Developer gains recognition for home sales, gross income
Homestead Northwest offers attractive role model for business

 

Look at the variety of homes in Whatcom, Skagit, Island and Snohomish Counties, and one style is sure to capture the eye.

It is called neo-traditional in design and construction, and buyer acceptance has been so good over the years that the developer, Homestead Northwest, Inc., is ranked in the top 400 in the nation by Professional Builder.

The industry journal reported that Homestead built and closed sales on 210 homes and grossed $36 million during 2001, placing its ranking based on completions and sales at 347th nationally.

Not bad for a builder in a major city; but Homestead Northwest is home grown in Whatcom County, headquartered in Lynden.

Over a period of 10 years Homestead has built and sold more than 1,500 residences, all in the defined architectural style it calls neo-traditional. Typical are front porches to bring the family outside and neighbors over to visit. In most, garages are in the rear of the home, served by a paved alley.

“We create neighborhoods with a mix of traditional styles and elevations,” said Jim Wynstra, president of Homestead Northwest, in an interview.

The ongoing success is a boon for Lynden, a city with a population of less than 10,000, because Homestead’s employment directly supports some 100 families, and its subcontractors and suppliers hundreds more.

How Homestead operates is unique.

Wynstra, an attorney by training and earlier practice, has established the majority of subcontractor and vendor agreements with Lynden-based companies. And most agreements were made by handshake.

“Our hiring practices are also unique,” said Doug Ellis, Homestead general manager. “We look for the quality of the individual and then his or her skills. You can, therefore, call Homestead a company where staff likes each other for whom they are, almost like a family.” The company operates on a drug-free basis and employees voluntarily submit to testing.

Learning the scope and history of the company, its president, Lynden, the residential product line and its management and operational philosophy is important to understanding its continuing and growing success.

 

Introducing the president

In 1981, Lynden was in the doldrums when native son Jim Wynstra returned from college, a tour as an officer in the U.S.. Air Force, and launching his legal career at the Moss Adams office in Bremerton. He posted his legal shingle in Lynden, a town where the business district had mostly been evacuated as stores and offices closed or moved elsewhere.

Recognizing the Dutch lineage of more than half of Lynden’s population, Wynstra envisioned a rebirth for the business district, starting with the development of the Dutch Mothers restaurant together with Bob and Doris Libolt.

He followed that in 185 when Wynstra formed Tulip Financial Service, which bought the Lynden Dutch Bakery and created the $1 million Dutch Village mall, incorporating a four-story windmill, motel, Hollandia Restaurant and Bistro, retail, food and gift shops. The Dutch Village also includes a 150-foot indoor canal and a recreation of an Amsterdam sidewalk café. Later he would create and build the 200-seat Queen Juliana Theater for live dramatic productions and concerts.

As a result of Wynstra’s development, the Lynden business district found new life and thrives through the present.

In 1988, Wynstra traded the equity in the Dutch Village to Trillium Corporation for 20 acres at Cordata.

In that move, Wynstra formed Homestead Northwest for residential, commercial and recreational development.

Neo-traditional home styles were first defined and designed, and a corporate commitment was made to desirability for buyers at affordable prices while building above industry standards in materials and fixtures. Local subcontractors and suppliers were identified, and operational systems were developed which called for products and services on a defined production schedule

Initial development encompassed two- and four-plex residential units, the company’s first community for persons age 55-and-older, and then single-family residential homes.

Jim Wynstra’s progress and innovative success were recognized by Business Pulse when this magazine named him Businessperson of the Year for 1992.

 

Introducing the Homestead home

Wynstra describes the design as retro in appearance yet modern in convenience. As other developers were building rows of houses, he envisioned each development a community or neighborhood. Homestead design styles adopted Midwest influence with peaked roofs, Craftsman-style construction, and each with a front porch.

In most, garages are placed at the rear of the house, served by a paved alley.

Subdividing a land parcel was done to produce smaller lots while allowing for more open space. The step reduced land cost to the home buyer to make each residence more affordable while also allowing for construction and facilities upgrades.

Kohler fixtures became standard. Exterior wall studding was with 2x6 members (rather than industry standard 2x4) which enabled upgrading of insulation to R-19, reducing utility costs for the homeowner. Double-glazed windows also reduced heating and cooling costs. Upgraded roofing materials are standard, guaranteed for 30 years. The quality of upgrades enabled Homestead to offer each home purchaser a two-year service warranty on everything in the home.

To enhance the neighborhood concept, Homestead dedicates part of the open space to a park, typically an acre or more, completing its construction and then deeding it to the city.

Recreation centers are in the center of each community for mature adults.

Wynstra still wanted the homes to be affordable to most families, so refined the Homestead management systems to the most efficient of on time ordering of contractor services and materials.

Residence prices range from less than $100,000 for smaller family units to more for homes up to 4,000 square feet.

Homestead has developed residential communities in a dozen neighborhoods, expanding outward from Lynden, Bellingham and Ferndale in Whatcom County to Oak Harbor, Anacortes, Mount Vernon and Burlington.

Currently, Homestead has active construction as far south as Monroe, Lake Stevens and Stanwood.

Its projects also include Homestead Farms in Lynden, a championship 18-hole championship golf course with club house, convention center, restaurant and fitness center. The complex employs an additional 80 persons.

Homestead has also a design center in Mount Vernon, a 3,000 square-foot facility where home buyers may consider and select interior treatments and fixtures to customize their new residence.

The developer expands its residential choices this summer with the introduction of 55 San Francisco-style row houses at Fish Trap Landing in Lynden, 2,000 average-square-foot residences, at an average of $159,950, a price affordable to an expanded number of home buyers.

Doug Ellis is general manager and Bud Ammons is construction manager for Homestead, both based in Lynden.

 

About working relationships

Lynden Floor Design has been providing and installing ceramic tile and wood floors, carpet and vinyl floor coverings to Homestead for some five years, according to Jim Keller, sales representative with the firm. He credits Homestead for providing work for 10 people on his staff. “An ideal working relationship; we respect the people with whom we work.”

“The Homestead home sells actively because of the quality,” stated Dan Washburn, owner of Windemere, the multi-office real estate brokerage which both sells the residences and seeks new parcels for development opportunities. “When anyone at Homestead gives you his or word on something, it is a commitment. They give their word, too, to the home buyer.”

Van’s Plumbing and Electric credits Homestead business as supporting 15 of its staff members.

Other subcontractors and suppliers credit Homestead’s management systems for the ease of working together while calling for performance, service or products on a well-defined schedule. That schedule is key to advantageous pricing for Homestead while ensuring a continuing flow of profitable business for the subcontractor or supplier.

 

Revisiting Wynstra

Over lunch at the Homestead Farms restaurant, Jim Wynstra speaks quietly, asking that much of the credit go to the management and staff of the company. He is often self-effacing about his role, sounding not at all like an attorney and president of one of the top 400 real estate development companies in the nation.

Wynstra denies the reporter’s request that a photograph be taken for the magazine cover.

But throughout the interview, he talks simply about his and Homestead’s commitment to word, value, craftsmanship, energy-saving and, particularly, neighborhoods.

 

Homestead in 2002

Homestead is on course to complete and sell more than 200 residences this year.

According to Jim Wynstra, the handshake is still the rule with Homestead’s subcontractors and suppliers; employees will continue to be chosen and retained based first on human value; and neo-traditional will continue to define the Homestead Northwest residence.