Published June 2005

Jake’s Dog Houses:
South-county business crafts
custom homes for four-legged friends

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

With a cedar shake roof, made-to-order patio and custom flooring, the house currently under construction by Jessica and Ray Shamoon features top-of-the-line accoutrements for its intended resident — a pooch by the name of Holly of Hollywood.

Dealing with canine clientele is part of doing business for the Shamoons, who started Jake’s Dog Houses last fall after moving to the Bothell area from Southern California.

Snohomish County Business Journal/ KIMBERLY HILDEN When finished, this doghouse, a product of Jake’s Dog Houses, will sport a patio and custom flooring.

“We make them here on site, all on order, one of a kind,” Jessica Shamoon said of her home-based business. “My husband builds them, and I paint them and put on the decorations.”

Cost for a one-of-a-kind doggie domicile starts at $129, “and that’s just for some basic shelter,” Shamoon said. “You can add a cedar roof instead of asphalt shingles. We have a barnyard style that’s really popular. We offer insulation.”

The Shamoons fell into building doghouses for profit quite by accident when, in 2001, they went looking for a doghouse for their rottweiler, Jake.

“He didn’t fit into regular doghouses and doesn’t like plastic,” Shamoon said. “On a whim, we made him a doghouse and painted it bright yellow with little stars. Neighbors and friends saw the doghouse and decided they wanted one.”

Thus was born Whimsy Works, the first incarnation of the Shamoons’ doghouse business, which they discontinued with their move to the Northwest.

Since that move, Jessica Shamoon has been making the rounds of pet shops, leaving her business card, price list and marketing information in order to generate calls from pet owners interested in outdoor and indoor pet homes with a personal touch.

The company’s products also are on consignment with two organizations, a pet store in Kenmore and the Seattle Canine Club, Shamoon said.

Most of her client base consists of dog lovers, she said. “But I had one lady call about a house for their tortoise, and ‘cat people’ call for cat houses inside.”

Whether created for indoors or outdoors, in barnyard style or with a high-end slate roof and working windows, the houses that come out of the Shamoons’ workshop are made to fit the size and needs of the pet involved, Shamoon said.

“We’ll measure your dog, or your dog’s pillow, and work around the animal,” she said.

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