Tour 2010

2010 SEATTLE FLOATING HOMES TOUR

"From Funky to Fabulous - 100 Years of Houseboat Living"

Sunday, September 12
12 to 5 PM

12 Homes on East & West Lake Union
Open for Public Viewing

The Seattle Floating Homes Association is pleased to announce their biennial Floating Homes Tour in 2010, themed "From Funky to Fabulous - 100 Years of Houseboat Living," Sunday, September 12, from 12 to 5 PM. 

Tickets go on sale Friday, July 16. Tickets can be purchased online at Brown Paper Tickets, by phone at 1.800.838.3006, or in person at 220 Nickerson Street in Fremont (Open 9 AM - 5 PM Mon-Fri, and 8 AM - 4 PM Sat-Sun).  Tickets sell for $25 each (plus handling fee).  Capacity is limited, so advance purchase is recommended.  If there are tickets remaining, they will be available for sale the day of the tour, starting at 11 AM on East Lake Union, at the tour staging area at the foot of East Newton Street at Fairview Avenue East. 

Proceeds from the event benefit the Floating Homes Association whose mission is to support and nurture the floating home community and maintain the health of the marine environment.  

This year's tour will feature a dozen homes, on the East and West shores of Lake Union.  The admission price includes bus shuttle transportation between Fairview Avenue East and Westlake Avenue North, and transportation by electric boat between the east and west shores of the lake.  This is a self-guided walking tour and participants should expect to walk between docks, beginning at any home they wish.  Comfortable, slip-on shoes are strongly recommended.  There are stairs and uneven surfaces on some of the docks.  Participants will be required to remove their shoes or put slippers over their shoes; slippers will be provided.  No backpacks or strollers will be allowed in the homes.

The tour will take place rain or shine, and participants of all ages will be required to have a ticket, with the exception of babes in arms.  Free espresso drinks and restroom facilities will be provided.  Refreshment stands will be set up to offer food and drink for purchase.

Participants will be treated to an afternoon visiting a series of floating homes - each with its own fascinating history, architecture and art, and inhabitants - reflecting the spirit and evolution of the historic community.  This year's tour celebrates 100 years of houseboat living and the rich diversity that has evolved among the homes floating on Lake Union since the early 1900's.  From funky to fabulous, these unique homes evoke the quirky lifestyle of their floating inhabitants who share a common love of water, boats and wildlife. Participants will enjoy viewing a diverse array of innovative home design and details that range from compact and whimsical to spacious and grandiose.

On East Lake Union, three homes on the famous Log Foundation Co-Op dock are featured in this year's tour, including a restored circa 1930 vintage houseboat that sports a margarita swim-up bar on hot summer days where neighbors float up in inner tubes for a drink, and a huge contemporary cement-hulled home with an underwater room that has a large round window where visitors can view whatever is floating by (beavers or duck feet perhaps) and a climate-controlled wine cellar.  Another classic houseboat sits on the shell of an old barge accessible through a secret trap door in the bathroom - and viewers will be amused to learn the barge was once invaded by a band of delinquent otters!  The East Lake Union side of the tour also features a home on the Tenas Chuck co-op dock, which has been designated a national Heritage Historical District because of the abundance of classic old-style houseboats located there, and a home on Roanoke Reef, a distinguished community of newer custom-built floating homes.  This is the first time in the history of the Floating Homes Tour that a home on Roanoke Reef has been opened to the public - a beautiful newly-remodeled home where viewers will be able to catch an amazing view of the city from the roof top deck.

On West Lake Union the tour will feature several distinctive homes, treating viewers to an experience that sways from stepping inside a small and cozy nautical home built in the 1800's with its original antique bathroom still intact, to exploring a sweeping modern three-level floating home built over the past two years and just recently installed, seemingly made for entertaining large groups of party-goers.  Participants will be amazed by one home's collection of stained glass windows, some scrounged from old buildings and antique yards, and many made by the owner himself including a magnificent rendition of the story of the "old man and the sea."  Similarly awe-inspiring is the former lumber-mill bunkhouse, built around the turn of the century and still retaining its original footprint, cedar logs and ceiling planks.  Viewers will be delighted by the opportunity to see an extensive and beautifully maintained decades-old bonsai collection, as well as a houseboat with its own full shop and greenhouse attached - a rarity among floating homes anywhere.

Seattle's floating home community continues to represent a unique way of life, balancing the urban with the natural.  What began in the early 1900's as a loose and transient collection of simple shacks floating on logs with no plumbing or electricity has - over the course of a century - turned into a vibrant inner-city community that is home to a diverse group of professionals, artists, bohemians, historians, and water-lovers.  With only about 500 floating home moorages in the whole city, houseboats have also become a sought-after investment in recent years.  Those who own floating homes in Seattle take great pride in their community, and in having their own little piece of history.

Find us on Facebook at Seattle Floating Homes Tour to discover more about the tour, view and share photographs, and learn fun facts about Seattle's houseboat community.

For additional questions about the tour, the public may call 206.323.3489 or email jann@seattlefloatinghomes.org.