Seattle has buses. Use them! In which case you might as well find a place to live along a line. One line at a time. Here's the next one, selected at random for the fun of it.
Take a loop through Laurelhurst, swing by Children's Hospital, up past University Village, through the U District, across the Montlake Cut, swing around the south side of Portage Bay just under an hour later. How often does the driver get lost on Metro's Route 25? Probably never with lots of practice.
↑ Go ahead. Drive the photographer crazy. Hide the house behind a tree. The owners accomplished an impressive feat. They found room for 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2 pantries in a 1,700 square foot house. Is it that or the proximity to the Burke-Gilman that makes this house worth $800,000? It might have something to do with the neighborhood, like being beside UW; so if you aren't taking the 25 to downtown, you might be walking to work - which is worth a lot.
↑ Laurelhurst means bigger houses and prices. Add $130,000 to the price and here's a $930,000 from 1927 with 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2,730 square feet. Get roomy. Get comfy too, because you can sit outside by the firepit, listen to the crowds in Husky Stadium, and catch the views of Lake Washington. The house has been upgraded enough that you may not even have much to do - for a while - and check with an inspector.
↑ Flip through the photos and imagine the view, especially the one they probably had when the house was built in 1970, before those trees grew. Luckily, they don't block everything. The top floor master bedroom probably has the best view. The lower level well, that's where they put the well-equipped apartment. There's a lot going on for $1,224,000: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and 3,412 square feet are data that only describe part of the story. Like, maybe those trees are there so you don't have to look at the neighbors.
↑ Hello waterfront! And acreage. How about a 5,350 square foot house with 4 bedrooms and 4 baths for $3,490,000? The size bumps the price, but the setting makes it unique. The house looks like it was designed for parties, upscale parties, but not too upscale. Guests can arrive via the circular drive or the dock. The floors are polished stone. There's a bar decorated like a fifties, a BBQ outside, a wine cellar downstairs, enough room inside and out for crowds, and music, and dancing, as long as the neighbors don't mind. Invite them over. Maybe that'll help.
↑ On the tip of Webster Point, sits a Lionel Pries house: 5,380 square feet for 5 bedrooms, 4 baths for $4,888,000. The design is clean and modern, for 1965. The propoerty is waterfront, with dock, at the exit (or entrance) of the ship canal. The view is southeast across Lake Washington, 520, towards Mt. Rainier. The location is Laurelhurst, and this house is a prime example of the uncommon luxury that people associated with the neighborhood. The price is down a million from where it started, so relatively, it is even more affordable.
· Route 25 [Metro]
· Making The Montlake Cut [CS]
· All Bus Tours coverage [CS]
Written by Tom Trimbath