Thanks to a herculean effort by BARN volunteers and HRB’s commitment to building homes that are not only affordable, but also beautiful, wood from the trees that once grew on site will grace the halls and foyer of the new building. (Photos courtesy of BARN)

BARN woodworkers Wayne Chang and Mike Rehder have a good thing going. Wayne is the project lead, and Mike is community service manager. They’ve each had one another’s roles, and they know what it takes to get a project off the ground. For the one at Ericksen—decorative panels for the 18 apartment entryways and a foyer bench—that’s 16 volunteers and 300 volunteer hours. This is the first time that HRB has enlisted the help of BARN. “We’re making up for lost time,” laughed Wayne.

The lot at the corner of Ericksen Avenue and Knechtel Way, now home to the Ericksen Community, was once a formidable blackberry bramble with a smattering of alders that came down before construction and one majestic bigleaf maple that was preserved (today it is joined by cedar and Doug fir that were planted as part of the landscape design).

Ericksen architect Charlie Wenzlau reached out to BARN to transform the alders into 18 slender panels that will adorn one side of the shallow alcoves at the entry to each home and two wider panels for the bench. He requested that one edge be left live to show, in Wayne’s words, “the natural undulations of the log.” The project entailed slabbing the trees, drying the wood, straightening one edge while preserving the other, further milling to flatten and smooth to perfection, and finally, varnishing the finished form. BARN will also do the installation.

“We are always looking for a way to bring a piece of nature inside our designs,” said Charlie. “The creativity of these woodworkers will be evident and reinforce our daily connection to the natural environment of the island.”

BARN’s skills are in high demand throughout the county. “We’ll do anything really when it comes down to trying to help [area nonprofits],” said Mike, and BARN was especially eager “to support [HRB’s] mission because we believe deeply in it.”

The work for HRB came on the heels of at least four other community projects all finishing about the same time. This intensity is unprecedented. “But by far, [the Ericksen project] is the biggest one,” said Mike. “I mean, physically it’s bigger. Everything about it is bigger.”

The project isn’t just big—it’s fast. “We were on a compressed schedule as the project was moved up,” said Wayne. “We didn’t have adequate time to publicize the volunteer workdays. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to attract as many different volunteers as we did. This really highlights how well respected HRB is to the community.”

HRB prides itself on the way its properties blend into their neighborhoods. In fact, a few years ago, we removed the signage from our rental buildings that indicated HRB ownership and their low-income designation. “I want Ericksen and everything we build to look market rate,” said HRB Executive Director Phedra Elliott on a recent visit to the Ericksen Community during construction.

Although it might look like market housing, the project genesis was very different. Ericksen was awarded almost $5M in competitive government funding and over a million in private foundation grants. But it took community support to fully fund the project, with members contributing almost $2M in donations. And now, with the craftmanship and volunteerism supplied by BARN, these homes will look market-rate while embodying the community values that brought them to life.