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By KATIE SHAW
Kitsap Week
After a long day at work, Poulsbo resident Lyle Prouse loves to return to his sanctuary, a slice of the Liberty Bay coast on Fjord Drive. He makes his home in a small trailer, but the long stretch of beach makes up for any cramped space.
The trailer Prouse rents has been on the property since 1952, when it was placed by owner John Whitford. He and his wife and three children lived in the 900-square-foot trailer until 1962, said Whitford’s son Reagan, who handles the property’s affairs now that his father has passed.
“It’s been sitting there for [62] years,” Whitford said. “Anybody that’s lived in Poulsbo knows the place.”
Prouse and Whitford have been friends since they were in first grade together, and used to come from Bremerton, where they both lived, to “Whit’s End” — John Whitford’s name for the Poulsbo property.
“[Reagan’s] old man would bring us out here and usually we’d have to whack bushes or do some kind of manual labor, and then we’d go for a swim and hang out,” Prouse recalled.
Now 52, Prouse has lived at “Whit’s End” since June 2012. He commutes to South Kitsap to teach during the school year and, during summer, to Tacoma for a part-time job.
“That’s the cool thing [about living here]: the simple pleasure of coming home from work and being able to sit on the bulkhead with a cool drink and watch the boats go by, watch the sunset,” Prouse said. “Get hot, dive in the water, cool off. It’s like a little sanctuary.”
Fjord Drive is a popular road for joggers, walkers and bikers, and on the other side of the house, paddle-boarders, wake-boarders and kayakers frequent the bay. Prouse enjoys the social aspect of his location.
Being a science teacher, Prouse also enjoys the wildlife. An osprey nests in a tree in his backyard and fishes in the bay alongside seals and otters. In summer 2013, Prouse found a seal dead on the beach, and he took pictures of the decomposition process for his science class.
Inside the trailer are two small rooms connected by a kitchenette and a bathroom, remodeled in 2004. Prouse uses the out building, which is separated from the trailer by a decked breezeway, also added in 2004, for storage and laundry.
Whitford recently sold the property to developers, so this is probably Prouse’s last summer with his beachfront escape.