House Boats

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Eastlake, Westlake, and Canal Street

Seattle's first houseboat colonies were located on Lake Washington near Madison Park and Leschi Park, but by 1914 Lake Union boasted several hundred houseboats, more than any other waterway in the city. One of the earliest Lake Union houseboat pioneers was Robert Patton, a colorful character also known as the Umbrella Man.

On March 13, 1914, a temporary dam at Fremont broke and Lake Union fell 10 feet in less than 24 hours, pitching houseboats near Eastlake into disarray. By World War I Portage Bay was home to a large houseboat colony. Most of these early homes were owner-built and were considered an affordable housing option. Rotting fish barges were sometimes used as float bases for these houses with low-grade lumber, often scavenged from the mills, as the main construction material. Most were unplumbed.

During the 1920s houseboaters organized a floating homes association to advocate for their rights. During the 1940s and 1950s Lake Union houseboaters somehow managed to survive numerous attempts to outlaw their existence, but by the final decades of the twentieth century the Lake Union houseboats had become synonymous with Seattle city living at its most iconic. In time industrial and maritime encroachment displaced many of Westlake's houseboats. Houseboat colonies on the east shore and Portage Bay survived, finally securing protective zoning in the 1970s.

By Paula Becker, September 25, 2012

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