This is an evolving journal that recalls the memories of owning a house in Alaska and the unique challenges it presented.
Owning a house anywhere in the country brings up a unique collection of circumstances. We moved up from Missouri where most of the year is sunny and dry, where temperatures are radically extreme, from -15 degrees to 120 degrees. What that does to a house can be quite significant, particularly with the clay soil expanding and contracting, causing damage to the foundation. Torrential rains can severely test drainage.
But Southeast Alaska would be different. First, it was the cost. We went from a 3500 square foot home to a 1400 square foot townhouse for the same amount of money. Our home in Missouri was what you would often find in a Midwestern suburb. Our townhouse was built on the side of a mountain, was about 200 feet above sea level, giving us a good view of Juneau harbor and the mountains. We spent most of our lives in a single story home in Missouri, living in a two story house for the last seven years in Columbia. The townhouse had five levels! I always had a yard in Missouri. Our yard in Alaska was so small that I was able to keep it trim with a weed trimmer for several years. With a backyard dropping steeply toward the coast, I became an expert in rock gardening. The weather was largely misty to light rain 300 days out of the years. Our major enemy was moss and mold.
So here is a photographic essay showing the little things that made home ownership a unique challenge.
The Driveway
We were fortunate to have a “clean” asphalt driveway in front of our house that could hold up to four vehicles. For townhouse living, that was high-end luxury. Why four cars, when our neighbors could only squeeze in two? Well, the previous owners had a boat. And boats are a frequent sight in Alaskan driveways and yards. Over twenty years, that fourth spot would become a parking spot for boats on two occasions. “Rent” was usually paid in game, fish, shrimp or crab — and an occasional trip out onto the water.
The interesting thing about driveways in Juneau is that you better be on top of your game. Driveways need to be cleaned annually. So I would rent or borrow pressure sprayers, slowly blowing away the moss. And — being on the lower end of a 4-unit townhouse system, my parking space collected the sand and debris that would wash downhill. I started putting the sand into my yard, building it up. Over the years, a thick pad of grass developed. So it was that my yard graduated from a weed trimmer to an electric lawn mower.
© Copyright 2026 to Eric Niewoehner