Seattle Houseboats History Resource
Curious about Seattle houseboats and their history on Lake Union?
You have to go back over a hundred years and look beyond Lake Union to see the roots of Seattle houseboats. Beth Means and Bill Keasler wrote a great piece about Seattle houseboats history on The Seattle Floating Homes Association website. Seattle Floating homes have played a significant part in shaping the city’s history and landscape. We at Seattle Afloat have a whole category on this site dedicated to it: Seattle houseboats history on Seattle Afloat.
There is also a great spot to see amazing pictures and get more information on HistoryLink where the site describes various houseboats around Seattle and their origins:
“Some of these communities — especially those off the Madison Park and Leschi neighborhoods on Lake Washington — were formed by the well-to-do who enjoyed summering aboard their fancy abodes. Others — along the Elliott Bay waterfront, the Duwamish River, Harbor Island, Salmon Bay, Lake Union, Portage Bay, and Union Bay — were mainly inhabited by workers struggling to stay financially afloat.. “
Howard Droker wrote the fascinating book Seattle’s Unsinkable Houseboats in 1977 and there is a great video about Seattle houseboats featuring him on the http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/ website. I have embedded it here because it is worth a watch:
Vannessa Ho at the Seattle PI wrote an interesting piece about Seattle houseboats – it was a cool slide show of houseboats then and now. Here is a link to that slideshow: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/slideshow/Seattle-houseboats-Then-and-now-64448.php
If you are curious about Seattle houseboats and interested in purchasing a Seattle floating home, then please let us know. These are special homes and the ultimate in Seattle waterfront living. You should work with real estate agents who understand the ins and outs of Seattle houseboats. We understand all of the unique intricacies of the Seattle floating home world and we are happy to help you. We can also help you with the various FSBO floating homes available across the lake.
You can reach me at 206-850-8841 or Courtney@cooperjacobs.com
Cooper Jacobs Real Estate for all your realty needs – we have brokers who specialize in all Seattle neighborhoods and suburbs.
Seattle Houseboats: Catching Up With The Seattle Floating Homes Market Sept 2014
Summary: Great Choices Available unless you want The Sleepless In Seattle Houseboat.
All year long, the story has been low inventory, low inventory, low inventory. Now we have inventory. Typically August is pretty quiet for Seattle houseboats sales, so it was no surprise to see that August was slow again. The real surprise, though, was the whole new crop of Seattle floating homes listings that have come on the market. We have some really cool choices right now which span into every price range.
The 2014 Seattle floating home tour was a success this year and definitely increased interest in this great community. Add to the the Boats Afloat show this weekend and I would say life on Lake Union is about as exciting as it can be aside from The Fourth Of July! If you are entering the Seattle houseboats world or already a houseboat buyer candidate, then this is truly your time to buy. Seattle houseboats sellers are motivated because the inventory increase has added competition for the sale of their home. Buyers are able to pick up some great floating homes right now.
So here are the Seattle houseboats that have sold in the floating home world (both on market and off market that I know about):
1. Sleepless in Seattle: All the buzz is about Sleepless. The house where Tom Hanks resided in while Meg Ryan chased after him in the original stalker movie – before stalking was actually even a thing besides in National Geographic and horror flicks… The Sleepless in Seattle houseboat has an amazing main level and a very dated upper level which I am sure the new owner will remedy. It has one of the largest floats on the lake and also one of the largest moorage spaces on Lake Union if you have a boat you want to tie up to your house. It is definitely worth the over two million paid for it. We almost sold it a couple times in the last year or so for over two million so we weren’t surprised. I knew it had been sold a couple months ago and put it here in my blog, but was politely asked to not report it yet. The secret is out. It is sold. Over two million dollars and a great deal in my opinion for one of the Duck Tour’s favorite shout outs on Lake Union.
2. Two floating homes on the 2025 Fairview Ave E Log Foundation dock also closed in the last 30 days. Slip M was a 625 square foot 1 bedroom and 1 bath houseboat built in 1930. It was listed for $495,000 and after 428 days on market sold for 93.54% of its list price at $420,000. Also on that dock was slip H – South facing 900 square foot floating home built in 1917, but updated. We listed this one for $725,000 and it sold for full price 34 days later.
Seattle Houseboats Pending in Escrow – The Big news on the Lake and I mean big as in expensive and beautiful and amazing is that the Fairview Landing (2369 Fairview Ave E) Seattle luxury floating home listed for $2,950,000 is pending in escrow. This is a lovely modern concrete dock with beautiful Seattle luxury floating homes and although this particular floating home is on the North side, the neighbors are amazing and so is the house. It’s a big sale on the lake and happy for the new buyers to have gotten on to this phenomenal gated dock.
What’s for sale now in the Seattle floating home world?
Seattle houseboats for sale are in all price ranges right now – ranging from an unheard of low in Eastlake houseboats for $365,000 (1 bedroom on Tenas Chuck dock) to Roanoke Reef at $1,890,000. We love the Tenas Chuck floating home for someone wanting to get on to the lake.
We also love 2017 Fairview Ave , Slip O – 2 bedroom home on a great dock for $617,000! This one is so cute and appeals to many. Good choice on one of the most well run coops on the lake. As far as the nicer homes go, we really love the house in Westlake listed for $1,299,000 at 2466 Westlake Ave N, Slip 7. You can have a FORTY FOOT BOAT tied up to your house there and it has been absolutely loved by its current owners.
Summary Of Seattle Houseboats
Seattle Houseboats Market Update Details
Please call or email me if you want to see anything listed on the lake – or unlisted 🙂 We can show you any home listed by any broker and look forward to showing you some of our favorite spots on the lake. Courtney Cooper 206.850.8841