After 12 years living aboard our sailboat and crashing in temporary housing with relatives or employers during the summer season it is finally time to return to a land-based home. Although our families are mostly in the East, we spent too many years in Alaska to be comfortable there. Since we wanted easier access to things on the road system, and didn’t want to deal with real winter we choose to search in the area around Bellingham, Washington. A generally mild climate (though too wet for some), a vibrant foodie culture, and great boating opportunities made it a good match for us. Not to mention that many friends from our years in Alaska are located in the region.

We shipped Legacy, our 43 foot sailboat north from Mexico on a freighter to avoid the long windward bash back to the northwest. After we picked her up in Victoria, B.C. we sailed her over to Semiahmoo Marina in Blaine, Washington right on the Canadian border. Semiahmoo Marina is private and one of the few in the area that would allow us to live aboard our boat while we searched for a house.

Our search started long before we arrived in Bellingham. We had selected a real estate broker last fall and they had been providing us listing matching our wants by email for most of the winter. This helped us to understand the market and get a sense of what was available. When we arrived in Bellingham we already had a list of about 20 possible homes to look at. The first couple of days were sufficient to eliminate some neighborhoods and number of houses by merely driving by them.

Before long we had found two houses of particular interest. The first was in the gated resort community of Semiahmoo. It was well priced, had a great layout and had lots of architectural interest. The only problem was location…it was in a gated community, which is not really our vibe. It also was about 40 minutes from Bellingham with its arts, shopping, and services. We had been living the beautiful marina, but found the drive to town rather a burden.

The second house had a less perfect layout and a distinct lack of maintenance but a really primo location in the Edgewater section of Bellingham. Located near the Fairhaven historical district it was only about 1.3 miles from shopping and restaurants, and less than 10 minutes from most of Bellingham. It was also right at the top of our budget, which would make the needed renovations harder. After some back and forth with the owner we agreed to a price and moved on to inspection. As expected we found a long list of issues ranging from big (leaking and failed roof) to minor (loose paving bricks on the patio). Based on the inspection report we were able to get additional price concessions from the seller.

The house has had some nice remodeling over the years which is well shown in the pictures that accompanied the listing.

What was not shown was that many of the rooms not featured in the listing were unchanged from their original 1970s style. Popcorn ceilings and mirrored closet doors featured! Outside the house is in need of many minor rot repairs, paint, and thinning of the overgrown landscaping.

We have lots of renovations to come, both major and minor, so come along and enjoy the ride without the expense or the blisters!