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The ultimate investment on Mercer Island … your home

Published 6:00 pm Sunday, April 19, 2026

In 1950, my parents drove westward across the United States for their honeymoon, camping the entire way, deciding where my father would attend his medical residency.

Arriving in Seattle, my father announced, “This feels just like my family’s summer home in northern Italy – the fresh air, the mountains. We will live on that Island in that lake so I can write home telling everyone we live on a ‘remote island’ in the northwestern United States…”

And so, it was decided! While searching for a home, they rented an apartment in the same Shorewood Apartments on Mercer Island we know today.

Dad started his residency at Providence Hospital, and Mom became a curator for Seattle Art Museum. After a year their search narrowed to a newly constructed waterfront house on Holly Lane for $20,000, or, a little studio home on over an acre along a gravel road for $8,000.

In his infinite wisdom, Dad announced, “Living on a lake, the water washes away your land, there are mosquitoes. We’ll buy that little house on that quiet road.”

The family home, circa 1953, along a gravel road that would become West Mercer Way.

Again, it was decided! Over time that gravel road became the paved throughfare, West Mercer Way. A beautiful custom addition to the studio was constructed in 1967. Two lots carved off of one end with houses. And West Mercer School was built next door.

In 1986 we purchased the house on the end lot, in shambles, fourth hand, for $95,000 and repaired and updated it. Today, it is worth approximately 16 times its original value, a 100 percent increase every 10 years.

My sister and her husband, fabulous architects, designed and built their house on the second lot. And together in 2019, we sold my parent’s home, not updated, with two lots carved off, sandwiched between a school and a thoroughfare, for $1,550,000.

Today, without updating, the value would be approximately $2,000,000. One hundred times the original $20,000 purchase price. Again, approximately 100 percent appreciation every decade.

For 30 years I have been providing full-service real estate brokerage on Mercer Island with John L. Scott Real Estate. And the moral of my story is, by following good advice, purchasing a house on Mercer Island is ALWAYS a great investment!

Unlike stocks and bonds, it is tangible. Longterm, it provides secure steady financial growth. As a rental, great income. And as a home … wonderful memories!

Andrea Pirzio-Biroli, Managing Broker
206-930-3456
andreapb@johnlscott.com