Katy Knauff and Marceil Van Camp (Image: Kamp Social House)

When it comes to growing into your place as a neighborhood hangout, identity is important. Kamp Social House is experimenting with its identity in Madison Valley.

“We were just finding that there were certain nights where it’s like, this is a restaurant full of lesbians, like everybody in here is queer,” Marceil Van Camp tells CHS. “I truly think it’s just that openness that allows for others to know that it’s a space where you can just sit at the bar.”

Van Camp and her wife, Katy Knauff, moved to Seattle from Long Beach in 2019 and fell in love with the Seattle food scene. Knauff is a lifelong restaurateur with 17 years of experience. Van Camp left a career in tech sales. The couple began looking for restaurant locations but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and they put a pause in it. By the summer of 2022, Kamp Social House opened its doors in the space formerly home to neighborhood mainstay Luc. In the beginning, it emphasized Madison Valley and being “sober curious”-friendly as its leading attributes.

Van Camp said she and Knauff are very loud, open, and unapologetically proud about their love and business story which helps with make it a welcoming space for all.

The first lesbian dance nights at Kamp started this Pride. The overarching goal was to hold dance parties while celebrating queer love. The parties took place on Mondays because those were the queerest of nights at Kamp during summer. On the first night, Van Camp said that the line to enter was out the door, and she knew that Kamp had connected with something.

(Image: Kamp Social House)

The dance parties continue — they’ve moved to Thursday nights — but Kamp hopes the spirit will live on full-time.

Kamp’s emergence comes amid what has been called a lesbian bar crisis in the country. The Lesbian Bar Project, a campaign created to support, celebrate, and document the lesbian bars in the country, estimates that in 1980, there were about 200 dedicated lesbian bars nationwide but there are less than 30 today. Part of that decline may be attributed to income disparities between men and women, and the unique demographic of individuals lesbian bars serve.

A venue like Kamp is sorting out where they fit in that spectrum. Capitol Hill’s Wildrose remains the mother of the city’s lesbian scene as it approaches 40 years of business on Capitol Hill. But even the ‘Rose is changing. New players with queer and women-led energy include the Gemini Room from the Queer/Bar family of bars and restaurants which will mark its first anniversary this December.

Kamp, meanwhile, still remains known for its “Unboozy” drinks program which also has helped grow the community around the venue thanks to lifting the pressure around drinking and nightlife. Van Camp said it’s crucial to normalize having options. It also is firmly part of the Madison Valley community, handing out free soft-serve ice cream cones to kids “celebrating” -back-to-school this week.

“As the community raises their hand and says, “Hey, we have this idea, can we do it here?” our answer most of the time is “Yeah, let’s give it a try,” and it goes back to that spirit of all the different types of lesbian events that are popping up around the city,” Van Camp said.

Van Camp said that it’s been incredibly fun to see the experimentation and believes the evolution of nightlife is coming, if not, already here.

Kamp has more parties planned for down the line, too, including a Drag King Ball that is set to take place in two weeks. Every second and fourth Sunday of the month, Kamp hosts Drag Brunches, led by Jane Don’t, who also performs at Queer Bar.

Van Camp said Kamp, which stands for Katy and Marceil’s Place, will continue to listen to the community — with hopes for growth. Since opening Kamp, Knauff and Van Camp’s goal has been to open a second location. Van Camp said it is definitely within the couple’s future.

Kamp is located at 2800 E Madison. Learn more at kampseattle.com.

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