Rotgut.org Blog: #3184 #S1464 - Bar House, Seattle

Friday, December 04, 2020

#3184 #S1464 - Bar House, Seattle - 2/26/2017

Bar House, Seattle, WA

Some consider Seattle's Fremont neighborhood ruined by gentrification, and of course it is has seen it's share of small places with character replaced by large condo buildings without. But I don't think there have really ever been a much more quintessentially Fremont funky bar than Ben Verellen's "Bar House." For starters, rather than a space at the base of large concrete and steel development, with reclaimed wood and edison bulbs attempting desperately to dig some sense of humanity out of the bleak surroundings, Bar House is located in a 120-year-old bungalow behind a white picket fence, with what seems like they could be all the original interior walls and rooms intact. The space happens to above the shop where Verellen has been crafting handmade, boutique tube guitar and bass amplifiers, when he is not playing guitar for his metal band Helms Alee.

Verellen told the Seattle Weekly that "I’m kind of a Disneyland fanatic," and this becomes abundantly clear as one walks from room to room of the bar. My clumsy photos will by no means do justice to these, but as you approach the bar you first pass a darkened, forest room, which includes a small, eletronic campfire surrounded by ersatz trees, complete with fog and cricket sounds. Continuing to the back room you find you have stumbled into a 70s blacklight post version of the cosmos. But my favorite is the bathroom, where you find find yourself in the appropriately tight quarters of the head in a submarine, complete with sonar pings, bubble sounds, and a porthole to the depths beyond. At any moment you may see a flash of lightning, hear a crack of thunder, and suddenly have the bar thrust into dark.

Outside of special events, the food offerings don't usually extend beyond hot dogs and nachos, and the cocktails hew to dive bar classics, with a mix of craft brews and classic, crappy American beers. You might come for the diverting decor, but if you stay it will be for the chill people and casual, dive bar vibe. In any case, Fremont is manifestly not dead.