For the past six years, passersby have wondered about the brick building at 204 N. Commercial St. A black-and-white sign on the facade reads “Consulat de Monte-Cristo, Rendez-Vous Seulement — entrance by appointment only to the consulate of a nation-state.”
A narrow, gated courtyard on the side has a yellow French-styled street sign “Allee du Barrage,” or Dam Alley. The proprietor has covered the courtyard walls with an eclectic mix of murals, including one painted sign heralding the fictitious country of Monte Cristo as a five-time World Cup soccer champion and seven-time European winner.
The foreign outpost is the brainchild of a Bellingham businessman whose family has owned the S. Edgar Booker House, built in 1900 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, for a quarter of a century.
Kent, who asked that his last name not be used because he doesn’t want the publicity, said the concept harkens to childhood memories of corresponding with consulates around the world and also loving Alexander Dumas’s 1844 novel, “The Count of Monte Cristo.”
“So, I combined them and got the Consulat de Monte-Cristo,” he said.
Bellingham’s Monte Cristo has 42 “citizens,” who gather in the summer and for a holiday party wearing berets and red scarves — the dress of their make-believe homeland. They won Best Themed Walking Group at this year’s Whatcom Memorial Day Parade.
“It is a secret society,” Kent said during an hour-long visit to the consulate. “We have two requirements for citizenship: interesting people with good hearts.”
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