PORT ANGELES — Chris and Deziree Boyer have learned a lot over the past three months — like how to build a home from the ground up.
And they are still learning.
The Boyers — whose excitement is punctuated by their son, Ethan, who has already staked out his bedroom with bated anticipation — are building their own home.
Theirs is one of nine “self help” homes going up on O Street in west Port Angeles as part of the Madrona Woods subdivision.
“I learned everything, from framing to putting in windows,” says a smiling Chris Boyer, scanning some of his handiwork inside the framed structure.
Besides the Boyers, four single mothers and a 74-year-old soon-to-be homeowner have also worked on building their homes.
Chris Boyer is an employee at Olympic Laundry in Port Angeles. Deziree Boyer is a massage therapist for In Touch Massage, also in Port Angeles.
So far, three of the homes are completely roofed, said Melinda Szatlocky, Clallam County Housing Authority special programs manager, who has also chipped in her building skills.
‘Sweat equity’
Madrona Woods homeowners must invest at least 30 hours a week of “sweat equity” into home construction under the federally financed program.
The subdivision on 5.3 acres at the southeast corner of 16th and O streets will ultimately have 20 homes.
Half will be finished in a year, with the other 10 scheduled for completion in 2005.
The self-help housing program provides “creative” financing for households earning less than 80 percent of median income, those who would not typically qualify for a conventional mortgage.
Madrona Woods is the first new subdivision in Port Angeles since the mid-1990s, Szatlocky said.
Applicants are required to have $10,000 cash as a down payment.