffield’s mother lovingly tended.

When she eventually relocated to western Washington to be closer to family, Duffield returned to the house on Fourth Street and dug up what remained of her iris bulbs so that they’d follow her to her new home.  

These bulbs, which have been shared with friends and family, are now spread as far south as California and as far north as Alberta, Canada, Duffield said.

Over time, the land was sold off — but Duffield wanted his family's legacy to continue in a meaningful way.  

Habitat for Humanity, with whom Duffield has worked for eight years, purchased the remaining plot at the intersection of Nieder Avenue and N. Second Street. The land will eventually be home to 21 units of affordable housing.  

The development is already named “Duffield Place.” The sign that will welcome residents features an iris hand-painted by Duffield’s niece, and the Coeur d’Alene Garden Club gathered with Habitat for Humanity on Saturday to plant 100 iris bulb segments around the sign.  

It was a full-circle moment for Duffield. 

“This is kind of like mom’s irises coming home to root,” he said.  

While green shoots will likely break through the earth in the spring, it may take a year or two for the irises to fully bloom. As with most legacies, it will take time.  

“Don’t give up on them,” Duffield said.  

    Cheryl Christensen with the Coeur d'Alene Garden Club helped plant 100 iris bulb segments around the Duffield Place sign Saturday, which will eventually welcome residents in to 21 affordable housing units built by Habitat for Humanity.