More about the rich and colorful history of floating homes and how we have become an integral part of the tapestry of Seattle can be explored further in the links and publications below.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 5, 1902

Web Links

Seattle’s Historic Houseboats By Peter Blecha, August 12, 2010

Newspaper features Seattle’s houseboat colony on January 5, 1902 by Peter Blecha August 4th, 2010

Seattle’s Houseboat Neighborhoods Stay Afloat on Seas of Change Neighborhood Life Interview with FHA Office Manager Jann McFarland – by Candace Brown

Where we live is as unique as the homes we live in

The Floating Home community exist in a unique fresh water lake nestled in the heart of a major city where both residential and industrial coexist in harmony to give day to day life a one of a kind feel.

You can learn more on the components that make up our unique lifestyle by viewing these videos from the Lake Union Virtual Museum.

Floating Homes – a great video History: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Houseboats.html

– a great video History: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Houseboats.html First People who lived here: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video_Duwamish.html

http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video_Duwamish.html Shipwrecks – found in our lakes: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Shipwrecks.html

– found in our lakes: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Shipwrecks.html Gasworks Park -Unique in the world: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Gasworks_Park.html

-Unique in the world: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Gasworks_Park.html Seaplanes -Still going today : http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Seaplane_Intro.html

-Still going today : http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Seaplane_Intro.html Boat shops : http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Boatshops_on_Lake_Union.html

: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Boatshops_on_Lake_Union.html Lake Union Drydock : http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Lake_Union_Drydock.html

: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Lake_Union_Drydock.html World Class Rowing Center : http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Rowing.html

: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Rowing.html 1909 World’s Fair : http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/AYP_Intro.html

: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/AYP_Intro.html Harbor Patrol : http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Harbor_Patrol.html

: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Harbor_Patrol.html Shipwrecks in Lake Union: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Shipwrecks_Map.html

Publications on Floating Homes



Seattle’s Floating Home – Erin Feeney (Available in our Houseboatique) Copyright 2012, ISBN 970-0-7385-9542-9, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2011943128

Seattle’s Unsinkable Houseboats: An Illustrated History – by Howard Droker. Watermark Press (1977), It may be difficult to find but worth the effort

Staying Afloat: Life Aboard Houseboats, Barges, and Liveaboards – by Jeri Callahan

Publication Date: May 1, 2005, ISBN-10: 159404001X, ISBN-13: 978-1594040016

The Houseboat Book – by Barbara Flanagan

Release date: January 3, 2004, ISBN-10: 0789309890, ISBN-13: 978-0789309891

At the Water’s Edge, Muskoka’s Boathouses – by John de Visser and Judy Ross

The Boston Mills Press- Ontario, Canada 1993, ISBN 1-55046-082-x

Houseboats, Living on the Water Around the World – by Mark Gabor

Ballantine Books-New York 1979. ISBN 0-345-27312-5, ISBN 0-345-28117-9, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 77-6136

Houseboat, Reflection of North America’s Floating Homes…History, Architecture, and Lifestyles – by Ben Dennis & Betsy Case. Smuggler’s Cove Publishing 1977, ISBN 0-918484-00-6 (hardcover), ISBN 0-918484-01-4, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 77-2404

Waterhouses, the Romantic Alternative – by Ferenc Maté

Albatross Publishing House – Vancouver, BC 1977, ISBN 0-920256-01-5

Water Squatters, The Houseboat Lifestyle- by Beverly Dubin

Capra Press – Santa Barbara 1975, ISBN 0-88496-020-X, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-6693

Handmade Houseboats – by Russell Conder

ISBN 0-07-158022-0