jillivictorio@gmail.com /

After nearly 2 years of searching, and a few close calls along the way, I finally found the cabin I loved and we were fortunate enough to close on it last month. It’s a cute and cozy A-frame on Harstine Island, nestled in the woods above the Puget Sound and Case Inlet –pinch me!

My heart was really set on a waterfront beach house or cabin.  We spent many months on and off looking at several properties around Puget Sound, before deciding to start searching around Hood Canal and South Puget Sound with beach access, and boy are we glad we did!  I spent some summers in my youth at the Canal so I’m familiar with the area and have gained a better appreciation for it as I got older.  The water body temperature of Hood Canal is considerably warmer than other Puget Sound regions, allowing for comfortable swimming and water activities.  Hood Canal is a 2-hour drive from Seattle which isn’t too bad if you’re looking for a weekend getaway, and access to fresh oysters from the beaches is a bonus – I LOVE oysters.  We stumbled upon Harstine Island by way of our Shelton and Belfair search. I had never heard of this island before and learned that it was connected to Shelton via a bridge.  Shelton is part of Hood Canal, often referred to as the Gateway to the Olympics,  and is commonly known for its Taylor Shellfish Farm empire. Harstine Island itself is more remote and an insanely beautiful, quiet, peaceful area.  While most of the properties in that area weren’t any where near our price range for a second home, this one popped up and we had an agent video tour it for us immediately, loved it and put an offer in that day!

Here are some things we considered:

1.)  Our family isn’t getting any younger.  John would fish 24/7 if he could, and Jonah and Baron would BE fish is they could.  We all love the water and we try to get on it as much as possible.  The Pacific Northwest is our first and original place we call home and we wanted a place to come back to during the kids summer breaks.  We want to invest in our family….and we feel a cabin will create some fun memories for us.

2.)  We view it as an investment.  Not only is real estate property always an asset, we also want to make some updates to the cabin and rent it out a portion of every month and as a summer Airbnb vacation rental.  We have an opportunity with a great platform to reach a large audience who may want to enjoy cabin life and beach living as much as we do….and the fact that we can potentially have a cabin that could pay for itself, WHILE we still can enjoy it? It’s a win-win in our book!  As we look to the future, this could be another great opportunity to generate additional income while not taking away from our family.

3.)  Accessibility.  I love riding the ferries, but I was looking out for the ability to rent it out and the accessibility factor for potential tenants and guests for this home.  Not having to rely on a ferry schedule was one less thing I had to worry about when managing a vacation rental from out-of-state.

As avid users of Airbnb, VRBO/Homeaway ourselves, and working in the OTA industry for many years, I felt I had a good grasp on what it would take to manage and market a property of my own from both the traveller’s perspective and from the accommodations side.

With all of that thinking…a lot of discussing and researching, we purchased the cabin for exactly what we were hoping to get it for.

While the A-frame alone excited us, what sold us was the beach access and private community. The beach! I grew up in Seattle, and even having lived in the NW all my life, I’ve never seen anything quite like this beach and forest combination in a unique island community.  The water and salty air is just as crisp as I remember, and the view of Mt Rainier is remarkable.

Our plan is to Airbnb it (listing here!), then rent it out (you’re invited!) and continue to enjoy it as a family, too. We already spent a wonderful weekend here with the kids and are looking forward to making more memories starting now.  While this post doesn’t include any mood boards, my plan is to produce a cozy cabin vibe. We love the natural wood walls in the main areas and can’t wait to add in more modern, nautical style touches to our forest island getaway. Here’s how it looks on the inside now.

The front door, per se, is actually in the back of the cabin, and upon entering, the wood paneled walls and wood floors and bright room is the first thing you notice.

The cabin came furnished and I packed and travelled with my own decor items, some of which I’ve had in storage and some I acquired and saved knowing that we’d own a vacation cabin one day. The only items I needed to buy were the essentials: linens and towels, toilet paper, paper towels, soap, etc.  Thank goodness for AmazonPrime!  I wonder if the driver was beginning to think I was a crazy lady ordering every day all day with packages arriving every day when we were at the cabin.

Small yet functional kitchen. The a-frame windows really bring in a lot of natural light.

The main floor bedroom also has a door to the bathroom.

 

The bathroom had an older sliding shower door that we removed and replaced with a curved shower rod and a crisp white shower curtain.

 

The fun part is the loft. I wanted to create a fun sleeping space for the boys and with kids in mind decorating with fun modern nautical decor. The colors are classic and fun for any age and gender.

Loft or kids sleeping area

 

The Community

As a bonus, the cabin is in the Hartstene Pointe community, a private gated community with tons of amenities we knew the kids would enjoy as would we.  There is a seasonal outdoor heated pool if the kids ever get tired of the beach (highly doubt it) but nice to have the option, along with a children’s playground and a clubhouse with a library, pool table, ping-pong, foosball and good old-fashioned board games. There is also a boat launch, a marina, picnic areas and gazebos on the beach, sports courts, a lagoon and spit, walking trails, and miles of private beach. The island is home to many wildlife with deer, fox, eagles, and cougars, while the Sound is home to the occasional orca sighting.

Puget Sound Case Inlet on the North Point

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys loved the pool and playground and we think our guests with kids will love it too!

The photo above is the from NWMLS and is the perfect gathering spot for summer bbqs.

During our first week at the Pointe, our nightly routine consisted of going down to the beach after dinner to play in the sand, hop on the rope swing, play in the fort and watch the sunset.

We even dug for dinner one of the nights – fresh clams off the beach!

This is the entrance as you enter the island. How cute is the oyster shell covered median with a little row boat?  Of course we had to get out of the car for a pic!

A couple of months ago we celebrated our 10th anniversary and throughout the past ten years, I’ve learned that anything feels possible with John by my side. We are so excited to be able to create a place for not only our family to enjoy, but for any of you to eventually come and experience, too.  It’s something I’ve wanted to do for so long and I can’t wait to get started. Now, pass me a hammer!

Thanks for reading and following along this new project as we enter the world of vacation home ownership.  Follow @harstineislandbeachcabin on Instagram!

jillivictorio@gmail.com /

It has been four months since we sold our house, left Washington and moved to Texas. I’ve been reluctant on writing this post because I just didn’t feel like I was ready to express all the emotions that come with a move/relocation, a new city, new state, new town, new life, new everything. As the end of 2017 nears, I’ve had a few months to reflect and am ready to share my thoughts on our recent move.  It has been both exciting, liberating and joyful, yet there are times I feel sad and miss the place I was so familiar and comfortable with. Being a Seattle native, I’ve only lived away from Seattle to go to college in Pullman and to study abroad in London England for a semester. At age 32, the biggest move for ME at the time was moving from Seattle to the Eastside (Issaquah to be exact).  It was the first time in my adult life that I’ve felt such passion and connection about a place and a home before.  I felt more content than I ever had before. It wasn’t until my husband, children and I did life there that I discovered a new found appreciation for everything about it. I loved the natural beauty surrounded by mountains and trees, the lake nearby, the landscape, the proximity to Seattle and Bellevue, the charming small town feel, the craftsman architecture, the neighborhoods and the excellent schools. I loved how we had access to everything outside our front door and could walk to the park, playground, community center, library, market, shops, and hiking trails.

 

 

With the real estate market up and more equity built up in our home, we knew we wanted to sell to buy and design/build our next dream home and stay in Issaquah.  What we didn’t know was how quickly our home would sell. We listed the last weekend of June and by the second week of July, we accepted an offer and went into contract.  This gave us very little time to go with the plan to build a new home in Issaquah and we hadn’t found any listings that we loved.  The same week that we accepted an offer on our house, John got a call from his employer about a position in Fort Worth and if he was interested, he could start in August.  As in next month August. Freaking out, with no plans or leads for any Issaquah homes, we jumped online to check out potential Dallas/Fort Worth real estate listings. We were surprised by what we saw, especially for the price point. You get a lot of house and land in Texas for half the price of what you would pay in the Seattle/Eastside areas, allowing us to increase and save our net proceeds, and invest in another project.

After discussing the opportunity and weighing our options, whether to stay or move, I wholeheartedly agreed and supported John’s decision to relocate our family for his job.  After all, John has supported my career choices during our entire relationship, going along with my career plans and changes.  It was time to return the favor and encourage his career decision.

As John and I began discussing and comparing our wish lists and requirements in a new home, we compromised and agreed on a ranch style home on half an acre in a country setting about 35 minutes outside of Fort Worth. We worked with a virtual agent who was so helpful in touring and video recording properties for us all over DFW. She wrote up the offer and within days we had mutual acceptance, an inspection date and tentative closing date.

Everything happened so fast that we didn’t have an opportunity to see all of our friends and family that we would have liked to or for a proper farewell. Packing seemed like it was never ending, but we managed to get it done in two weekends and all the hours during the week in between. The task of packing in such a short window gave us the opportunity to purge a lot of unnecessary “things and stuff” that we kept and collected for no reason over the years. I applied some elements of the KonMari Method during the purge and it felt so good to get rid of stuff that we didn’t need or that didn’t spark joy.  I also had fun selling a lot of stuff quickly on OfferUp, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace.

Moving day came and I found it feeling similar to how I felt first going off to college. There’s excitement and fear of the unknown. I remember those college days well… I was homesick at first, yet I knew it was time for that next chapter.  I had no choice but to go forward.  Looking back, those were some of the best years of my life. I never learned so about myself and what I was capable of doing.  It’s a different time now and it’s not just about me anymore – I have a husband and two children now.  I need to show them that life here can be and will be great. It already is great in many ways if we open our eyes and look for it.  It’s also an incredible opportunity, a chance to try new things, explore more of the world, make new traditions, celebrate life and grow.

No matter how much I miss my old life, there’s no better time to move forward – for my husband, our sons, and for myself.  The timing of it all just fell into place organically as if there was a bigger plan for us just waiting to unfold but it was up to us to put in the work and make it happen.  We feel truly blessed.

Closing Day August 28, 2017

So here we are, in our new home and new state. The boys have adjusted so well, better than I expected. I know it’s their age that has helped make the transition easier. Jonah at age 7 going on 8 at the time of our move, loves his new school and hasn’t looked back. Baron at age 2 during the move is just enjoying everyday. We like to look at photos together on fb and Instagram of our friends and relatives from back home and the kids do remember the fun memories we had.  We love our new home and are happy with our decision on where and what we purchased. I have plans to make some updates to the house in stages, but for now, I am finding joy in making this house our home through projects such as decorating, repurposing, and styling a whole new blank canvas. (House tour pics coming soon).  Frequent trips to Target (Super Targets in Texas) have been therapeutic and have helped me ease into my new environment here, while discovering new places to eat, shop, play and explore have made it an exciting adventure for the entire family.  There are also Drybar‘s here in Dallas and Fort Worth, hallelujah! I just need to find a new hairstylist and I’ll be good to go.  Speaking of shopping, Dallas is the place to be if you love to shop. John has found his outdoor gun range, and the kids have a cute little park, beach and lake nearby.  At the end of each day, we find tranquility in our new country surroundings.

We appreciate the close friends and relatives who have been supportive and those who have rooted for us (you know who you are) in our decision to move. It really means a lot to know that it is your true friends that have your back no matter what, and uplift and encourage you to live your best life. I’m all about #goodvibesonly. Designing the life you want involves risk, challenges, uncertainty and figuring some things out as you go. There will be voices and negative nellies that tell you “It’s too hard” or “It just doesn’t make sense.”  In fact, our brains are scientifically wired to prevent us from doing things that are uncomfortable, uncertain or scary in order to protect us and survive. But at the risk of sounding cliché, I believe sacrificing a life inside a comfort zone for the sake of living a better, richer and fuller story is the best kind of life worth living.