Edhat Staff
By the edhat staff
This luxury “Floating Home” was a labor of love that’s now listed at $4.9 million in the Santa Barbara Harbor.
Built in the early 70s and initially named the Thomas Jefferson, it is one of only four structures allowed by the City of Santa Barbara and classified as a “manmade floating object.”
Santa Barbara native Jeff Wapner purchased the home years ago and along with his father, Mike Wapner, decided to retrofit the structure over a period of four years.
At 1,290 interior square-feet, the home offers 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom while sitting at the Santa Barbara Harbor Marina 3C, Slip ST-13.
Some of the unique hand-crafted carpentry include quartered and rift white oak floors and staircase, pops of burlwood, mahogany, brass, wool, and marble countertops with two integrated sinks.
The home also features Graylite II glazed windows, Viking and Fisher & Paykel appliances, a large indoor shower with a white Tadelakt plaster finish and full skylight, as well as a hot outdoor shower. Window tint and glazing, as well as numerous lighting options, make it easy to remain invisible while indoors.
The father-son duo was also featured in Architectural Digest this summer before listing the home.
Patricia Ruben of Sotheby’s Realty holds the listing and will host open houses this coming Saturday and Sunday.
Photo: Roy Hathon / Sothebys
Photo: Roy Hathon / Sothebys
This will be a nice second (or whatever) home for someone very rich.
Eyesore!
Why does it have a bathroom? You are not allowed to flush in the harbor.
Slip residents must use the public bathrooms and showers.
They must have some special system. Maybe a holding tank that gets pumped out? The listing doesn’t say. But they certainly don’t just dump waste into the harbor.
There are pump out services which come to the boat to empty your blackwater tanks for you.
Thanks for featuring this! I’ve seen that and wanted to know what it is like inside.
They won’t get it but goof for them for trying.
Yeah, that seems a bit of a stretch, even in SB. For that sq footage and the inherent hassles of living on water, it’s going to take a very dedicated buyer. Hopefully, someone doesn’t just buy it for fun and then let it ruin. Seems like a lot of maintenance.
Sac, yeah, you look at what you can get in Montecito for five million, or Carp, etc., and this thing makes no sense. As well, frankly, you could buy a sixty or seventy foot yacht brand new for half that and be able to go places rather than just sit there. And what if you want to move your amazing houseboat to Mexico or even San Diego? Nope. That thing is not seaworthy in any sense and almost sank when they were bringing it up in 1 foot of swell on the calmest day they could find. You can always toss the lines on your beautiful 2.5m yacht and go anywhere and also find a buyer for it. It’s really bizarre.
This floater plus the Ablitt House plus the I.V. Geodesic Dome House – quite the eclectic selection!
Any other quirky local buildings that you can think of?
Also featured in the Wall Street Journal, they’re certainly getting enough advertising for the place
https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/the-owner-of-this-4-9-million-houseboat-is-jumping-ship-a31f404