Port Townsend Real Estate : Washington

Water Street Creperie

 Most mornings I like to take a walk in the historic downtown area of Port Townsend and while the streets are empty and the sun is coming up you really notice if a store has gone out of business and something new has popped up for rent.  The past 12 months or so it seems we have had more closings than I have ever seen.

 This morning I saw a very positive and upbeat sign.  A new store called the Water Street Creperie that just opened 2 days ago.  What a lovely and delightful shop!  Tastefully decorated and beautifully furnished with tables, chairs, counters and imaginative art work.

There are outdoor tables and chairs, and a pass through counter for street side purchases.

 They feature crepes with breakfast ingredients, (eggs, cheese, etc.) or lunch type with turkey and ham, a vegetarian offering, plus wonderful desert crepes.  The two I would most like to try (as soon as I lose 20 pounds) are the Graham Cracker Crumble, and the Goat Cheese and Honey. YUMMMMM!

 I met one of the owners, (who else would be there at 7 am.?) a nice young man named Brandon Ellard, who told me he grew up in Port Townsend,  and his friendly employee Jackson.  I welcomed them and wished them luck.  Brandon's partner James Larson was out of town.  A couple of brave and daring young men, and the backbone of our country's economy.

You will see this little guy mostly out for a swim, playing in the water, but occasionally they are walking down the sidewalk, or warming themselves on the beach.  They like to hang out on the boat docks and ramps especially on sunny afternoons.  There is a wonderful painting in one of the shops of otters crossing the street in Port Townsend, and we have a restaurant named "The Otter Crossing".  They are really a fun sight.  

Port Townsend Carnegie Library in Uptown

                                                                                 A gift from Andrew Carnegie, this incredible library is housed in it's original 1898 building (with the exception of an add on from early 1990 when the town had outgrown the original building.)   A group of women organized in the late 1890's  for the purpose of building a new Library, and first bought the land, then obtained a grant from the Carnegie Library Foundation. 

 The architecture followed the guidelines of the foundation and has the look of a charming  art deco building. The front steps are no longer used, but are still grand and stately.  There is a children's section with lots of story telling and special program.  There is a room for DVD's, VCR's and special books.  

 Upstairs there is a fireplace at each end of the room, although they are no longer in use.  There are several computers and the library offers the Virtual version.     Well run and stocked this is a great library.  There are still no book late charges or fines, just a conscience jar!

Port Townsend's Key City Theater   Now 50 years old, and still going strong with exciting plans for a new theater.  The group has performed it's plays in venues all over the city, the first one in 1958, held at the public golf course in the dining room with the performance sold out. They moved around to places like the Elks Club, 20 years in the old Scandinavian Church, and then moved to the high school auditorium.  Currently the Key City Players are in a storefront building just off Water Street that seats 48 people and performances are continually sold out.      The first step toward the new building was the purchase of a commercial lot on Lawrence Street in Port Townsend.  This was possible through a donation from a benefactor for $300,000.  Plans are for a 2 story building with a footprint of 8500 sq. ft.  In addition to 150 seats it will include a shop, lobby, office, restrooms, greenroom, dressing rooms and storage.  

  This weekend they are featuring the Playwrights Festival with 3 award winning one act plays chosen from the Port Townsend Arts Commission 2009 One Act Play Competition.  This is sure to be a hit as always with SRO.

Above is the new location on Lawrence Street.

This is the current location on Washington Street.  This seats 48 people. 

Sales of single family Residences in Jefferson Co. , WA

2005 through 2009

Year             # of Sales         % of Listing Price      Average Price

2005              620                  99.3                $322,175

2006              506                  97                    383,550

2007              390                                          371,357

2008              280                                          348,048

2009              239                  92.6                  299,109

This graph was in the Port Townsend Leader, and information is from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.  Dollar volume dropped during this period by 14.6 %.

  The same article also reports the number of Realtors in Jefferson County was 171 and dropped to 115 by the end of December 2009. 

Port Townsend's  beloved Rose Theater has added some new programs which bring a new dimension to the arts here in our little city of Port Townsend.

 This charming little theater opened in Downtown Port Townsend  in the 1930's and closed sometime in the 50's.  Re-opened in the early 1990's by Rocky Friedman, it is a delightful little theater with one small theater seating about 75 to 100, (I am guessing) with a balcony, and a tiny theater called the Rosebud seating about 35 to 50 people.  Charming 30's architecture and decor, intimate atmosphere and the best popcorn you ever tasted. 

School of Athens Passionate Minds Lecture Series , Nation, from the London National Theater in HD, and

La Danse, the Paris Opera Ballet.  Something for everyone with Avatar held over. 

My son says this is bigger than Christmas...well for some of us maybe.  I am glad to have the afternoon to snuggle up with my two Shit Zhu's for a little nap. 

This is a photo of Port Townsend at 8 am this morning, and a sign I saw in one of the windows.

Port Townsend's New Cafe. 

Don't tell the owner of the recently opened Undertown Coffee House in Port Townsend that things are slow.  He would not believe it.  He has taken an old underground basement downtown and turned it into our little towns newest hot spot. 

It is intriguing and inviting from the top of the stairs to back into the last room of the cafe.  You are instantly met with strong and luscious coffee aromas, small twinkling lights, and the sound of trickling water, all drawing you down the stairs to see what lurks beyond.  It reminds me of something in Paris in the late 50's.

These photos were taken at 8 am this morning and the place was humming.  It is equally busy in the evening hours with eccentric and quirky jazz groups (Last one I saw there was Hillbilly Jazz, and I liked it!)

In addition to coffee they sell wine, soups, muffins and other light fare.  They have art on the wall for sale, and wi-fi, with lots of sofas, easy chairs, and tables grouped into 4 or 5 rooms that flow from one another.  It is a great little spot and I wish them best.  This is a fun place to meet and greet and I am sure it has been discoverd by visitors and local alike. 

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service just published it's 2009 sales update with some interesting stats includeding: 

•  Sales totals were down 3.7% from 2008 (SFR and Condos)
• Dollar volume fell by 14.6%
• Highest median price for SFR  was $443,500 (San Juan County)
• Next was King County (Seattle area) with median of $380,000
• System wide median price was $280,000
• 8 out of 10 sales were co-op transactions
• 87 % of sales in 2009 were single family homes and accounted for 89% of dollar volume.
• The pace of sales as measured by "months supply" (an estimate of how long it would take for all inventory of active listings to sell at the current pace assuming no new inventory is added) showed improvement in many areas. In the four-county Puget Sound region, there was a 5.36 months supply at year-end; at the end of 2008 the months supply was at 7.9 months. System-wide, at the end of 2009 there was a 6.25 months supply, which compares to 8.66 months supply at the end of 2008. (Economists consider a supply of 3-to-6 months to be a balanced market, meaning the market favors neither buyers nor sellers.)

Port Townsend Churches

                                                                                                          I shopped for a new  church when I arrived in Port Townsend 10 years ago.  I had been attending the Saddleback Church in Mission Viejo, CA  for a few years because I really enjoyed the sermons of Pastor Rick Warren who has since become quite well known for his work in Africa, and hosted the candidates forum in the 2008 election.

 Needless to say nothing here would compare to that church that seats 5000 and usually has a full band on stage and sermons from Thurs. night to Sunday night to  fit everyone in.   Pastor Rick would wear an Aloha shirt and loafers with no socks,so the atmosphere was very casual, but his sermons always hit home and made me feel good. 

Port Townsend has many choices tho, and I am sure something for every religion.  I counted  33 in the area.  Most have their own chapel and they are usually quaint and charming.  We have one church that is the oldest in the Puget Sound area dating back to the 1870's.  There is also a Christian Science Reading Room downtown.  There is a Russian Orthodox Church with small onion domes located off the beaten path in a residential neighborhood.  There is also a church group that meets in our local Masonic Hall.  There is a Jewish congregation that meets in the Episcopal Church.  There is one church in Port Ludlow that has a Real Estate Broker for their pastor.   Some clients of mine went to a Seventh Day Adventist Church in Nordland recently and told me they were invited home for  dinner by at least 5 families.  They chose one and had a delightful time.  Something for everyone in this little town.