Fire damages landmark West Seattle Homestead Restaurant

A fire that caused $400,000 in damage to the landmark Homestead Restaurant in West Seattle on Friday morning has been blamed on Christmas lights.

The Seattle Fire Department said too many Christmas lights were plugged into a single electrical outlet, sparking the fire, which was reported about 5 a.m. at the restaurant at 2717 61st Ave. S.W.

According to Seattle historian Paul Dorpat, the Homestead was one of the last surviving log structures on Alki Point.

The restaurant is for sale.

The Fire Department says smoke was reported Friday morning, and firefighters had the fire out in about 20 minutes.

Spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick says the fire had extended from the first floor into the attic, causing charring and smoke damage.

There was no one inside at the time.

Originally called Fir Lodge, the William J. Bernard family built the house and lived there from 1904 to 1907. In addition to the homestead, the Bernard estate included several outbuildings, among them a carriage house that was purchased in 1995 by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and turned into the Log House Museum.

The homestead was a rest stop and overnight retreat for members of the Seattle Driving and Auto Club for most of the first half of the 20th century.

In 1950, Swend Neilson turned it into a restaurant and christened it the Alki Homestead. Adele Foote took over as proprietor five years later.

Doris Nelson purchased the restaurant in 1960 and ran it until her death in 2004. The current owner is Tom Lin.

Seattle Times staff reporter Erik Lacitis contributed to this report. Information is included

from Times archives.