My Hometown: Sammamish, WA

Editor’s note: this is one in a series of “My Hometown,” blog posts written by Zillow employees about the homes and towns where they grew up.

My title is Partner Relations Associate, which is pretty vague since it encompasses many functions. Perhaps the most noticeable contribution I’ve made to the site is to build our neighborhood search database. I also perform a variety of research and analytics for business units within Zillow. I’m also fairly involved with maintaining this blog and, if you are a regular reader, you have probably seen some of my posts.

My hometown: Sammamish, WA 98075
My home’s approximate value in 1932: $3,000 - $5,000
Zestimate today: $918,380

The fact that I grew up a mere 25 miles from where I am sitting right now might make this less interesting than the “My Hometown” posts by some of my colleagues, but I still feel there is a story to tell behind my childhood home. As a youth, I moved all over what is commonly referred to as “the Eastside” (East of Seattle), living in this Bellevue house and this Issaquah house prior to spending the majority of my youth (grades 4-12) living in this house on Lake Sammamish (photo below).

My hometown of Sammamish, Washington, changed significantly in the eight years I lived there. The private lane I lived on now has 13 homes, 7 of which have been completely remodeled or built from scratch since 1993. The 4 lots to the east of my home have experienced massive changes over the years and are the most interesting stories since they have gone from camps to multi-million dollar structures. Right next door, where a tiny 600 square foot cabin used to be, sits a brand new million dollar home. The next lot over is owned by my family as well. Originally, my uncle’s mobile home occupied the spot, but was replaced with my grandma’s 3-story home. Next was an empty lot where beach parties took place during the 80s but is now where a massive home sits (it has traded hands 3 times since 1995). At the end of the lot used to be an abandoned trailer, but has since been replaced with a beautiful 3,200 square foot home.

My house was built in 1932 according to county records, however, my family had it prior to that in the 1920s. Several remodels later — after all, a house needs a bathroom at some point rather than an out-house — it continues to stand strong. I think you can say this was a wise family investment if there ever was one given the change in value over the past 75-80 years. Interestingly, this property is assessed at a mere $1,000 while the land it sits on comes in at a whopping $568,000!

By the way, my family’s home is the one in the middle. My friends and I still managed to enjoy the water despite the fact that, as you can see above, we don’t have a boat or a dock (which surprises EVERYONE when I tell them I grew up on a lake!)

One final note— Sammamish is hosting the 2006 Street of Dreams, which ends on Aug. 20. Six upscale homes are on display ranging in size from 5,200 to 11,032 square feet, each has 5 acres or more and home values go up to $5.5 million dollars. I have great first-hand experience with the Street of Dreams, as it served as my first job in 1999. If my memory serves me correctly, this is my favorite house from the 1999 show that I worked at. Please enjoy this year’s show!