Normandy Park Waterfront Homes: Inside a Puget Sound Estate

What Makes Normandy Park a Top Spot for Waterfront Homes on Puget Sound?

Normandy Park is a small city in southwest King County, about 14 miles south of Seattle and 10 minutes from Sea-Tac, where you can still own private Puget Sound waterfront at scale. This beach-modern estate on Normandy Terrace - the city's premier street - has nearly 100 feet of private frontage, owned tidelands, a boathouse, a mooring buoy, and unobstructed views of Vashon Island and the Olympic Mountains. It's one of the few places this close to the city where private waterfront like this even exists.

By Samantha Schlegel | July 2, 2026

If you've been searching for luxury waterfront homes on Puget Sound, you need to know about Normandy Park.

Most buyers looking for water near Seattle end up priced out, boxed in by public access, or an hour up the highway. Normandy Park is the rare exception - a quiet, tree-heavy community sitting right on the Sound, close enough to reach the city or the airport in minutes. I recently toured a home here that shows exactly what that lifestyle can look like, and I walked every level of it on camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMuJ_Y6LQaE

Here's the part that surprised even me: this is genuinely one of the best waterfront homes I've toured. Let me show you why - and what you're really buying when you buy waterfront in a place like this.

Why Location Is the Whole Story in Normandy Park

The home sits on Normandy Terrace, widely considered the best street in the city. It's quiet, private, and set back behind high hedges - you'd never guess the water is steps away until you walk through the front door.

Then you see it: water views from every single window.

That's the Normandy Park advantage in one line. You're about 30 minutes from downtown Seattle and roughly 10 minutes from Sea-Tac, yet the setting feels tucked away.

Here's what makes that possible. Normandy Park is a small incorporated city in southwest King County, about 14 miles south of downtown Seattle, hugging the Puget Sound shoreline between Burien and Des Moines. It's residential almost end to end — no big commercial core, no through-traffic pulling strangers past your door — so the whole city holds onto that quiet, neighborly feel.

The natural setting does the rest. Roughly 46% tree canopy coverage and over 100 acres of parks wrap the community in green, and direct Sound access means the water is never far. Many homes, including this one, carry cove rights — access to a private community beach with about 17 acres of trails and 770 feet of shoreline — so even neighbors set back from the water still get to use it.

Put it together and you get the rare combination Normandy Park is known for: airport-close and city-adjacent for the days you need it, genuinely secluded for every day you don't. Watch Samantha explain the location at 0:38.

If you're weighing where in the greater Seattle area your money goes furthest, it helps to compare communities directly. My breakdown of what $1M gets you in Kenmore and the Northshore School District is a useful counterpoint - different buyer, different priorities, same question of value per neighborhood. And if broader market direction matters to you, my look at King County property trends lays out what's moving prices across the county.

The Main Level: Where Waterfront Actually Earns Its Price

A lot of "waterfront" homes give you a view from one room. This one is built entirely around the water.

The crown jewel is a large folding glass door across the back that opens the whole main level into an indoor-outdoor living space. Slide it open and the living room becomes the deck. The glass railing was a smart call, too — nothing blocks or obscures the view, so you see Vashon Island and the Olympics straight through. See the folding glass wall at 1:12.

A few things that make the main level work day to day:

• An open-concept kitchen with a huge center island — room to prep, cook, entertain, or set up a buffet — plus a breakfast nook and a dining room positioned to face the water.

• Clean sight lines throughout, so the water stays in view from the kitchen, dining, and living areas.

• A real mudroom and a shelved pantry right off the entry — the kind of storage that makes a busy household actually function, already built out so you're not installing shelving later.

And the waterway itself strikes a nice balance. It's active enough to be interesting — you'll see large ships and private boats pass — but you're not staring at ferry traffic all day.

Touring waterfront is exciting, but the right home comes down to how it fits your life and budget. If you're thinking about buying or selling on Puget Sound, let's talk it through before you fall for a view. Reach me directly at (206) 928-1738 or samantha.schlegel@compass.com.

Three Levels, Room for Everyone

The house is laid out over three levels — main, upstairs, and a daylight basement — which is a big part of why it works for real families and guests, not just a couple.

The daylight basement is the hangout floor: tons of storage, its own laundry, a separate bathroom, and two bedrooms including a private guest suite with two closets, water views, and its own ensuite. There's a second full laundry setup down here with a dishwasher and mini fridge, so guests or kids on that level never have to haul things upstairs. Big sliders open onto the lower patio with the same unobstructed glass railing. See the layout at 3:40.

One detail I loved: a hot-and-cold outdoor shower. Come in off the water, rinse the sand and salt off outside, and never track it through the house. That's the kind of feature that only exists in a home actually designed for waterfront living. Catch the outdoor shower at 7:17.

The Primary Retreat Is the Real Showstopper

Upstairs is set up as a true retreat, separated from the rest of the house. It includes a second bedroom with its own ensuite, but the primary suite is where this home makes its case.

You get your own private living room — dark paint, a chandelier, a genuine media-room feel — before you even reach the bed, which looks straight out to the water. Off the suite is a private deck with room for loungers, wired and ready for a sauna and hot tub, wrapped in that same glass railing so nothing interrupts the view of the Sound and Vashon. See the private deck at 9:04.

The primary bath keeps the theme going: a walk-in shower and a standalone soaking tub both positioned so you can look out to the water. There's a big walk-in closet with a full closet system and a second full-size washer and dryer tucked right in.

Standing up there, the honest question the home asks is a simple one: would you ever want to leave? Probably not.

Is Owning Waterfront in Normandy Park Worth It?

Here's the practical takeaway. Waterfront on Puget Sound isn't just a view — it's owned tidelands, private beach access, cove rights, and a home built to live with the water instead of just near it. Normandy Park is one of the only communities close to Seattle where you can get all of that at this scale, and homes on streets like Normandy Terrace don't come up often.

That rarity cuts both ways. It's why these properties hold their appeal, and it's also why you want someone in your corner who knows how to read them — from tideland ownership to cove rights to what a folding glass wall really costs to maintain. If waterfront and island-adjacent living appeals to you, my guide to what island life on Bainbridge is really like is a good next read for weighing the trade-offs.

This particular estate is listed by The Trey Danna Team at Compass. If you'd like a private tour, or you're just starting to explore waterfront and luxury options in South King County, reach out — I'll walk you through it. Call or text (206) 928-1738, email samantha.schlegel@compass.com, and subscribe on YouTube for more tours and neighborhood guides across Washington.

About Samantha Schlegel

Samantha Schlegel is a real estate agent with Compass serving buyers and sellers across King County, Snohomish County, and the greater Seattle area. She specializes in helping clients navigate complex and high-stakes sales with clarity and care, and shares honest home tours, market updates, and neighborhood guides at Living Beyond Homes. Reach her at (206) 928-1738 or samantha.schlegel@compass.com.