Grand Opening

Please join us for the long-awaited Grand Opening of the 1866 Haller House and the new old Haller's Mercantile!

When:  Saturday, August 22, 2026

Where: 1 NE Front Street

Ribbon-cutting 3:00; program & refreshments to follow.
The house and store will be open from 11:00 - 6:00.

In 2012 the derelict and vacant 1866 Haller House was quietly listed on the real estate market, inciting panic among local preservationists.  The waterfront lot is very valuable, but the cost of rehabilitation of the home would have been deeply prohibitive.  As one realtor said, the lot was more valuable without the house on it, so the threat of demolition was very real. 

Historic Whidbey was formed in 2013 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit specifically to save the house and the stories of the fascinating characters who lived in it.  Little did we know that it would take six years to raise the capital to purchase the house and another eight years to rehabilitate it.  Luckily for the house, we underestimated the scale of the commitment.

Research on the Haller family that built the house revealed a fascinating cast of characters, agents of a dramatic and cataclysmic period of change in the Washington Territory - the 1850s and 1860s.  A veritable "Forrest Gump" of the "W.T.", Major Granville Haller was actively involved in many of the political and military chapters in our Northwest story.  Wherever there was conflict, Haller was an eyewitness, making him the perfect tour guide to explore the early settlement period.  His history made it possible for the house to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a stand-alone property in 2022. 

Through generous grants from the State of Washington, private charitable foundations, local nonprofit funders and an exceptionally loyal and generous community, we have prevailed in our cause.  Although there are still tasks ahead to restore the landscape and install history exhibits, we are happy to fully open the house and welcome the community into their new heritage site.  Our deepest gratitude to those donors and volunteers who have made it possible!  We can't wait to share it with you all!

The retail tradition of the house has been revived with the July 4th opening of Haller's Mercantile in the south wing of the house - just in time to celebrate America 250. 

Please be sure to support this unique and charming store and soda fountain - which in turn will help support the Haller House.

Colonial Tavern Night

Historic Whidbey celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with a Colonial Tavern Night fundraiser.

Celebrate the nation's Semiquincentennial (250th!) like the Patriots did! Enjoy an evening of traditional colonial drinks, desserts, music and games. All the proceeds are used to support the rehabilitation of the 1866 Haller House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tavern Night was a huge success!

For more info contact Historic Whidbey at historicwhidbey@comcast.net

Coupeville goes Colonial for American 250!

Get your Yankee Doodle Dandy on!

Join Coupeville in Commemorating
the 250th Anniversary of American Independence - 
Family Fun for everyone!

We had a fun day of living history and cannons fired!

Hosted by Historic Whidbey and the Coupeville Chamber of Commerce
Sponsored by the Town of Coupeville, the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association, Kingfisher Bookstore, Kingfisher Arts & Letters, Windermere Real Estate, Coupeville Chamber Foundation and Historic Whidbey.

Check back for more fun events surrounding America’s 250th birthday!

America 250 Planning Session

The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the document that engraved our highest aspirations into the American ethos. Even here in the Far-flung Corner of the Nation, we can commemorate and rededicate ourselves to realizing the nation's founding ideals.  Yes, even in Coupeville we aspire to, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

COUPEVILLE IS PLANNING!!

A radical cabal is forming to plan public events to take place in our community throughout the SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL season, including the COUPEVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Historic Whidbey, the Island County Historical Society, and the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association -SO FAR.. .  

Would you like to be involved in Planning?

ALL ARE WELCOME!!

LET'S PLAN A SEASON FOR WHIDBEY TO REMEMBER!

Let there be light!

An amazing step came this past week as our electrician started wiring in our numerous lights throughout the house. It is truly awe inspiring to see indoor light return to this home for the first time in years!

This fixture came from a local antique store. It is a repurposed oil fixture that has be converted to electric light. It is said to come from one of the historic homes here in Coupeville. It’s wonderful to be able to show off everyday history.

We are now working to finish the rest of the lighting and hook up our subfloor heating system.

Rare Tour Inside Two Central Whidbey Log Homes

We thank the owners for letting us in for a rare look into their historic homes.

Attendees got a rare intimate look inside these Swift family homes and were able to hear the Swift family’s tales of Whidbey and the Sea.

Fullington House

Architectural Landmarks

These private log homes are both living architectural artifacts and treasure troves of Washington’s narrative history.  Both are landmarks in the Central Whidbey Island National Historic District, and the Fairhaven may be the oldest continually occupied residence in the state of Washington.  Yet, as private homes they are rarely open to the public.

Fairhaven House

City of Sea Captains

Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve is best known for its stunning farmlands overlooking mountains and sea, but the Town of Coupeville at its heart was once known as the “City of Sea Captains.”  New England mariners were attracted to Penn Cove with its protected anchorage and scenery evocative of the bays and inlets of their native Massachusetts, Maine and New Brunswick.

James Henry Swift

One of these nautical men was Captain James Henry Swift, a long-time whaler out of New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, who would sail the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans for over 40 years.  Swift first explored Penn Cove in 1855, hauling timber to Europe for spars.  Charmed, he bought the Coveland donation land claim and log cabin of Jacob Smith in 1857 for $3,000.  

Image courtesy of Island County Historical Society 1967.ATA

Bringing his family out to join him in 1863, they christened the 1852 cabin “Fairhaven” after the family’s home town.  Swift continued to sail the North Pacific into the 1870s, but the family turned to farming, eventually raising horses for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Victoria.

Moving from Coveland

Capt. Swift's daughter Hattie, her husband Puget Race, and their descendants owned the “Fairhaven” from the Captain’s death in 1892 until 1993.  But in 1928 Hattie and Puget Race moved it to Coupeville, realizing that the amenities of the Town across the Cove had distinct advantages over the rural north shore.  Carefully disassembled, each log numbered, it was reassembled on the bluff just west of the Coupeville Wharf. 

Maude Fullington, Hattie Swift’s sister, repeated the process at the same time with another Coveland cabin: an 1859 log cabin built by Francis DeLouri near the Swift farm.  Naming it the “Anchorage,” she bought it and had it moved in the same fashion to a nearby waterfront Coupeville lot.  Today the two cabins flank what is today the Coupeville Town Park – two extremely attractive residences and monuments to Coupeville’s past. 

TOUR

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