Tao, a tiny houseboat on Lake Union

March 14, 2016

Gasworks Park Marina is a community of tiny floating homes on Lake Union, close to downtown Seattle. The full-time liveaboard marina is set up as a condominium. The boat slips are owned individually while the docks and onshore facilities, including a laundry and shower building, are shared by all the owners. The sizes of the homes are limited by the dimensions of the slips. Most of the 70 slips can only accommodate vessels up to 33.5′ long by 10.5′ wide.

Tao, a colorful houseboat moored at the marina, has scalloped shingles to complement its curved roof. Tao was sold just a few days ago for US$235,000 plus vessel sales tax. That got the buyer both the houseboat and the slip. The houseboat has approximately 260 ft² (24 m²) of inside floor space, plus a sleeping loft accessed by a pull-down ladder.

Half the vessel is allocated to the living room while the other half is split between the galley and bathroom. The galley seems reasonably roomy given the limited space on board, however it does have only compact appliances including a propane marine stove. The bathroom was described as a “3/4 bath” in the real estate listing, however no hand basin is visible in the photos.

Up in the sleeping loft, a shelving unit provides clothes storage. That and the kitchen cabinets seem to be the only built-in storage there is.

The listing brokerage, Special Agents Realty, provided a breakdown of the expenses associated with life on the water. The big one is the condominium fee of $357 monthly, which pays for maintenance, upgrades and insurance on the shared property, plus water and garbage collection. Additional expenses of $560 a year for the property taxes on the slip, $500 for the annual vessel registration, sewage pumpout at $50 a month, and a monthly electricity bill of roughly $25 bring the total to $520 per month.