When housing is talked about in the greater Bellingham area, it's typically been in terms of its availability and its affordability.

It really has NOT been, when it comes to new housing projects, about architectural boldness, or architectural review of really any substantial kind.

That has changed in a MASSIVE way, however, with the now-under-construction Governors Point project.

Have you heard of it?

More importantly... have you SEEN it? Or photos of it, anyway?

If not, you're in for something unlike anything you've dreamed of, much less actually seen, let me assure you.

In this blog, I am going to introduce you to, and show you some photos of, this only-one-of-its-kind-in-the-world project that is right in our backyard on the south end of Chuckanut Bay.

Let's take a tour…

What and Where is Governor's Point?

Located on the south end of Chuckanut Bay, Governors Point is a 125-acre peninsual of private property that has undergone years and years of attempted development, which I'll timeline for you below.

My surfski friends and I have paddled by this point a thousand times, during out-and-back paddles from Marine Park, or during downwind runs from Wildcat Cove at Larrabee State Park.

It is accessible by car off of Chuckanut Drive.

What is the ownership and attempted development history of Governors Point?

In 1973, owner Carl Sahlin proposed building 310 houses on Governors Point, contingent on access to Bellingham’s municipal water supply.

Although the City’s Water Board offered conditional access, Sahlin failed to meet the requirements, and the project stalled.

In 1992, his son Roger revisited the idea with a new plan for 141 luxury homes, again expecting water access based on the 1973 conditions.

The City denied his proposal, stating the original conditions were still unmet.

In 2009, Roger submitted yet another application for a water contract for 141 homes, which was denied; his appeal was unsuccessful.

In 2010, the Governors Point Development Company, led by Sahlin, sued the City over water access.

This legal action failed, with the state appellate court upholding the decision.

These previous efforts faltered due to strict City policies on water access outside City limits, ecological concerns from conservation groups, community opposition, and unsuccessful litigation.

After these setbacks, the property was listed for sale in 2015.

Randy Bishop, the current owner, purchased it in 2018 for $5.7 million, proposing a plan with just 16 homes and a 98-acre nature reserve.

Bishop's plan gained City approval, including City of Bellingham water, and -- significantly -- conservation support.

Who did Bishop hire to design the 16 homes?

Bishop hired Omer Arbel, a Jerusalem-born, Canada-based architect known for his adherence to "site specificity."

Arbel is a celebrated architect who designed the 75:9 home in British Colombia, which won the "Future Project House" award at the 2019 World Architecture Festival.

Arbel takes an approach of integrating buildings into their natural surroundings, and emphasizes material choice and process in his designs.

The Governors Point homes --as you'll see below -- are designed to blend over time completely into the surrounding landscape, aiming to make the house and surrounding ecology marry together and become one.

Below is an interior image of the 75:9 house.

Who is the actual builder of the Governors Point homes?

Owner Randy Bishop hired Bellingham general contractor Jason Wheeler, who owns Instinct Builders.

Instinct's portfolio of other projects includes much more traditional residential remodels and new builds, with an emphasis on high-end craftsmanship and green / sustainable construction methods.

The Governors Point homes are built mostly of concrete, utilizing never-seen-before texturing techniques that involve filling thousands of fabric sacks with sand to create, when removed, an organic-looking wall detail matching the area's natural sandstone.

Below, Jason Wheeler walks in front of one of the textured walls during a visit the Compass Realtors made to the jobsite in August.

So let's see these Governors Point homes already!

Absolutely.

Behold, the most ambitious, bold, abstract and creative architecture I have seen take shape in Bellingham and Whatcom County. 

Possibly anywhere, in this current millennium.

What you are seeing is a mostly-concrete structure built into the waterfront's edge among the Red Cedars, Pacific Madrones, and Western Sword Ferns…

...which is then covered in tumbled cedar balls, numbering in the thousands, stuck to the structure with steel rods.

Over time, as trees, wind, and rain deposit a blanket of debris, and as the march towards entropy plays out over days and years, the homes are meant to become almost unnoticeable from outside.

Their design life, meaning how long they are meant to last, according to Jason Wheeler during our visit, is 450 years.

OK, how much are they?

The first home is still under construction, and will be for another year at least.

All buyers are required to work with architect Omer Arbel to design their home, making customizations for their unique needs while staying loyal to the primary design elements, and not exceeding the maximum allowed square footage of 2800 feet.

Construction of all homes will, of course, be carried out by Instinct Builders.

Currently, the first house is not yet offered for sale, but you can buy a lot and begin the design process.

The first lot made available has been Active on the MLS since October 17th -- 20 days as of this writing.

It is a 0.91 acre lot, and it is priced at $5,800,000.

You can view the listing here.

What are my thoughts?

I first heard of the project a couple years ago, before they broke ground. 

The projected price point of +-$10,000,000 per home was shared at that time, and per the cost of the Actively-listed vacant lot, that seems in line with what we might see-ish.

(Or that may be a bit low.)

It didn't compute, at first. "Bellingham doesn't actually..... have..... a $10M market," I thought, and said.

The highest sale price for a single family home in Whatcom County history was in 2021, when a two-home package on Bayside Rd. in Bellingham's Edgemoor Neighborhood sold for $7.31M.

Then it drops quickly, and heavily, to $4.3M and $4.0 million for the next two most expensive sales in Whatcom County single family history.

So, I tried initially to think of it in my data-driven, size-of-buyer-pool, these-things-will-ultimately-need-to-sell brain.

And it didn't pencil, or compute.

Then I visited the site with the rest of the Compass office, led by the project's listing agent Derek Buse.

I met the owner, the architect, the builder, and listened to them speak.

I asked questions.

"Does it matter that this is in Bellingham, WA?"

"No. We designed it and are building it for the site itself. It could be anywhere in the world."

As several other, similar questions followed, I began to understand it.

As much as I love art, and even love creating art myself, I had never thought of housing or development as a form of "art."

When I am carving a log with my chainsaw and watching a sea turtle emerge from the wood, it has never once entered my mind whether that project would "pencil" or produce a return on my investment. It's just art for the sake of being creative and expressive, and for the joy of handing it off to someone who will appreciate it.

Governors Point, I came to realize, what first and foremost an art project.

Art is subjective, and the right people -- with the right financial net worth -- will be attracted to it in the right flow of time.

With 450 years ahead of these structures before rebuilding becomes necessary, there is certainly plenty of time for those people to arrive.....

....and to feel that they've found their home.

Thank you for exploring this project with me. 

If you’d like to be alerted if / when a property within this project goes pending, just email and I’ll set it up for you.