“This is where you’re going to land. This is where you’re going to settle,” she says her gut told her in that moment. She felt profound peace. “There was some sort of amazing energy on that island.”
In November 2017, Teal and Mike bought the lighthouse.
In May, they welcomed their first guests to The Rockwell Lighthouse. In the six months in between, they gutted, dreamed, designed, built, painted, furnished and breathed new life into the lighthouse, all while Mike continued his regular job of going to sea as a commercial fisherman. Teal was busy too, figuring out how to share the story of this special place. It was hard work, but they remained steadfast in Teal’s vision.
“At first, we weren’t going to do as much as we did,” Teal says. “But I thought, no, I’m going to gut this place and bring it back to the life it once had, take care of it in a way that honors Burgess, create the best representation of all involved. That was my inspiration.”
Burgess Bauder, local veterinarian and longtime notable Sitkan, built the lighthouse by hand. Nail by nail, he spent 18 months over 30 years ago salvaging wood and repurposing materials he found all over Southeast Alaska. The stairs leading up the tower previously served as ship’s decking. Wormwood, gifted to him by friends in town, frames old photos of Sitka in the main living space. In the lighthouse, he created one of the most notable and photographed structures in Sitka, a Coast Guard-registered navigational beacon and a vacation rental where guests filled books with their notes of inspiration and thanks over the years.
Although Teal and Mike reimagined the inside of Rockwell Lighthouse, updating the flooring, fixtures, and decor,
they remained true to Burgess’s original vision, keeping
the iconic red and white exterior. Teal’s new role as steward of Rockwell Lighthouse has helped her feel more connected to Burgess and determined to honor his creation by fostering a legacy of serenity and connections at the lighthouse.
“I love to create experiences and places for others
to enjoy,” she says. “That’s my soul’s purpose.”
detail, they took photos documenting their progress and celebrating the completion of each project. They joked that someday those photos could become a coffee table book titled Reviving Rockwell.
It wasn’t until they were awaiting the arrival of their first guests that the enormity of their project hit Teal.
“We did not revive Rockwell, Mike. Rockwell revived us,” she remembers telling her husband.
Stopping in his tracks, Mike had looked at her and agreed, “That’s exactly what happened.”
Teal hopes the sanctuary she and Mike created on this little one-acre island about a mile from town will give her guests a heightened sense of what she believes is the best part of Sitka: the feeling.
“I feel grounded here at all times,” she says of Sitka. “I really feel that I’m aligned. My thoughts are clearer being near the ocean and nature. The beauty of it really speaks to me. Hearing the ocean soothes the soul.”
When her guests arrive at Rockwell, they are immersed in that soothing atmosphere, enveloped in a warm space Teal describes with a laugh as Alaskan-farmhouse-lighthouse. With a hot tub and fire ring outside, local delicacies like jarred salmon and homemade caramels waiting in the kitchen, and a third-floor glass perch, perfect for yoga or meditation, Rockwell Lighthouse has every detail guests need to relax and feel comfortable. And it all has a thoughtfully and gracefully appointed feel.
Photo: Grace Harang
Reviving Space and Soul
The minute Teal West and her husband Mike pulled their boat up to the dock and first stepped on Rockwell Island one crisp fall day, she felt something shift inside of her. Before going inside the fixer-upper lighthouse that was for sale, she told Mike she had to have this place. He cautiously looked at her and then asked her to slow down, to wait until they saw the inside, but Teal just knew.
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