Jed Dorsey “Pursuing a full-time career in art”

Information Gathering For Sunnyshore Studio

Main image from AirBnB.com showing 18 of the 140 AirBnB rentals in the area

The art studio has a few purposes, one of which is showing our family’s art during art shows. However, creating a place to stay in an overhead apartment is another way to use the studio year round. To achieve a studio that can act as an AirBnB rental. I researched 33 Bed and Breakfasts, rent-able houses, rooms, and cabins by looking at their costs, number of occupants, beds, bathrooms, and other important data.

What follows is a data report that I created to help determine the future of the studio apartment.

The data comes from a combination of 32 cabins, rooms, and houses that could be rented from the AirBnB website. The focus of research was on 4 key areas to find the trends that popular or heavily trafficked Bed and breakfasts.

The cost of staying a night, along with the number of people who can stay in the apartment is what people will look at to make an initial decision of whether or not to look further into the Studio Apartment. The average cost was around $135 a night, or around $35 per person per night.

Additionaly, there were additional prices for cleaning, security deposits, weekly discounts, and monthly discounts, as well as costs for housing additional people.

I found that most, but not all, hosts included free WiFi, and that many had an indoor fireplace. However, few rentals allowed parties or events to be held. We could also rent out the downstairs part of the studio to be used for events such as wedding receptions.

Renting out houses and rooms seemed to be the most common way of housing guests. The houses tend to hold the most people and are the most spacious, but often cost more than renting a room. Many houses had an additional cost for housing extra guests.

Quantifying how popular an AirBnB rental is possibly by looking at the number and quality of the reviews given by guests. I was often surprised by the number of reviews, such as the cabin in the woods which had a rating of 188, yet did not include internet. {This may indicate people often are looking for a quiet getaway from city life}

When it came down to it, I priced our apartment around the average of a house. The idea of increasing accommodation by allowing people to camp outside in tents if they wanted to could decrease the stress of piling 10 or more people into a single apartment room. Also, the apartment can serve as a main focal point, similar to our grandparents cabin when we camped up in Vancouver BC. Having a cabin to relax in was really nice, especially since the tents weren’t that great on wind protection.

Anyway, it is hard to correctly price the apartment since we don’t have solid facts about the upkeep costs of the studio. Until then, though, this will serve as a template for future decisions

A small Camano Project, Dad’s Day off

Hello from Washington,

Today Dad and I traveled up to Camano Island to work on a small project that held large implications. In order to increase the drainage from the side of the house, we dug a ravine from the existing ditch towards our runoff pipe.

We cut into the dirt using our shovels and adzes with gusto, and in almost no time at all, the second ditch was formed. Then we created a filter using rocks and landscaping fabric. The landscaping fabric was wrapped around the rocks which were piled about four inches thick. We had bought the landscaping fabric from Home Depot earlier on the trip up to Camano, and brought the rocks by wheelbarrow from Grandpa Jack’s house, a short way down the road.

Moving the rocks turned out to be the hardest part of the task as I pushed them in a wheelbarrow up a steep hill, along a 50 mph road, and then finally- half out of control – raced them down a short hill and onto the work site.

Finally Done!

After working for a while, Dad and I decided to drive to Mabana beach and relax on the sand. He fell asleep next to the bulkhead, and I took the opportunity to dig in the sand, walk along the beach, and practice my cinematography skills. This short workday and day of rest was what Dad needed to de-stress with physical labor and a good nap near the lapping waves.

The final video product can be found here:

A Dear Old Friend, Hauling Firewood, and a Sign

Good friends make life easier.

On Saturday, June 4th,  the Sunnyshore interns had the privilege to reconnect with a dear lifelong friend of my dad, Harry Baird. Dad and Harry grew up on the South end of Camano Island and went through elementary, middle, and high school together. Their childhood and friendship was filled with sports, adventures roughhousing, and genuine camaraderie.

We met Harry  in Scotty’s Dairy Freeze in North Bend. From there I had the opportunity to drive with him to Snoqualmie Pass. I rapturously listened as Harry recanted hilarious story after story of his childhood adventures with my dad.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Our goal was to transport all of the firewood that the Sunnyshore team had cut at our friend’s cabin on Snoqualmie Pass three weeks ago. Once we arrived at Snoqualmie we loaded all of it into Harry’s trailer and truck. It just barely fit!

We then set off for Sunnyshore Studio on Camano Island where we would unload the wood. In our two hour drive to Camano Harry and I conversed topics ranging from old childhood stories, my grandpa’s favorite sayings when he coached Harry’s and my dad’s baseball team, my family’s transition after our move, social issues, my life goals, and politics. While we talked I quickly realized why my father had been so drawn to Harry as a younger kid and why they still have a strong, dear friendship after all these years.

Once we arrived on Camano we unloaded the roughly 10,000 lbs. of wood.

Then took Harry on a tour of Sunnyshore Studio. As a welder and engineer he gruffly marked his approval of the work being done on the construction of the studio.

Once our tour was complete we made our way down the road to my grandparent’s home where we devoured dinner and recanted old tales of Jason and Harry’s rambunctious childhood and friendship.

After dinner, Dad interview Harry on their friendship and an important project that Harry was working on for Sunnyshore Studio – a metal sign of Camano Island hand welded by Harry!

In February my father had asked Harry to use his gifts as a welder to create an art installation that would be used as a sign depicting Camano Island for Sunnyshore studio. Harry describes himself as “not an artsy-fartsy guy”, but after showing us the progress he had made on the sign we were quick to challenge this notion.

It’s not finished, but you can get a feel for how cool the Camano Island sign will be! But way more special in that it is a gift from one of my Dad’s best friends since childhood.

As a Camano Island boy Harry has used his abilities to showcase the beauty of Camano Island to the world through his contributions to our studio. We value Harry for his long lasting friendship to our family, to my dad, and to this Island.

Here’s the video.

by Julian