The ferry arrived in Hollis on Prince of Wales at 6:30 p.m. We were taken by an island taxi to a B&B in Craig, which was about 31 miles away, where we spent the night. The next morning Leah Music, a realtor, picked us up and drove us to Whale Pass, which was about 73 miles away. The trip took about 2 1/2 hours. We traveled on paved roads for about 34 miles and the rest of the way on gravel roads. Being February, there was snow and even ice on the road in some spots, but we made it just fine to Whale Pass.
We were amazed at how beautiful Alaska was. It was so green and so thick with growth!
The house was off the road about 75 feet and the ground was covered with about a foot of snow, so we hiked through the snow to the house. Like many Alaska homes, the house was about 80% done.There were two interesting parts about this house: (1) it had two roll-up metal doors in the back which were used to pull recreational vehicles up into the house, and (2) there were two front doors, both of which led into bedrooms.
Only a third of the exterior had siding on it and the other half had strandboard (OSB).
Some of the OSB had Tyvek stapled to it--some of which had pulled away from the house and was partially hanging.
There were two sets of rickety stairs on the front of the house that looked like they had been exposed to rain for many years. Deb was a little nervous to walk up them.
There was no electricity on in the house, so we used the light from the windows to see the interior. We were able to see just fine except for the bathroom, which had no windows. We found the inside to be partially done also. About two-thirds of the floors were plywood which had been painted gray. One of the rooms in the house was unfinished. This room was used for storage, a meat locker, and a recreational vehicle garage.
The kitchen was one of the nicest rooms in the house. The cabinets were in good shape, but there was limited counterspace. This side of the house had white vinyl on the floors and the walls were covered with white paneling. There was a blue oil burning stove in the kitchen with a stove pipe that went up into the ceiling and through the roof. We noticed some water damage on the ceiling and after checking we found that the stove pipe had leaked around the opening in the roof.
One of the front doors went into a bedroom with two twin beds. The bedframe was made of 2x4's and plywood. The previous owner left mattresses on these beds. There was no door giving privacy to this bedroom from the rest of the house.
There was a doorway from this bedroom into a small open area, which contained a small desk and a small bookshelf. This area was surrounded by the bedroom with twin beds on one side, the storage room on another side and the center of the house on one end.As we went through the house, we noticed that there was nothing up to any of the windows.
The other front door lead into a bedroom with two sets of bunk beds. The walls were covered with white paneling and the floor was covered with white vinyl. The bunk beds were made with 2x4's and plywood. They actually seemed quite nice. There were mattresses on the bottom bunks, but none on the top bunks. Walking through this bedroom took you into the kitchen. There was no door giving privacy to this bedroom from the kitchen.
In the center of the house there was a long room that went from the front of the house to the back. At one end of this room there was a small table with three office-type chairs on wheels. There was also a wooden bookshelf.
The other end had a couch and two chairs on a carpeted floor. The furniture was not in too bad shape. Many of the walls and ceilings were covered with pine planks, which gave it a warm and comfy feeling.
The bathroom had a toilet, shower, and sink. There was an instantaneous water heater on the wall that was for the shower only. The walls and floor were made of OSB which had been painted gray. A metal roll-up door that was spoken of earlier was in the bathroom. There was no light in the bathroom because there were no windows. We were able to take this picture with a flash.
We took many pictures of the house, both inside and out so that we could refer to them as we were making our decision on the house. This would also help us remember what was there.
After looking at the home, we drove around a little to see Whale Pass. We drove down to the dock.
The bay was calm and the water looked like glass. This is a picture of the boat ramp.
Glenn is waving to the camera with the Fire Department building and the Post Office in the background. What is not showing in this picture is the Library with is over to the right.
We liked what we saw in Whale Pass on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska and we said, "It is good".
We returned to our home to contemplate our next step.
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