He Does it His Way

Sean Northrop knows there’s more than one way to create innovative, sustainable developments respectful of the environment.

Northrop, who in 2011 founded Seattle-based custom-home builder Trailside Homes, prefers the term “placemaker” to developer. His firm’s latest project is Ederra, a master-planned community in Cle Elum that emphasizes preserving open spaces and trail systems while connecting to the downtown area.

Northrop has long had a vision for this community of 2,600 people, located about 83 miles southeast of Seattle. He first purchased land for the development there more than 20 years ago.

Northrop doesn’t refer to himself as a green or sustainable builder, though he incorporates many of those elements. Right now, he’s more focused on connecting the rolling hills of the Cle Elum community with respect to its natural surroundings. That environmental stewardship is Trailside’s approach to mounting concerns over the future of the planet as it relates to climate change.

“The connectivity that’s provided by what we’re doing with this project is immense,” Northrup notes. “There’s hiking, biking, pocket parks. We can preserve open space in perpetuity. I love development and I like the human component of what we do to the environment, but I like it in the context of what the environment is.”

Northrop’s outdoor ethos was formed at an early age. He was born in a barn and grew up in Port Angeles building forts and exploring the woods. He received a somewhat harsh lesson in development when he built a tree fort on a neighbor’s property and later watched in horror as an excavator tore it down.

Sean Northrop

His interest in real estate development blossomed from there. He founded a land and timber trading and development business shortly after graduating from the University of Washington and launched a real estate development firm before founding Trailside.

Trailside’s development philosophy rarely involves taking the easy way out. He enjoys the challenge, saying he “doesn’t mind” altering the environment as long as he’s thoughtful while doing it. Trailside has also developed mountainside cabins at resort community Suncadia, several single-family homes in Kirkland and other master-planned communities, primarily in Kittitas County.

“We’re all cognizant of a finite environment that needs to be taken care of. What we do is far above and beyond what we used to,” he says. “And all the things that we’re doing are a culmination of the use of the land and the home that results in something better.”