Tag Archives: property

Your Own Island in Sproat Lake

As we motored down Sproat Lake looking for good locations from which to photograph the takeoff of Hawaii Mars, we went through a narrow passage between sections of the lake. Just south of the passage was a small island. A closer look told us that there was a single house on this island. The idea of your own private island does sound quite nice. I think I would like the house to have a less obstructed view of the water but, maybe if you live there and see constant boat traffic like ours, the need for privacy makes the trees a better option.

Housing Alongside Sproat Lake

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When you go out on a lake, you figure that there will be some nice properties along the lakeshore. It’s a desirable place to live so you figure some money is going to be spent to live there. The top shot is just a view along the shore where we rented the boat, but the others are some of the places we saw. While most of them seem really good, I was disappointed in one place. The structure of the house looked really nice but the concrete structures between it and the water look really unappealing from out on the boat. Sure, if you are in it, you can’t see that. However, if I am spending that much on a place, I’d want it to look great from outside too!

Montlake Spite House

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I saw something online about people building houses in unusual spaces. Sometimes this was because that was all the space that they had available. Other times they did it to spite someone who had the adjacent property. One of them turned out to be in Seattle so I decided to check it out when we were over there running some other errands. It is located in Montlake.

The house is a wedge shape. If you look at it from the main road, it looks like a relatively normal frontage. Nothing too special. From the wide end, it seems like a single room width property. There is a garage underneath and rooms above. Go to the other end, though, and you see just how much it narrows down. There is space for a door and that is about it. A trip to Google Maps will show you the footprint of the house and you can see how it has been squeezed in. A weird place for sure but apparently a popular house to own judging by the price it has sold for in the past!

Friday Harbor

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Despite spending quite a few days in Friday Harbor, I didn’t actually take many pictures of the town itself. However, when arriving and departing, we had a better view of the town laid out around the harbor. The waterfront is prime real estate and, as you come in on the ferry, you get to see some very nice places on the island in the middle of the harbor. The area surrounding the harbor is more accessible for development and so there are a lot of places that are considerably closer together that the really pricey places.

Our hotel was a little up the hill and so had a nice view across the harbor. The construction activity below us means a slight distraction from the picturesque ideal but it really was a fantastic spot to hang out for a drink in the evening or for breakfast first thing (or as close to first thing as we could manage while on vacation!).

How to View a Potential Property

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While Pete and I were flying over Cowes, we were keeping an eye on a helicopter that was orbiting not too far from our location. A short while later, we couldn’t see it anymore and were trying to find it. As it turned out, the helicopter had landed next to a property near Osborne House. Pete understood that the property was currently on the market. Therefore, we concluded that the people were visiting the house to check it out. I must confess, I have not previously inspected any properties by helicopter but, thinking about it, this seems to be the perfect way to make an entrance!