Bayview, Idaho — Floating Homes Above a Navy Test Range

Bayview shares Lake Pend Oreille with an institution few visitors expect in inland Idaho.

The U.S. Navy operates an acoustic research facility there.

The lake's exceptional depth and freshwater environment allow engineers to test large-scale submarine models and underwater-acoustics systems without an ocean range.

On the surface, life looks considerably less classified.

Marinas, floating homes, fishing boats and recreational traffic occupy the same water.

Residents live both along the shore and directly over it.

Bayview therefore has two legitimate identities that would sound invented if they were not sitting on top of each other.

It is a lake community on the surface.

Underneath, the Navy is thinking about submarines.