Next time you visit Point Robinson, don’t be surprised if a little girl with dark curls and as many answers as she has questions greets you and gives you the rundown on Vashon’s most iconic landmark.
Mirabelle Heil, 6, moved to Vashon from Portland in February with her parents Julia Anderson and Jake Heil and younger brother Dockton to become the newest caretakers at Point Robinson Park. While the park has retained caretakers primarily for security since 1998, Anderson and Heil will be the first to have their children living there with them full-time.
“The urban setting we were living in in Portland just wasn’t what we wanted for our kids,” Anderson said. Heil added that he believes the day-to-day connections the kids will make living inside a park are special.
Mirabelle agreed.
“Vashon has more nature in it. It’s not like the city,” she said. “And there are always people and kids coming to the beach here who I can talk to and become friends.”
The small, single-bedroom apartment that comprises the caretakers’ residence is one side of a duplex that also contains one of the two Keepers’ Quarters. The view from the front room is spectacular, as would be expected just steps away from the beach.
“The space is small, but we love it,” Heil said. “We have downsized before. It’s liberating and fun. And for the kids, more than anything this is an outside lifestyle. It will work as long as it works.”
The decision to leave successful careers in Portland came as both Anderson and Heil felt they were at a crossroads, both professionally and with their family. Anderson, an educator, was running an independent school with Heil’s brother-in-law, and Heil was the general manager of a successful establishment called the Multnomah Whiskey Library.
“We were just at a point where we could have either invested more in what we were doing there, and that location, or we could move on to something new,” said Anderson, who grew up on Vashon and graduated from Vashon High School in 1998. Heil’s Vashon connection comes through his brother-in-law, who also grew up on Vashon and whose parents still live here. For two years, the couple tried to figure out the best way for their family of four to make the move. They even spent last summer living on a sailboat in Quartermaster Harbor.
With jobs on the island few and far between, it was, coincidentally, an ad in The Beachcomber that finally brought them here.
“I saw the park district ad for the caretaker opportunity in the paper,” Anderson said. “We love the history of the lighthouse. We thought it would be amazing.”
Captain Joe Wubbold, President of the Keepers of Point Robinson, noted that there have been children at the caretakers’ residence before, but not full-time.
“It’s clear that it’s a wonderful thing for the kids,” he said. “It’s safe and they learn so much, and there are always people around. It’s wonderful to watch them grow.”
Wubbold also said that they hadn’t had many candidates that came close to Anderson and Heil as far as the attitude that was needed for the role. Caretakers receive reduced rent at the apartment for being a presence at the park and providing some security, enforcing the park’s open and closed hours.
“I could not be more enthusiastic about this family,” Wubbold said.
Heil, whose background in the hospitality industry is leading him to explore new business possibilities in the area, described the opportunity to be a part of the community in this way as a blessing.
For Anderson, who is exploring alternative education programs within Vashon’s public school system, it’s a way to give back.
“I moved away, got all of my professional learning and experience, and now I get to bring it back home,” she said. “It’s the best thing in the world.”
