CLINTON, Wash — With its exterior painted that familiar white and green and the historic ferry photos on the walls, the inspiration for Ryan Anderson's Whidbey Island vacation rental is clear.
"So it's kids camp meets National Parks meets Ferry," he said. "The idea is that you come here and feel like 'I'm a kid again'."
Ferry Cove, his waterfront house in Clinton, does feel like summer camp: One bedroom is a salute to Disney's classic movie Parent Trap. Another is the bunk room everyone wanted when they were a kid. And there are other campy touches, like a chalkboard in the dining room for planning the day's activities, and a loudspeaker that guests can use to blast announcements into the backyard,
But head down to the basement to truly climb aboard this getaway.
Anderson, who also owns a construction company, built a recreation of the ferry Tokitae <toe-ki-tay> himself, right down to the life-rings. It's so realistic the only way to confirm you're not on a ferry it to pay close attention to the details, like a standard issue red ferry sign on the wall that reads "ATTENTION - SLEEPY KIDS MUST REPORT TO BUNK BEDS IMMEDIATELY."
Anderson paid close attention to details too - he had an expert from Benjamin Moore color-match all the paint from the real ferry, and recorded the ferry announcements guests can play over another PA system, himself. He had to take a lot of ferry rides from Mukilteo to Clinton to do all of this.
"Every time I get on the ferry I'm with my camera, and my notepad, my iPhone and walking around," he said. "And they all got to know me. And they're like, no, here's that guy again. Here he comes!"
He even recreated the view from onboard the Clinton dock as the ferry arrived on his faux ferry using his iPhone. It's one of his favorite parts of this one-of-a-kind suite.
"I really liked the way it turned out," Anderson said.
There's yet another twist in the basement - a retro Captain's Quarters straight out of the Humphrey Bogart movie African Queen.
Anderson's construction company, RW Anderson Homes, plans to make more fantasy places like Ferry Cove for other vacation rental owners, business owners, or anyone who wants a bit of carefully curated and constructed magic in their space.
"Whatever that vision is, let's make it a reality," said Braden Sherman, who does business development for the company. "On a project like this, you're only limited by your imagination."
The payoff is the joy these places can bring.
"So it's fun to know that people can kind of bring out their inner kid for a weekend. And it means a lot to me," said Anderson.
Perhaps one of the coolest features of Ferry Cove, you can sit on the porch and watch the real one come and go. And once you've arrived, you won't have to wait in any lines to enjoy this ferry getaway.
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