Sparky's Grotto West in West Seattle, Washington

These photos were all shot with no flash and I didn't bother dragging in additional lights. I wanted to convey the dim atmosphere of Sparky's Grotto West, though these images look brighter than it actually was. All the blah-blah-blah about Sparky's Grotto West is in the post after the photos.

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2015-08-19 00:39 ]

Either at the end of the 90s or the start of the 00s my friend Sparky and I were in Las Vegas just to see what there was to see. After we'd stumbled across some scraps of Tiki here (Tropicana) and there (Luxor, Imperial Palace) and generic tropical gardens (Flamingo, Mirage) Sparky recollected how his mom had set up their basement in the late 60s with a Pacific island theme and how it'd be cool to have such a room in his basement. He even had a wall hanging with a pagan god on it from the family basement paradise.

I made a mental note and thought an odd, small, unfinished room in Sparky's basement would be a good space for a Tiki bar. His house was built in the 1920s so I figured I'd make the bar look like something a serviceman who'd served in the Pacific in WWII might have set up. Souvenirs from his tour of duty and more pieces acquired from his travels over the decades.

I wanted the bar to be one of those places where there was something to see where ever you looked and things you might not notice until you'd been in the room a few times. I also wanted it to be an immersive space that worked as a whole to create the timeless feeling of perpetual twilight. (The Alibi in Portland, Oregon has all these elements, but at the time I conceived the bar at Sparky's I hadn't yet been to the Alibi.)

My plan was to secretly acquire materials and then put the bar together sometime when Sparky was off on a trip. (I helped out and worked for him in his yard and on some minor house stuff and when he went out of town I usually watched his house).

I began looking for tropical stuff on my junking trips and was pretty lucky. Over a year or two I came across some cool odds and ends including a fair number of old Tiki mugs which I figured would look neat on a shelf. Because the room that was going to be transformed was very small (approximately 9 X 6.5 feet) I was selective in the mugs I acquired. They couldn't be too wide (the shelf would be narrow) so no Tiki bowls. I also skipped the ugly ones. Later when the Tiki craze took off I made a few sad faces over the mugs I left behind.

All my finds (mugs, decor, wall paper, fabric even a chair and a pile of unused thatch from a 1970s Tiki tavern in Sumner, a town south of Seattle) were secretly kept under the basement stairs. My chance to put my plan into action came when Sparky and his brother took a trip to England. I drove them to the airport then hit the ground running.

It took most the time Sparky was gone, but it was completed by the time he got back. I didn't say anything. A couple days after his return Sparky called me on the phone and said "There seems to be a Tiki bar in my basement."

I picked the name Sparky's Grotto West because I've always liked the odd names some old joints used to have, especially ones that included a directional element. (Sparky's house is in West Seattle).

Sparky's Grotto West was a really effective space. When there were gatherings there the basement outside was curtained off and a string of orange lights were the only light source on the way to the Grotto. Jungle birds could be heard as you approached and inside there was music playing (usually always one of Seattle's own Selector Lopaka's brilliant ambiant-exotica mixes) and the scent of coconut. Drinks and snacks were delivered from the upstairs kitchen by some guy who was always hanging around.

Like most great Tiki joints Sparky's Grotto West will soon be no more. Some of its going up on the auction block, a few bits to the very cool and modern Green Monkey Room in the house Sparky shares with his wife, Cookie. A much too large pile is heading to far Eastern Washington with me where it will possibly be the basis for a very small Tiki shack bar.

VIDEO! I posted a basic visual documentation video right here on YouTube. Nothing fancy, just a visual record.

[ Edited by time traveling bigfoots from outer space]

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2015-10-14 19:47 ]

A Few Thoughts On Creating A Tiki Environment by Woofmutt

Sparky's Grotto West was in a 6.5 X 9 feet room. Its tiny size is why I don't believe in the "I have no room for a Tiki bar!" sob story. You can make a 3 X # foot corner into an effective Tiki space, just sit facing it whne you want to make your imaginary escape and turn your back to the rest of your tiny world.

Any clever and crafty person can afford to create a Tiki space, if he/she wants. I'd guess all the materials for Sparky's Grotto West cost no more than 250 bucks. Certain pieces of decor probably added another hundred or so.

Admittedly a lot of the stuff for the bar was bought before Tiki became more widely collected, but a lot of it was inexpensive materials. A roll of wall paper was used to cover the board ceiling between the exposed floor joists, a magnolia blossom wall paper border also added coverage at the top of the walls.

The walls were covered with a burlap looking cotton material (I found a bolt of it cheap). Burlap is one of the simplest, least expensive, and best looking Tiki environment wall coverings. It's also ideal for covering a ceiling if you feel you have to have something other than paint. (Paint's the best thing for a big modern ceiling. It's inexpensive which is good because no one really looks beyond their upper peripheral vision. Why waste money on fancy ceiling covering that you could spend on a life sized fiberglass shark to hang from the ceiling?

In Sparky's Grotto West there was a thatch roof running across one end of he room. It added a lot of depth to the space but was there because it was hiding a heating duct that ran through the room. Thatch was also used to cover the lower raw concrete section of another wall.

Lighting is the most effective and inexpensive thing you can do to create a Tiki space. Kill all the bright lights, add some light sources with low watt colored bulbs and a couple flickering flame bulbs, cue the exotic music, pour the rum, and you wouldn't even know you were only in a Motel 6 on a sad stretch of I-5.

Because of the small space I went with a walk-up bar. It gave a place to set drinks or bottles and an ice bucket if I wasn't going to be wowing everyone with some too complicated and usually under appreciated concoction.

Scent is a cool element to add if you can. Coconut or tropical flower scented car fresheners work great or find a spice scented incense (which you will, of course, safely burn away from anything flammable).

If you're going for the trade-beachcomber Tiki environment look pretty much any interesting and unusual object can be part of the decor as long as the greater vibe skews towards faux tropical paradise. Is a beat up saxophone Tiki? No. But if it's hanging on a wall beside a large Polynesian inspired mask, a NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY sign, and a palm frond fan it'll look like something some permanently buzzed beach bum traded a couple buckets of mussels for.

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2015-08-19 01:29 ]

Sparky's Grotto West looked like a cool scene! The "Our Bartender" picture is brilliant!

AK

Woofmutt-nice story!

Your pictures exude a great tiki atmosphere, love it.

I see now where some of the stuff in the tiki bar I'm working on in my garage came from! Thanks to Woofmut, it looks so much better!

Nice story Woof. I'm in the process of re-building the Riviera room in our new house. Hope to post pics soon.

Darn...can't believe I missed this story. Great job and how fun to make it a surprise. You all probably feel fairly suave when there due to your bar tender.

Totally diggin the "Our Bartender" sign......