The Bellingham Real Estate Podcast
The Bellingham Real Estate Podcast
From Longhouses To ADUs: A Clear History Of Bellingham Housing with Jen Sandoval
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Bellingham’s neighborhoods can feel like totally different worlds, but the pattern isn’t random. When you follow the city’s housing history, the map starts to click: why Fairhaven and South Hill skew older, why streetcar-era blocks cluster near the core, why Silver Beach developed as a distinct pocket, and why the north side and east side took off later.
We sit down with Jen Sandoval, our go-to local historian for old homes and neighborhood context, and trace Bellingham housing from its deepest roots to the decisions shaping today’s market. We talk about Coast Salish history and how people used the land and water long before modern development. Then we move through the early settler period, timber mills, railroad speculation, and the boom years that left us with many of the historic downtown Bellingham and Fairhaven buildings buyers still admire.
From there, the story becomes a practical guide for anyone house hunting in Whatcom County. We connect the 1903 city consolidation to infrastructure growth and the rise of Craftsman bungalows and worker cottages, then explain how the Great Depression, postwar years, cars, and I-5 reshaped what got built and where. We also dig into Western Washington University’s long-term pull on housing supply, student rentals, and why infill keeps happening around campus.
We end with the current chapter: affordability pressure, mixed housing, ADUs, and the debate over neighborhood character in places like Columbia and Fairhaven, alongside the rise of new “urban village” energy in Barkley and Cordata. If you want a clearer lens for understanding Bellingham real estate, listen, subscribe, share this with a friend who’s moving here, and leave a review with the neighborhood you want us to cover next.
You can reach Jen at jensandoval@johnlscott.com
Welcome And Why Housing History Matters
SPEAKER_01Hello and welcome to the Bellingham Real Estate Podcast. I'm here with Jen Sandoval. Welcome, Jen. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_00Welcome back. Yes.
SPEAKER_01And today we're going to talk about the history of Bellingham housing. Last time we had you on, we talked about really the history of a house because you're an expert on older homes, craftsman homes, turn-of-century homes, and learning about the history of those homes. So I hope people check out that podcast too. And I guess you're kind of our historian here.
SPEAKER_00Expert, geek, I don't know. That's one of the two. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so I thought this would be really fun to cover really like the growth of Bellingham.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And um, so let's get right into it. So before we get into, I mean we were gonna fo we're gonna focus mainly on from the 1900s on to today. Take us back to a little bit further back into the 1800s, like kind of or the history of Bellingham, just kind of a brief kind of rundown of how we got where we were.
Coast Salish Roots Of The Region
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, I think it's really interesting. I I do love learning about this stuff and visiting the museum and and seeing the old history that we have here. So, yeah, I mean, we can't talk about the history of our area without talking about the Coast Salish people that have been here for thousands and thousands of years. And so they have uh lived in this area. They used the giant cedar trees that we have around to have um longhouses, and they would have those in different locations and they would move around and um depending on where the salmon were running or if they were, you know, digging oysters or things like that. Um but you know, they utilize the land and and the spaces. One of the coolest stories I really enjoy about the history is that they actually used Guamus Island um as a specific island to um breed long-haired dogs. So it's a now extinct um breed of dog called the Salish woolly dog, and they would specifically breed these dogs on this small island, and then they would go every spring and they would um you know shear the dogs for this, their their fur, and then they would, you know, make clothing and and other things out of it. And so they really used the land that they had and the resources they had. So that is just really fascinating. They've been here a long
First Settlers And The Timber Mill
SPEAKER_00time. Um, but the first settlers came um in 1852. Uh Henry Roder and J.E. Peabody came up. They were originally landed in like the California area, that's where they were gonna, you know, strike out and make their gold. Um, but they found that it was hard and there were a lot of people there. And in 1851, San Francisco had a big fire and it burned to the ground. So there was a huge need for timber. So they started heading north to look for a place they could set up a timber mill. And at every stop place they stopped, they found it was already, you know, occupied, somebody was already there. So they kept working their way north. They came to Bellingham Bay, they really liked the protectedness of the bay, and there were giant old growth um trees right along the ocean there. And so uh they stopped here and they actually met with and worked with the chief of the Lummy Nation who guided them to they needed a waterfall to be able to power that mill so that they could mill the lumber. And the chief guided them to Whatcom Creek. Um, so not Whatcom Falls up by the um lake, but the creek right by the bay. And so they set up a mill there and really got things started. Um, that being said, from the 50s, 1850s to the 1870s were pretty patchy. I mean, there were times there were like only 20 families in you know Whatcom County area. Um, they were trying coal mining in Seahome Hill area, they were doing logging, but they could only, you know, get logs from so far because they had to move them to the bay to be able to take them down to San Francisco or Victoria area as well. Um, so they were kind of limited a little bit. Um, and then 1880s, um, we had
Railroad Hype And The 1880s Boom
SPEAKER_00a huge boom. And that was because there was some speculation that um a transcontinental railroad was gonna end in Bellingham Bay. And so all these real estate developers came in and like overnight we had huge like commercial booming um and building along South Hill, Fairhaven, um, and so a lot of development happening. Um, and then in the 1890s, streetcars um were brought into play, and so they were able to get further out and and get trees from further out. So the in 1891, a streetcar was um built all the way out to like Silver Beach area so they could then forest or log all around Lake Watcombe, float the um, float the logs down, and then put them on the railroad and down to Bellingham Bay and out. So there was a lot of development that happened between 1880 and 1890s to the 1900s when all the towns were brought together.
SPEAKER_01So floated down into Fairhaven essentially, right there. Yeah, like the same route that we do for like ski to sea essentially.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there at the time there was a wharf that was built because it was kind of shallow. So they built a mile-long wharf out into the middle of Bellingham Bay, um, so which allowed it to be kind of a deep harbor. Yeah. Uh, and then they would load the timber um there from the mills.
SPEAKER_01Cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so um some of the downtown commercial buildings in downtown Bellingham and in Fairhaven are from that boom.
SPEAKER_00Yep, absolutely. Yeah, if you look at the top of a lot of those buildings, you'll see 1880, 1891. Um, so yeah, a lot of those old buildings still exist. Um, we actually are super fortunate um from a history perspective to have some really old um and acknowledged buildings here.
Oldest Homes And Downtown Landmarks
SPEAKER_00So the oldest, uh, what is it, the oldest wood home on its original foundation in Washington State is here in Bellingham, the Pickett House that was built in 1856. Um, and then also the oldest brick building, um, which is the old courthouse, um, is still standing as well.
SPEAKER_01Where's the picket house?
SPEAKER_00The picket house, it's on uh E Street. Okay, yeah, it's on, yeah, it's what's called Peabody Hill. Um and just pretty close to the creek there.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
1900s Cottages And City Consolidation
SPEAKER_01So the housing that most of the housing that a buyer would look at today is mostly there's definitely some late 1800s houses, but uh most of them are 1900s and up. So let's get into let's get to the 1900s. So what what's what's the big boom in the 1900s? Early 1900s.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, because originally housing was like log cabins, right? And then in that boom in the 1880s, we saw more like um those real estate developers brought in some money and we got those more Queen Anne style Victorian, really detailed homes. In the 1900s, we started having a lot more people, a lot more workers. Um, and while they had been using, you know, like worker um barracks kind of things by the mills and by the um coal plants and stuff like that, um, it changed so that workers were able to build their own little cottages, right? And so we see the development of like craftsman-style bungalows, things like that. And so a lot of building happening in the 1900s because in 1903, um, you know, all the cities came together. So Watcombe, Seahome, Bellingham, and Fairhaven were each their own little individual towns. And in 1903, they came together and became one town. So instead of competing against each other, they were able to kind of pool resources. And so you saw a big boom of infrastructure. So street lights, streetcars, um, all of those utilities that made building um a lot more possible.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And then and Silver Beach um kind of as a as a pocket, yeah, much farther. I mean, it really seems like everything was around the water except for Silver Beach. And is that and is that due to um the logging up there, or is that due to the train track that used to be up there or both?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, both. Yeah, both, yeah, because there was that kind of pocket of logging um out there. And so you had the railroad track, which went that way to bring the wood down, but then you also had a streetcar that went along Lakeway. So um now the old railroad track is the trail that goes up through Whatcom Falls Park, and then the old streetcar track is Lakeway. And so um you were able to get people and things back and forth between Silver Beach, so it was able to be its own kind of little community that really did develop in that same era, kind of simultaneously with downtown Bellingham and all the things that were happening around, you know, the port, which is the big kind of driver, right? Fishing, timber, all those things happened in and out of the ports.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And and you know, I I have some friends who live on Lake the north end of Lake Wacom, and they still can sometimes find some remnants of the railroad that used to go right across the north end of the Lake Wacom um waterfront, which is wild.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um kind of jumping ahead to the 1920s.
Streetcar Suburbs And The 1920s
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, maybe just I mean, obviously there's a lot more to talk about downtown and in the but near the waterfront, but just uh in Silver Beach, when was the big kind of circus kind of whole?
SPEAKER_00Uh when was that all it was it was right in that era? Yeah, yeah. There was definitely the heyday in Silver Beach, and it was just right before the Great Depression hit everywhere, right? And so it was in this area era where there was a lot of um people coming to town, there was a lot of industry happening, there was a lot more um accessibility getting there and back. And so you had this whole little um pocket environment happening out there for sure. And then as you know, the war took place and things like that, that kind of went away.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so um, and what else, what else what kind of developed in the 1920s? Yeah. What neighborhoods?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, we did see more, you know, as that all that development had been happening really densely um by downtown. But as those streetcars developed, we saw kind of the evolution of streetcar suburbs. So what doesn't seem far to us today, um, you know, Columbia neighborhoods into the further ends of lettered streets. There was also a line, the Happy Valley line. So Fairhaven developed, but also there was a streetcar line headed up Happy Valley, and there was a decent amount of development that happened up there as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And so you're basically you're essentially what we call like the core neighborhoods throughout downtown, through the Columbia neighborhood, York. Um all of that is essentially by the 1930s. Now are we calling York, York at that point? We're calling Leonard Streets, Leather Streets at that time in the 1920s, in the 1930s.
SPEAKER_00They did, yeah, they did have those names at that time. Uh, and they were mostly named after uh early you know pioneers in the area and family members, and whoever had bought that piece of land then named the streets. Um, so like in Colombia, uh, most of the street names that go north-south are named after family members of uh uh of Eldridge, and then um the streets that go east-west are named after presidents for the most part,
Depression Era Shifts In Homebuilding
SPEAKER_00yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, and then so then jumping ahead to the Great Depression, how did how did that shape any of the housing that was built during that time?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So the 1930s, obviously, things um we weren't building as much, but there was still some building happening. Then in the 40s, you actually had um kind of an interesting, you know, the war was taking place, and we actually had a lot of industry around that to support the war. And then as people came home, the post-war housing boom, um, and so there was a lot of building and you know, construction happening. We just see it on a lot more modest level. And you can kind of see that when you see you're out looking at homes that are built in the 30s and 40s, they're a little bit smaller, they're not we're not seeing the big four-square homes anymore, we're not seeing those giant Queen Anne Victorians, you're seeing these, you know, more single-level kind of we're starting to get to the edge of like a ranch style house, right? Um, where they were really um very kind of cautious about how they were using materials and things like that. So we're not seeing, you know, built-ins everywhere and things like that. It was much more kind of utilitarian.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it's it's interesting because the as just being in real estate for so long, if you are searching in those neighborhoods and you look at the year built, yeah, just kind of thinking through this now and never really, of course, because of the Great Depression, but using those neighborhoods, you see a lot of 1900, 1905, 1907, 1912, 1902, maybe 19 up to 1926, 27. And then you don't see a lot of 1930s homes at all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I rarely see one in the 1930s.
SPEAKER_00And then 40s and 50s, and it starts to go back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it picks back up again. And so, and that's uh, and that's where we're getting into okay, so now let's go from let's go, we're going in the 40s and 50s, talk about our mid-century years, because yeah, I mean that is a lot of ramblers and that is a lot of kind of infill, correct?
Postwar Cars Change Neighborhood Design
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. It's a lot of infill, but the you know, the other huge thing that happens in there is that cars become a lot more available and accessible. Yeah. So where you didn't really build garages before, because like what's the point? Now people are like, I need a garage for this, you know, sweet new ride. Yeah. And so we see housing and the development of land to be focused a bit more towards that. You start to see some of those, you know, like roadway motels, um, because you know, highway 99 that came through came right through downtown and out through northwest, you know, and that was the thoroughfare. So that's where commerce really developed as well. Um, and then houses and neighborhoods, you know, beyond that. Um, you also start to see some of the development towards the south end as well. So the starting development of like edgemore neighborhoods and things like that.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah. So the edgemores, edgemore neighborhood, yeah. That that was that was a big one.
SPEAKER_00Closer to the 60s?
SPEAKER_01Closer to the 60s, kind of getting into the 50s and 60s, and then into the 70s, yeah. Um now when we get into the uh the 60s, when does i-5 come
I-5 Arrives And The City Reorients
SPEAKER_01in?
SPEAKER_00Okay, so 60s and 70s are really interesting. I-5 comes in, um, it starts to be constructed in 1960 and is completed by 1965, and that really changes like the layout of everything, right? So it kind of skirts around downtown and heads north. And so we see the the beginning of like kind of shopping centers, right? So, like along Samish Way there, there was a shopping center, and so it just kind of recalibrated things a little bit. But in the 70s, too, we saw this huge eastward expansion. So, where people had been really dense within the downtown area and and things that were close by, now people wanted they wanted more space. Yeah, they wanted to be in and close to nature. So we see a lot of development: Alabama Hill, Geneva, Puget, um, with a lot of, you know, like decks overlooking green spaces, split levels to be able to build into those hills and things like that, but utilizing the space that existed more towards the east so that people could have larger houses, right? These are the eras where we have these big, big windows. When you get up on Alabama Hill, you've got those big pane windows in the 60s and 70s to really um focus on making sure that people are engaging with nature in that way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it and all of that is just a really good summary of getting to that point of you know, you're a home buyer, you're looking for a home in Bellingham, you know, sure. When you're near downtown in Fairhaven, we're seeing a lot of those turn-of-the-century craftsman-style homes of Victorians. Then you get to the jump up into the 40s and 50s, it's kind of right at that expansion of Cornwall Park, um, Sunnyland. Sunnyland, though, actually has quite a few older homes as well.
SPEAKER_00Sunnyland does. It was part of the kind of the streetcar suburb era. Okay. Uh, Sunnyland, in the in the 40s, we saw Cornwall Park really develop, Birchwood got expanded into the farther end of Columbia, which you see the edges of Columbia are more of those mid-century. Right, especially that north end. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so then you're, and then really, when we get to on the east side of the I-5, even to today, you know, if you're a buyer and you want to be kind of, I mean, of course, the south side still has a lot of trails and still a lot of nature access, but the east side, you're still 60, mostly 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s homes, bigger lots, still more treed, still more access to those kind of um amenities.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So, so yeah, I mean, it it makes sense as the with the freeway and with cars, how that how that would how that would work. So let me just jump back for a second.
Western’s Growth And Constant Infill
SPEAKER_01Also, what we didn't talk about this before, but when Western Washington University, when does that come in and how does that affect things at all?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, it has been, I think it's 1883. Yeah. Um, so they it's been in existence, it's called been called different things over time. And I think it was originally called like the Washington Standard School or something like that. Um, but yeah, it's existed on that South Hill area and it was one of the one of the industries that we had, right? And it was a smaller industry to start, but it definitely was a draw for folks. And then we really saw over time Western continue to grow and develop and be, you know, a big draw not only for students, but for faculty and staff as well. Um, and so the building around um that area on you know, on South Hillside, but also Seahome on the on the north, and then Happy Valley area as well. Um, we've always seen a lot of development. And that is kind of an interesting area because it has the school, you have a lot of kind of infill happening. So you'll see lots of different eras around because it was kind of continuously needing to be developed to be able to support more and more people.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, you're right. You see, you'll see an old home and then you'll see a whole bunch of like newer townhomes right next to it, and then that house from the 70s.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And that's kind of, I guess, Happy Valley and Western Washington University, the complexion of those two neighborhoods is a mix of everything.
Northward Expansion In The 80s And 90s
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, absolutely. And so let's jump up to the the 80s. What's okay?
SPEAKER_00In the 80s, what what we had happen is things got really expensive, right? Yeah. Loans, loans were expensive, things like that. And so land became cheaper on the north side of town, right? So along Meridian, out northwest in that Cordada area. And then Bellis Fair came into play in 1990s. So the 80s and 90s were all about the northward expansion. And developers, you know, this is nice, flat, easy land that is a lot easier to develop than the hills of the south side, right? So, like where they could have, you know, maybe gone south of Lake Salmon or Lake Samish and Lake Patton, you know, and could have kept developing that way. It's a lot harder terrain to develop on than on the north side where it's nice and flat. And so development, um, because of cost primarily went to the north side.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and they do they didn't, but they didn't actually incorporate Cordata into the city limits until just really the last few years.
SPEAKER_00Yep, yep. Yeah, yeah, but even along Northwest there, um along Baker View, some of those, you know, so like even as we're seeing condos and things like that start to develop, but also in like the Tweed 20 area, you know, in the 80s as well, um, was starting to be developed as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And then um 90s and early 2000s, that would be Barclay for sure.
SPEAKER_00Barkley for sure, that Cordada as well, you know. Um, but yeah, Barclay for sure. And also when you take a look at the maps, it's an increase in density, right? So um it's really interesting. You sometimes we think about, oh, well, you know, that neighborhood was done in the 20s, you know, like all the houses that were there were there. No, I mean infill continues to happen. Um, and some of that is, you know, we used to have a lot more robust history of house moving. Uh houses would move, you know. And that's true. Yeah. And so, but now what we're seeing is, you know, some smaller houses are being torn down and rebuilt, you know. And so there was always, always infill happening as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
2000s Student Housing And Affordability
SPEAKER_01So then we jump ahead, let's say, into the 2000s. The what's the story of the early 2000s?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So Western is a big part of that story, and student housing and infill and just not having enough housing in the early 2000s. And so we start to see some of the construction of those more student housing, and and we still see that today. So it was kind of like in 2000, we're like, we need this, and now we're seeing a lot of that come to play, right? Um, so there was a lot of development in that area to create more student housing because that also allows for more of those single-family houses to be used as single single-family houses.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think I would put a little bit of um sway on what's happening there is you have um through the 90s, Bellingham was still dramatically more affordable housing-wise, compared to like Seattle per se. It's still obviously more affordable than Seattle, but um, there was a bigger gap there. And then in the 2000s, as the cost of housing goes up, um, all these college students who are living in these pretty nice houses, like in Leonard Streets and in Fairhaven and on South Hill, you know, they're essentially getting pushed out. And um, so yeah, you you have the early 2000s where every huge apartment boom, which makes a lot of sense because parents of the students can't afford the rent that the landlords are now are now needing to make it worthwhile to rent the and that's now still an issue. Um, why we continue to see more apartments going up is because of the cost of housing around the school being really expensive.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um and then where are we
Today’s Infill: ADUs And Mixed Housing
SPEAKER_01today? I mean, we well, we know where we're at today with the comprehensive plan.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we are. But I mean, you know, we st we don't have a ton of new construction, but we do still have some up in Cordata. King Mountain is really developing and has developed a lot over the last 10 years. Um, you also have like uh there's some houses being built up off of Lake Way, right? There's some new construction of batteries around Galberth. Yeah, so we're seeing that we're also seeing that infill, right? Yeah, infill in a new way because we're We're kind of incorporating this new mixed use uh ability to be able to add ADUs, to be able to have you know different types of housing. So we're seeing that um taking place, you know, uh as as we move, kind of a thing.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And I mean, really with the infill um in town, I think that when you look at basically throughout the whole city, I mean, I think what's going to be difficult for people right now is is you're in you're in these neighborhoods right now, like you're in the you know, Columbia neighborhood or you're in um Fair Haven and you love the complexion of that neighborhood. And so there's a resistance a little bit like we have this beautiful neighborhoods that we don't want to change. Um, but then there's on the other hand, you have this this issue with affordable housing. Yeah. And so um it's just it's something that they've had to grapple with for a long time. The city has. And I think there's been a state state push that's kind of pushed them over the edge, but um the info kind of is needing to happen.
SPEAKER_00But I think too, people are really seeing the value in it, you know, whether it's intergenerational living, you know, where I, you know, I have several clients that have built ADUs and their parents live in it and they just, you know, they're able to support each other. You know, parents help with child care, they help with, you know, doctor's visits, um, whether it's, you know, having renters back there, you know, being able to support uh a Western student or somebody coming back for grad school. And so I think it's actually kind of helping, um, it could it could help to build this sense of community. But yeah, it's definitely a shifting time because we haven't seen it before. So it's kind of an interesting time to see how how it will all play out. You know, we're seeing some builders make decisions on lots that you and I would be like, why what are you doing? But you know, maybe that's the direction we're headed and and that it's you know opening a section of market that didn't exist before and will be perfect for someone.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because if you could all of a sudden, you know, afford a detached dwelling and your only other options before were to be out of Bellingham or to be in an apartment, yeah, you know, a detached small dwelling, you know, could be a great option for some people who want to stay in town. Yep.
SPEAKER_00Totally.
SPEAKER_01So um, no, I totally agree. And and I think it's gonna be, it's not gonna be, it's gonna be slow enough just with the cost of building that it's not gonna drastically change any neighborhood anytime soon, I
New Urban Villages And What Comes Next
SPEAKER_01don't think. And I I think another final point is, you know, um for the longest time, Bellingham, downtown Bellingham, Fairhaven, um, those were where the all the urban villages kind of existed. And now Barkley has its own growing urban village. I think Cordotta has is starting to develop its own. The city has that great park now. There's breweries up there, you have the food co-op up there, so you have more of a community. Yeah, trade does up there. So you have more of a community, and then I think it'll be interesting to see how King Mountain develops over time too, and maybe they're able to infill some more amenities around that to develop more community. Yeah. Um, but no, that is all super, super interesting stuff. I I learned a lot on all that.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, you know, I just always I always find it interesting, and I do think it is helpful when you're out taking a look at houses and getting to know buyers and what they're really looking for, because if they have a preference for a certain era of home, that might direct where you're gonna be, or if they have a a dispreference for a certain era of home, you know, that might change things too. So um, you know, it all kind of plays in and you work with the the land we have around us and um kind of feature all of the area.
SPEAKER_01I like it. Okay.
Final Takeaways And Thanks
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Jen. Um really appreciate it. Really good stuff. Um, thank you for listening and watching you guys.