The Washington coast has long been known for its rustic splendor. While vacationing along the Pacific Ocean is nothing new, there is a very special story to be told – a story that starts right here, along the north beaches of Grays Harbor.

Beach towns aren’t a new concept. Every “new” beach town starts with a wide-eyed dream by a special enterprising entrepreneur. It should come as no surprise that the little towns of Pacific Beach, Moclips, Ocean Shores, and now the newest of them all, Seabrook (Sunset Magazine’s 2013 “Idea Town”) have come into existence to serve the tourist traveler of the respective day. Among many of these dreamers who have had hopes of hosting visitors to this coast was the tough-as-nails woman who started her own little beach haven on the WA Coast. The protagonist of today’s transition is the tenacious and infamous, Dorothy Anderson.

Dorothy Anderson was born in Norway in August 1891. She came to the United States in 1910 where she settled in Seattle to work for thirteen years in various city hotels. After a divorce and a desire for a change of scenery, she moved out to Washington coast community of Ocean City (located eight miles south of Seabrook). There, she fell in love with the area for its ocean beaches, its forests where deer and bear roamed, and for its abundance of wild birds. In so many ways, it reminded her of her childhood home in Norway and brought back fond memories of her native homeland. Feeling at home, Dorothy decided to build herself a beach cabin all her own.

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It took over 300,000 entries, more than 17,000 participants, 52 days, 42 trivia questions, and 5 Top Finalists to select one lucky winner of the Grand Prize – A Beach House For A Year at Seabrook!

BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO AMANDA CALHOUN FOR BEING THE SWEEPSTAKES WINNER!

As most of you witnessed on King 5 Evening Magazine last night, Amanda was the last to go up to the door and try to unlock the winning home with a random key, which luckily for her turned out to unlock the opportunity of a lifetime!

We sat down with Amanda shortly after the Grand Finale and got to know her a little better. Here is the interview with our Sweepstakes Winner!

1. How did you find out about Seabrook and have you visited here before?

I had never been to Seabrook before, this is my first time. I had seen Seabrook’s billboard on I-5 and had also heard some co-workers talking about it. I was intrigued to find out more about the place and decided to check out the website, which is where I found out about the Win a beach house contest.

2. What kind of an impression did the website give you? Is Seabrook everything you thought it would be?

I really liked your website – there were a lot of cool pictures from the town. I definitely got an impression that this is a large beach community. However, when I read online that there were beach cottages here I initially thought all the homes were small, cute cottages. When we arrived yesterday I realized that not only do you have some smaller, charming cottages, but there are also some larger and more full on beach vacation rentals. That was really impressive.

3. Did you enjoy the sweepstakes?

Oh yes, definitely. My husband and I are always looking for places to travel in Washington state, so it was a welcome surprise to learn that Grays Harbor County has so much to offer. I know of a lot of new places to visit now. The ability to earn more entries in the contest by answering the Trivia Questions was great as well. It was quite a contrast to many other contests where you just enter and forget all about it.

4. The Grand Finale must have been nerve-racking?

You know, I thought the whole process was really cool, very fair. We all picked our order randomly and picked our own keys – so fate really decided it all. I ended up going to try my key out last and felt somewhat relieved. We all had time to meet each other before the Grand Finale even begun and everyone was really nice and all of the finalists had some amazing stories. For example, one of the ladies was last here at Seabrook for her 35th wedding anniversary and from that day on, it was a very special place for her. Another lady had just had surgery on her knee and was at the final event on crutches. I actually found myself rooting for each of them every time they went up to the door ahead of me. I was nervous and almost certain that someone else will win the Grand Prize, hoping I didn’t have to go up and face the pressure.

5. What was going through your head when none of the previous finalists unlocked the door ahead of you?

There were so many things running through my mind at that time. At first I was shocked, just thinking “Oh my God I cannot believe this is happening!” Then I was worried that the key may not work for some reason, probably still in denial that I had won. When I unlocked the door I still couldn’t believe it, it felt very surreal. I’m not sure it still has sunk in, really.

6. Now that you’ve been to Seabrook and experienced it, what has impressed you the most?

The first thing I noticed here were the bikes. This really is a walk-able and bike-able community, which you rarely find anymore. It’s really cool to just ride a bike around town in the sun. There are also many places to do different things – going down to the beach, restaurants and shops, just overall there is everything that you’d need while here. It has all the amenities of a resort, but it really isn’t a resort. I took my little brother and sister to the pool yesterday and they had an absolute blast. Since Seabrook arranged for a stay for all of us last night, we were able to bring my mom and gift her a special day at the beach for Mother’s Day. It’s been a wonderful couple of days, thank you to everyone at Seabrook for making this possible!

We will be seeing a lot more of Amanda at the beach. Stay tuned to the Seabrook Blog for further coverage and summary of the 2012 Seabrook Win A Beach House For A Year Sweepstakes! Thank you all again for participating!

Despite the fact that everyone here at Seabrook is still savoring this past Saturday’s Second Annual Seafood and Wine Festival, we are already looking forward to another incredible weekend at the coast! This Saturday, May 12 join us in celebrating Arts Day at Seabrook!

Presented by the Artists Trust, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting Washington State artists that enrich our community, Arts Day at Seabrook will not only be a celebration of local artists working in all disciplines, but also the organization’s 25th Anniversary.

The celebration is free, though if you believe that art is an essential element in our lives as we do, we hope you will make a donation to the Artist Trust to support career training programs for artists in the Grays Harbor community. You can make a donation online today at the Artist Trust website or donate at the event!

Seabrook’s town merchant Colours Pottery Painting Studio will be offering a special “Daddy and Me” opportunity to paint a Mother’s Day gift and our very own Lil’s Pantry will tempt those culinary-inspired individuals to use their artistic talents to decorate a cookies. There will also be demonstrations and exhibits by professional artists Judith Altruda (fine jewelry), Johnny and Darlene Camp (glass art), and Nathan DiPietro (painter) between noon and 4pm in the Seabrook Retail District.

After the Art walk, there will be a special Artist Reception with Nathan DiPietro and designer Jeff Lehman at Seabrook’s Boat House. Be sure to RSVP for this event by contacting Sheila Siden at: sheila@artisttrust.org. This will be an exceptional opportunity to discuss these two talented artists’ creative process and artistic vision while you enjoy some light refreshments.

Finally, for anyone musically-inclined, a Drumming Circle will also be congregating at the Blue Spa yurt, just above the Seabrook Oceanfront Promenade overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Please bring your own drum to this gathering and conclude your day at the beach with a view of the ocean and the unique rhythm of the drums.

We hope you are enjoying the beautiful spring weather and if you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Sheila Siden at: sheila@artisttrust.org or 206.467.8734, Ext.17

This past week has been truly an incredible time for all of us here at the beach!

The excitement began on Tuesday, March 13 with Seabrook’s appearance on King 5’s New Day Northwest. It was such an honor to share the Seabrook story with New Day’s loyal watchers and to announce our Win A Beach House for a Year Sweepstakes!

Since Tuesday, we have been absolutely astounded by the response to the contest. In fact, our contest website was literally overwhelmed by people who wanted a chance to win a beach home at Seabrook! Fortunately, everything is back up and running smoothly, but we would like to extend an emphatic thank you to everyone who gave us their feedback on the contest web site and helped us get it back up to full speed!

Due to the inconveniences resulting from our website’s challenges this week, we’ve decided to postpone this week’s 2-night stay giveaway. Instead, we will be giving away TWO 2-night stays next Friday, right here on the Seabrook blog!

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Over the last two months, Seabrook’s Town Founder & President Casey Roloff hosted multiple webinars in which he previewed various Seabrook neighborhoods in more detail.

As our beach town grows, new parts of Seabrook emerge and become popular with our guests and buyers. In an attempt to further depict the image around these neighborhoods, as well as share their progress, everyone had the chance to attend 6 live webinars and find out about Seabrook’s progress firsthand. In addition, all webinar attendees had the exclusive chance to ask Casey any questions about the neighborhoods or Seabrook in general. Thank you to all who attended our webinars!

Starting with the general Seabrook overview of the neighborhoods, the webinars went into more depth on 5 different types of beach cottages:

• Madison Lane Cottages
• Front Street Townhomes
• East Main Cottages
• Alderwood Cottages
• NW Glen Oceanfront Homes

If you missed these webinars or just want to watch any of them again, you can now visit our Seabrook Webinars page and watch all of them on demand.

These live, short web-presentations have proven to be a great communication tool with our guests and followers. Stay tuned for more of these types of webinars in the near future! If you have any ideas of webinars you’d like to see about Seabrook, let us know in the comments below and we’ll be sure to consider them!