San Juan Community Home Trust

The mission of the San Juan Community Home Trust is to make home ownership possible for working people on San Juan Island. In recent years the gap between wages and housing prices has widened so much, it is now almost impossible for wage-earning residents to purchase a home on San Juan Island.

We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and community land trust. We acquire land, develop and build homes, qualify applicants, seek appropriate mortgages for homebuyers, and provide homebuyer education classes. All Home Trust homes are sold to qualified buyers for far below their appraised market value.

Our funding comes from government sources at the national, state and local levels; from the sale of completed homes to participating families; and from local philanthropic giving. We use these funds to subsidize the cost of land, infrastructure, and construction. A homebuyer who meets income qualifications obtains a mortgage to buy an affordably priced home from us, and also agrees to limit its eventual resale price so the home will be perpetually affordable to working people.

Founded in 2001, San Juan Community Home Trust has built and sold 41 homes to island residents. We currently own approximately eight acres of land for future development and are now planning our newest project: four new duplexes with open space and shared parking to be constructed on land donated in 2016.

The Home Trust program enables San Juan Islanders to achieve the long-term security of home ownership, to build equity, and to pass ownership of the home on to their heirs who may live in the inherited home, if they qualify, or sell it through the Home Trust. “Community preservation through forever affordable housing” expresses our commitment to keep San Juan Island a vibrant and diverse community, where people of all ages and income levels can thrive. More information can be found at https://hometrust.org/.

Locale

Situated within a remote and stunningly beautiful archipelago west of Anacortes, Washington, San Juan Island is home to the Town of Friday Harbor, which serves as the county seat. Beyond this small community, the landscape is characterized by farms, forests, and spectacular shorelines with abundant marine life. There are roughly 7,000 permanent island residents, a population that swells significantly with tourists during the summer months. Connected to the mainland by ferry and seaplane, San Juan Island boasts a number of historic and scenic attractions, including the only park in the world dedicated to shore-based orca whale watching.