Fairhaven
The brick district on the south side
Fairhaven is the historic district at the south end of Bellingham. It was its own town before it was part of Bellingham, and the few blocks of 19th-century brick buildings at its center are what is left of the years when it ran on salmon, coal and lumber. The district went on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and the buildings have been looked after since.
It is also where Bellingham connects to everywhere else. The Alaska ferry leaves from the terminal at the bottom of Harris Avenue, and the Amtrak station is right beside it, with trains to Seattle and to Vancouver. Our office is at 1318 12th Street, so we are in Fairhaven most days.
What the housing is like
There are really two kinds of home here. In and around the village there are condos, many of them in newer buildings with shops at street level, and they are about as close to car-free living as Bellingham gets. On the streets running up the hill and out toward Fairhaven Park there are houses, a lot of them old, including some well restored Victorians. Fairhaven is small, so there is never much of either for sale at one time.
With a condo, the building matters as much as the unit. Read the association documents before you fall for the view: the reserves, any special assessments, the rental rules, where you park and where a guest parks.
With an older house, inspections matter more than usual. Foundations, wiring, plumbing and the sewer line to the street are the usual places where an old Fairhaven house hides its costs. Lots are small and often sloped, which makes additions and garages harder than they look. And if the house is inside the historic district, ask what rules apply to the exterior before you plan a remodel.
Two other things to know. The rail line runs along the waterfront, so you will hear trains, more on some blocks than others. And Fairhaven is a place people visit, so summer weekends and event days bring traffic and a fight for parking that a quiet Tuesday in February will not show you. Come back on a Saturday before you decide.
Trails, parks and the bay
The South Bay Trail is the reason a lot of people want to be here. It leaves Fairhaven, runs out over the water on the boardwalk to Boulevard Park, and carries on into downtown. People commute on it, on foot and by bike, with the bay and the islands beside them the whole way.
Marine Park is the small beach at the end of Harris Avenue, good for a sunset or for launching a kayak. It is also the finish line for Ski to Sea, the relay race that starts up at Mount Baker and ends on the bay, and the village fills up for it every year. Fairhaven Park is the bigger, greener one on the uphill side, and from that end of the neighborhood the Interurban Trail heads south toward Chuckanut.
Daily life
You can do most of a day here on foot. Village Books takes up three floors in the middle of the village and the Village Green next to it is where outdoor events happen. For a beer, Archer Ale House and Stones Throw Brewery are two that locals like. There are restaurants, galleries and small shops through the rest of the district, and they turn over the way small businesses do, so ask us what is good this year.
Western Washington University is just up the hill, so there are always students around. The schools usually listed for Fairhaven are Happy Valley Elementary, Fairhaven Middle School and Sehome High School, all in Bellingham Public Schools. Boundaries change, so check the district map for the specific address.
Who it suits
Fairhaven suits people who want to walk to things and would trade a big yard and a three-car garage for that. It works well for someone moving down from a larger house into a condo, and for anyone who travels a lot and likes the idea of a train station at the end of the street. If you want more land and more quiet and still want Fairhaven close, Edgemoor is the next neighborhood south. The rest of the Southside, South Hill and Happy Valley, is just to the north.