A modern floating house in Santa Barbara Harbor has come on the market for $4.9 million.
Dubbed the Thomas Jefferson, this 1970s-era house was completely renovated and expanded by owner Jeffrey Wapner and his retired engineer father over four years. Within its 1,290 square feet are two bedrooms, one bathroom and abundant built-in storage space.
The slip is included in the list price.
While it’s unclear how much Wapner paid for the wooden structure, the Santa Barbara Independent advertised it in January 2016 for sale at $650,000.
But the newly designed house bears no resemblance to its previous incarnation. According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the listing, Wapner spent roughly $2 million reimagining the two-story houseboat and completed the project about two years ago.
The interior boasts quartered and rift white oak floors and a central staircase.
At the entry level, there’s a laundry room and a large room that can double as a second bedroom. Wapner uses it as a workspace for his business Paradise Is Divided Into Blue and Green, which makes beach and surfboard bags out of old sails.
A sliding glass door extends the room onto a deck.
The upstairs kitchen flows into the nearby dining area, which can accommodate up to 10 people.
At the opposite end of the floor is the bedroom. The bathroom has two sinks and a large shower finished in smooth white Moroccan-style Tadelakt plaster under a skylight.
A ladder between the bedroom and kitchen leads to the flat roof.
An outdoor shower adds to the perks.
Patricia Ruben of Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.
According to the Wall Street Journal and news archives, the wooden structure is one of four houseboats grandfathered in since a city ban took place in 2015, allowing it to remain in the harbor.
Local boating and fishing newspaper TheLog.com reported in November 2014 that the Santa Barbara Harbor Commission defines the waterfront as a working harbor for commercial fishing and recreational uses.
“It’s never been designed as a harbor for floating homes,” then-Harbor Operations Manager Mick Kronman reportedly told commissioners.
The floating house in the harbor’s Marina 3C Slip ST-13 will open from noon to 3 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 23 and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 24.
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