Washington real estate oddity features cool rock 'n' roll vibe
Island getaway includes aquatic tribute to the late David Bowie
This is Major Tom to Ground Control … could you see yourself stepping through the door of this David Bowie-inspired Washington mansion? A real estate rarity featuring the Space Oddity singer is on the market for US$3.5 million, reports realtor.com.
Best viewed from above, a giant portrait of Bowie fills the bottom of the pool in the backyard of a 6,000-square-foot home on Vashon Island, Wash.
“We are getting so many people who are contacting us who are fascinated by that pool,” listing agent Linda Bianchi told the website.
“People walk in and they're first mesmerized by the house. Then they're mesmerized by the views, and then they say, `Oh yeah, and there's a David Bowie pool and we've got to get out and see that.'”
The painting is courtesy of street artist Ten Hundred (a.k.a. Peter Robinson), who created it with swimming pool paint over five days in 2016.
He first outlined the image using a large stencil, and filled it in with brush work.
The house, located at 14312 Glen Acres Rd. SW, was constructed in 1971 by Bill Kirschner, the founder of K2 Corp., which made the first fibreglass skis.
The Kirschners sold the home in 2015 to current owners Mike and Elizabeth Mcconnell, making this only the second time it's been on the market. Mike was the one who commissioned the Bowie pool portrait.
“(He's) a rock 'n' roll guy. He has a huge record collection. He's got a collection of pinball machines in the game room in the basement,” said Bianchi. “He's just a really interesting person, and he loves David Bowie, so they had Bowie painted on the bottom of the pool after they bought it.”
There st of the property also rocks. Built in a midcentury modern style with high ceilings, wood accents and clean lines, the house has five bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.
There's also a spacious deck, wine storage for thousands of bottles, and views of Puget Sound and Mount Rainier.
Elsewhere on the 2.8-acre property is a 280-foot (85-metre) stretch of waterfront and a 1,700-square-foot guest house with two bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, and a kitchen.
Small note, though. You can get to the island only by ferry.
Or, you can keep up to a 60-foot (18-metre) boat in the boat house to zip to and from the mainland.
“We are about a 20-minute ferry ride from the city of Seattle and about a 10-minute ferry ride to Tacoma,”
said Bianchi.
“Our island is unique. It's rural, but pretty hip. It's very desirable, and we're getting a lot of people who are trying to escape the city for various reasons.”