We were pinky-pointing plantation owners, sipping lemonade on the verandah, allowing our hired hands to take the night off next door in their yurts.
That’s how we felt at Kayak Kottage, a new Craftsman-style vacation home now available to rent at Kayak Point Park south of Stanwood.
It’s a full home, next to silly-looking yurts that folks can rent as an upgrade to tents.
Last year, my gang camped at four adorable county park cabins at Flowing Lake. I wrote about winter camping in the Snohomish cabins and the hike up a hill to the restroom.
There is no similar hiking at Kayak. This is a real home, complete with a bathroom with a little white cleanliness sash around the toilet.
The kitchen is ready for groceries with a microwave, stove, pans and dish soap. There’s a washer and dryer, plus laundry soap, if you can believe that.
The master bedroom has a quilt-draped bed that would make a grandmother swoon.
Upstairs, you’ll never see the kids, as three can each have their own spacious bunk and desk, with peek-a-boo views of the saltwater beach.
Ahoy, matey. Hopefully, their imaginations will stir with the nautical ambiance.
It was nice of someone to leave behind games including Candy Land and checkers on the living room shelves. My husband, Chuck, and I wished we had chosen those games to play. Instead, the Williams team, Tom and Jackie from Lynnwood, trounced the O’Harran team, four games to nothing, at Upwords.
We couldn’t win the board game or cards, but we felt like winners on a recent Saturday night. After a short hike to the beach on comfortable switchback trails, we kept lasagna warm in the oven, ate garlic bread and ham, and sipped cold milk from the refrigerator.
The expansive dining-room table included six chairs near a hide-a-bed sofa and TV with DVD player.
Little touches, coordinated by Bridgid Smith, Snohomish County parks administrative services manager, completed a fine overnight getaway.
We could have gone outside and used a Tara-sized front lawn, two picnic tables and a fire pit. Noise from the yurts was muffled behind a fence buffer. Bring the kids’ bikes, as there is plenty of asphalt.
In 1909, C. D. Hillman, a Seattle land developer, purchased 10,000 acres and brought visitors to Kayak from Seattle on a stern-wheeler, according to the parks department. Hillman advertised 5-acre parcels for $750 each, hoping that the 1909 Alaska-Yukon Exposition in Seattle would bring people to the area. Three docks and a boardwalk were built along the shore. Originally named Birmingham, the town center was later renamed Warm Beach.
H.W.F. Kilian was one of the original purchasers of Hillman’s property. His son Arthur later built a resort. Two other sons stored Eskimo kayaks from one of their Arctic expedition trips at the resort for family use. The kayaks were mounted on the side of a building, which generated so much interest the resort became known as Kayak Point.
By 1967, Richfield Oil Corp. had purchased 2,000 acres in the area that included Kayak Point. When Richfield gave up plans for an oil refinery, Snohomish County purchased 670 acres in 1972, with assistance from the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation, and developed the park.
Marcie Allen, communications and marketing coordinator for the park department, said Kayak Kottage was used as the ranger and park caretaker home until 1998, when it became a rental. Last winter and spring, parks maintenance crews began updating the house. Kayak Kottage was first rented as a vacation spot in June, Allen said.
You will f mission-style furnishings throughout, with polished hardwood floors, stairs leading to two bedrooms and a sitting room upstairs, and golf and a restaurant across the street. It’s priced like a nice hotel, from $73 to $147 a night. For more information, call 425-388-6600.
This time of year, for a special midweek anniversary, I would recommend the Kottage as an offbeat surprise for someone special. Or if you have out-of- town guests, book the Kottage for a couple of evenings and enjoy the bay and front porch. The home sleeps seven.
Cuddle up in front of the pellet stove. Don’t play Upwords.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
