Floating Home Isn’t Blocking View Anymore Seattle Millionaire Moves Fancy Barge Back To Ballard

A 36-foot-high floating home that has blocked views and angered neighbors along the northeast shore of Lake Union here has been moved back to Ballard.

The three-story, 120-foot-long residential barge - essentially a floating boat shed with living space tucked into one end - is owned by multimillionaire heir John Fluke Jr. and his wife, Lynne.

It had been built to accommodate the Flukes’ 84-foot yacht, Excalibur, and had been docked in an industrial nonresidential zone on the lake since July, when the couple moved the barge from its former mooring in Ballard.

Neighbors were resentful that they were missing out on views of downtown Seattle and complained to the city, which levied $75-a-day fines after it found that several land-use and shoreline restrictions had been violated.

Last month, the Flukes, having paid more than $5,000 in fines, agreed to move the barge by Dec. 15.

The structure now is at Coastal Transportation, an industrial-shipping company next to the Ballard Bridge, where more than a dozen vessels are moored.

A tugboat had pulled it about three miles west along the Lake Washington Ship Canal early Saturday morning.

“I am so glad to see that thing gone,” said Gary Rebholz, yard supervisor for Dunn Lumber, located across the street from where the barge had been moored.

“This is a great job because we walk past this view all the time. It seemed so unfair for a guy to have that (barge) for his own pleasure and to have the rest of us give our view up,” said Rebholz.

Under a temporary agreement reached Friday with city officials, the structure can remain at Coastal Transportation until Jan. 15.

If the Flukes intend to keep the barge there past that date, they must apply for a permanent permit for a boat-repair facility, said Alan Justad, spokesman for the city’s Department of Construction and Land Use.

Justad said it is unlikely city codes would allow the barge to be used as a residential structure.

The Flukes had said they were living on the barge only while their yacht was being repaired, but the professionally decorated home was featured in a four-page spread in the July-August issue of Seattle Homes and Lifestyles magazine.