OUR STORY:
RELATED READING
Recommended reading, viewing, listening, and links.
More about the rich and colorful history of floating homes and how we have become an integral part of Seattle.
Our Floating Homes Association historian, Adam Woog, has much to offer curious people interested in houseboats. His most recent 2025 book, Still Afloat: Seattle's Historic and Iconic Houseboats, is a must read. Clay Eals, co-author of the Seattle Times history column Now and Then writes, “Adam Woog expertly weaves a century and a half of Seattle houseboating into a story both concise and cogent. Buoyed by vivid photos that document the phenomenon from its earliest times to the present day, Woog capitalizes on a personal passion for floating homes… With a tone as conversational as it is authoritative, he uncovers and celebrates a scene that is central to our city." It's available here in print and Kindle in the Amazon Store.
The Seattle’s Unsinkable Houseboats: The History of Seattle’s Old and Colorful Houseboat Communities is "the" classic. For decades, Howard Droker’s Seattle’s Unsinkable Houseboats has been a foundational work on Seattle’s floating home history, capturing the evolution of waterfront living from its origins through the 1970s. Long out of print, this essential book returns with its original 1977 text on Amazon (here), inviting a new generation to rediscover its rich and colorful past.
Photo: Perusing the paper on the front deck, circa 1900-1915. University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, SEA1190.
​​​Where we live is as unique as the homes we live in
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The Floating Home community exist in a unique fresh water lake nestled in the heart of a major city where both residential and industrial coexist in harmony to give day to day life a one of a kind feel. You can learn more on the components that make up our unique lifestyle by viewing these videos from the Lake Union Virtual Museum.
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Floating Homes – a great video history: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Houseboats.html
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Lake Union Oral History Project: https://www.jackstraw.org/program/art-heritage-partnerships/lake-union-oral-history-project/
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First People who lived here: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video_Duwamish.html
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Shipwrecks – found in our lakes: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Shipwrecks.html
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Gasworks Park – Unique in the world: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Gasworks_Park.html
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Seaplanes – Still going today : http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Seaplane_Intro.html
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Boat shops: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Video,_Boatshops_on_Lake_Union.html
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Lake Union Drydock: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Lake_Union_Drydock.html
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World Class Rowing Center: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Rowing.html
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1909 World’s Fair: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/AYP_Intro.html
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Harbor Patrol: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Harbor_Patrol.html
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Shipwrecks in Lake Union: http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/Shipwrecks_Map.html
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Floating Homes Association Publications
Still Afloat: Seattle's Historic and Iconic Houseboats, Adam Woog, Copyright 2025, Available on Amazon. A portion of all proceeds supports the Floating Homes Association’s environmental and preservation programs.
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Seattle’s Unsinkable Houseboats: An Illustrated History – by Howard Droker. Watermark Press (1977), Available on Amazon. A portion of all proceeds supports the Floating Homes Association’s environmental and preservation programs.
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Other Publications
Seattle’s Floating Home – Erin Feeney Copyright 2012, ISBN 970-0-7385-9542-9, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2011943128
Staying Afloat: Life Aboard Houseboats, Barges, and Liveaboards – by Jeri Callahan
Publication Date: May 1, 2005, ISBN-10: 159404001X, ISBN-13: 978-1594040016
The Houseboat Book – by Barbara Flanagan
Release date: January 3, 2004, ISBN-10: 0789309890, ISBN-13: 978-0789309891
At the Water’s Edge, Muskoka’s Boathouses – by John de Visser and Judy Ross
The Boston Mills Press- Ontario, Canada 1993, ISBN 1-55046-082-x
Houseboats, Living on the Water Around the World – by Mark Gabor
Ballantine Books-New York 1979. ISBN 0-345-27312-5, ISBN 0-345-28117-9, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 77-6136
Houseboat, Reflection of North America’s Floating Homes…History, Architecture, and Lifestyles – by Ben Dennis & Betsy Case. Smuggler’s Cove Publishing 1977, ISBN 0-918484-00-6 (hardcover), ISBN 0-918484-01-4, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 77-2404
Waterhouses, the Romantic Alternative – by Ferenc Maté
Albatross Publishing House – Vancouver, BC 1977, ISBN 0-920256-01-5
Water Squatters, The Houseboat Lifestyle – by Beverly Dubin
Capra Press – Santa Barbara 1975, ISBN 0-88496-020-X, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-6693
Handmade Houseboats – by Russell Conder
ISBN 0-07-158022-0​