There are about 1400 floating homes in the Portland metro area, making this the largest collection of floating homes in the United States. Over 30 moorage facilities for floating homes are in the Greater Portland Area and many of the top facilities, along with their monthly fees for slip ownership, are located on this page.
Many tight-knit communities have formed along the Willamette and Columbia including those around Sauvie’s Island and Scappose. Oregon Floating Home Owner News has information on protecting the rights of floating home owners.
Floating homes are defined as permanent residences, generally with attached utilities like water and electricity, while houseboats usually have motors and can be routinely moved. Boathouses, of course, are houses for boats.
Hayden Island alone has four moorages for floating homes, with two moorages on the West side of the I-5 bridge and two on the East side. West side moorages include West Hayden Island Moorage, with 57 floating homes, on the far west, and Jantzen Beach Moorage, Inc, the largest with 176 Floating Homes (south of Home Depot).
On the east side are Island Cove Floating Homes with 55 units (west of Lotus Isle Park), and Tomahawk Island Floating Homes with some 72 community members (east of Lotus Isle Park).
Floating home moorages are scattered along the Oregon and Washington riverfront. They extend up and down both the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
Elsewhere in Oregon there are also a few floating homes just East of Astoria on the John Day River and also on the Chetco River near Brookings, reports Freshwater News.
Class Harbor is off Marine Drive, just west of the railroad bridge to the Oregon mainland and east of Terminal 6.
The Bridgeton neighborhood, on the Oregon shore, has a number of moorages (below).
Several moorages are near Blue Lake, on the Columbia along Marine Drive (below).
Multnomah Channel, a 22-mile branch of the Willamette River, also has many floating homes. It diverges from the main stem, south of Kelly Point Park and flows around Sauvie Island to meet the Columbia near the city of St. Helens.
Marinas near Scappose include Happy Rock Moorage, Rocky Point Marina, McCuddy’s Big Oak Marina and Marks on the Channel floating restaurant. The Multnomah Channel Yacht Club is located in Scappoose.
Floating home ownership is similar to manufactured homes. You buy the residence but rent the property. All floating homes have to be moored somewhere, explains Oregon-floating-homes.com and all moorage facilities have corresponding monthly maintenance fees, which include your utility costs (electricity, water, sewer, garbage, etc.) as well as other fees. Oregon State Marine Board, Portland City Code, and The Houseboat Guide have more information.
Floating homes aren’t for everyone, reports the Oregonian. Although many people living on the water say they never want to move back to dry land, others grow weary after a few years of hauling groceries down the ramp and walking garbage back up.
Another floating house drawback is space. The floats are parked about 10 feet apart – you have to like your neighbors and their music. Most moorages do not have garages, and scarce carports and storage units have rent wait lists.
Homeowners association fees range from $200 to $600 a month. Moorage rental fees are about $500 to $750 per month. An inventory of publicly-accessible marinas and related facilities is found in the Oregon Marine Guide.
There are two basic types of moorages that are available – rental moorages, and homeowners’ association moorages. In the case of a homeowners’ association moorage, you would actually buy the slip (buy the “water lot” where you dock your home) and as a result of owning your slip, you would typically have a correspondingly lower monthly maintenance fee.