BAIN-BRIDGING

Ferncliff Village construction site - Photo by The Kitsap Sun

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASHINGTON - It's something you often hear from those who cook in the restaurants, teach in the schools, build the houses, manicure the lawns and patrol the streets of America's more affluent communities. "I couldn't possibly afford to own a home here."

"Here" as in Bainbridge Island, a wooded, well-heeled community of 22,000 eight miles by ferry west across the Puget Sound from downtown Seattle. It's one of Washington state's most affluent communities with a median home value more than double state median.

Susana Ruiz and Terry Bautista moved to Bainbridge with their daughter about 10 years ago. Sandra works as a housekeeper and Terry with a paratransit company. They're renters, but always have wanted to buy, especially on Bainbridge. But, Bautista told The Kitsap Sun, "we never thought we'd be able to."

They'd probably be the first to tell you how happy they are to be proved wrong. On a typically dreary and drippy Northwest morning in February 2012, they toured "newly-finished," 1,100 square-foot house in the new Ferncliff Village community on Bainbridge that soon will be theirs. "We're so excited," said Bautista.

Theirs is one of the first four houses completed at Ferncliff Village by the non-profit Housing Resources Board of Bainbridge Island. When completed, Ferncliff Village -just a third of a mile from the ferry and the Winslow commercial district - will have some 48 homes. All will be affordable to families with incomes between 50 and 120 percent of area median. In fact, says the Board, the prices homes will be "more than 50 percent below market value."

How's that possible to bridge that gap? Start with a very generous donation - six acres donated to the Board by a private donor, "the single largest public or private contribution," says the Board, the project has received.

New house with a porch - Photo by The Kitsap Sun

The Board also had the foresight to establish a community land trust to develop and own the underlying parcels which the houses are being built. That means buyers need to obtain a mortgage only to cover the purchase of the house. It also means that, should a buyer re-sell, it must be sold to an eligible family with the price set by a formula, thereby helping insure it remains affordable for decades to come.

Ferncliff's affordability also depends on the kindness of its neighbors. So far, the project has generated more than $500,000 in private donations. And Grace Church, reports The Sun, "has pledged $800 per house to pay for landscaping."

Kitsap County, for example, contributed HOME funds to help with pre-development and infrastructure costs. The regional non-profit Community Frameworks provided HUD Self Help Homeownership Program fund, also for infrastructure. The City of Bainbridge Island contributed $100,000 to the project from its Housing Trust Fund.

Homebuyers also make critical contributions to insuring long-term affordability. Obviously, they have to be credit-worthy. They also have to take homebuyer education classes. Since these are "self help" homes, they have to contribute at least 50 hours per adult of "sweat equity" in building their house. And, yes, they have to qualify and close on a mortgage that will permit the Board to pay off the construction loan that built their house.

In return, they're getting a more than a little bit of paradise. The homes themselves are being build to exceed Evergreen Sustainable Building Standards and are stocked with Energy Star appliances. Outside, the development is required by local law to maintain 30 percent of the tree canopy and 40 percent of the land in open space. There's a community garden, a rain garden and a public hiking trail.

And, yes, three llamas. For years, they've grazed on the site. Once building began, they were moved next door to their owners' property. But be assured, says the Board, they're still in plain sight. .

Sandra Ruiz and Terry Bautista probably won't have a chance anytime soon to pay them a visit. They're too busy getting ready to move in. "The sofa there, the recliner here," Bautista said to Ruiz, eager to start their lives as homeowners in a place where they'd never thought they could afford to home.

"We've waited a long time, but now it's really happening fast," she told The Sun. "Now it feels like we're putting down roots."

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