Vashon Island, Washington: Flourishing in Puget Sound With a Counterculture Past
By LINDA BAKER
Published: February 3, 2006
SLEET, rain and snow pelted down on the day in January 2005 when Brian Murphy and Judy Stakee first took the 15-minute ferry ride together from Seattle out over Puget Sound to Vashon Island. It was one of the worst storms of the year, Mr. Murphy recalled. "People said, 'If you like it now, you're going to love it here.' "
And love it they did. Impressed by the island's natural beauty and rural counterculture vibe, they bought a 3,500-square-foot Cape Cod-style house on the island last June for $1 million. They had wanted a place closer to Mr. Murphy's daughter, who lives in Walla Walla, Wash., than their main home in Studio City, Calif., and Mr. Murphy, who lived in Seattle in the 1970's, remembered Vashon. "This is where all the musicians, craftsmen and hippies came," he said.
In the summer months, the couple enjoyed sunshine and clear views on the island, a 12-mile stretch of forest, farmland and beaches with 45 miles of coastline. The mountains in the distance are breathtaking, Ms. Stakee said. "Mount Rainier just sits there." And in fall and winter, like perhaps 50 percent of Vashon Island second-home owners, as estimated by Linda Bianchi of Windermere Real Estate on Vashon, they haven't let the cool and rainy weather chase them away. "We just bundle up and walk every which way," Ms. Stakee said. They plan to be married on the island in August.
Most full-time residents of Vashon Island, which was cleared in the 1880's and long known for berry farms, now telecommute or commute to Seattle or Tacoma. Nature has been allowed to reassert itself, with second-growth fir, madroño and maple forests overtaking old fields. The much smaller Maury Island, connected to Vashon by a spit of land and dominated by a historic lighthouse, is prime bird-watching territory. In winter, orcas appear offshore, drawn to these waters to feed on salmon.
"There are marvelous walks here," said Dulce Murphy (she is not related to Brian Murphy), who lives in Mill Valley, Calif., and bought a waterfront home on Vashon Island's west side two years ago.
The Scene
Cathy Sarkowsky, an artist and investor who lives in Seattle and bought a waterfront home on Vashon Island for $680,000 in 2001, said she and her 8-year-old son Max laze away their Vashon days pressing apples for cider and checking crab pots. "Vashon is low-key, but there's a level of sophistication," she said. "People don't show off."
Islanders are proud that there are no chain restaurants or McMansions but are also quick to say that the local Thriftway rivals the best food stores in Seattle.
Urban amenities are clustered in the town of Vashon a few miles south of the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. On weekend mornings, a mix of families, spandex-clad cyclists and aging hippies pack the Homegrown Cafe for pancakes and egg scrambles. Locals also gather in the Vashon Bookshop, which has poetry salons and reading groups, and the Island Yoga Center. Vashon Allied Arts, a nonprofit group, sponsors concert series, art classes and an annual art studio tour.
Despite an influx of wealthy newcomers, the mantra remains "live and let live," said Stephen Bogan, a local social service worker. The island has the highest number of same-sex households per capita of any community in the state.
The island also has a strong environmental consciousness. Last summer, the Institute for Environmental Research and Education, an island research center, proposed that Vashon become self-sufficient in energy, reducing its use and generating all it needed from the sun and wind. In a survey, 77 percent of the island's residents agreed with the idea.
One manifestation of what Ms. Sarkowsky calls the "wonderful rural flavor" is honor farms, where farmers leave produce and cheeses by the side of the road, with customers invited to serve themselves and leave cash. Shoppers can also buy fresh salmon from a fisherman in the sleepy village of Dockton, a 25-minute drive from the Fauntleroy ferry.
Another rural touch is a quirky annual strawberry festival with a grocery-cart marching band and a tractor parade. "The festival is so down home, you have to love it," Dulce Murphy said.
Pros
"Years ago, there were lots of bad restaurants," Mr. Bogan said. "Now they are all good ones." The most recent additions are the Hardware Store, which serves pasta, steaks and seafood, and Green Ginger, a Chinese restaurant.
Jensen Point on the Burton Peninsula, just past the island's midpoint, offers 68 acres of hiking and horseback riding trails, a boat launch and a beach.
Brian Murphy described "a great local music scene" that includes an annual jazz series, summer concerts in the park and special performances like the one last year by the Bacon Brothers, with Kevin Bacon. He added that his neighbor on the island makes musical instruments and has been living in a yurt for several years. "Every person you meet here leads to somebody interesting," Mr. Murphy said.
Cons
There is usually an hour wait for the Fauntleroy car ferry, and it lands in West Seattle, a 15-minute drive from downtown. A ferry for passengers only, without cars, travels straight to downtown but runs less frequently.
There is no full-service hospital. Islanders are airlifted to Seattle in emergencies.
Ms. Sarkowsky said small lot sizes can make waterfront homes feel crowded. "One of the issues is privacy," she said.
Residents are also fighting a proposed reactivation of a 193-acre strip mining operation on Maury Island that would supply rock for a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. They fear possible damage to the marine environment and their drinking water.
"If the mine affected the aquifer, we'd be stuck," said Cathy Casteel, who, with her husband, lives in Seattle and owns a waterfront house on Vashon Island that they bought seven years ago for $1.5 million.
The Real Estate Market
Ms. Bianchi, of the Windermere agency, made her first million-dollar sale on Vashon in 1997 and now has eight listings that are each more than $1 million. The price of waterfront homes increased 20 percent the last year alone, she said. In Quartermaster Harbor, a neighborhood where two former Washington governors have homes, prices have risen similarly. Because of development restrictions, there is virtually no vacant waterfront land. "I tell people, buy an existing house and remodel," Ms. Bianchi said. A 1,500-square-foot beach cabin runs about $500,000 to $600,000.
Despite a lingering counterculture reputation, housing affordable for people who are not affluent has virtually disappeared. "Twenty years ago, you could get a mobile home and 10 acres and live a pretty good life off the land," said Beth de Groen, an agent with the John L. Scott agency on Vashon. Today, she said, with even a small modular house costing $200,000, "the monetary demographic is rising."
