The Launch of the Lookout

Placemaking in Lake Chelan

The year was 2013. My business card read “Site and Sales Manager”. The job: help create a new neighborhood in Lake Chelan. We succeeded.

*The original model home at the Lookout - June 2014. Its owners would later name it “Maison Rouge”.*

The Team

I had the honor of working with an exceptional team at the Lookout. Casey Roloff had launched Seabrook, a Washington beach community, in 2004. His partner, Ted Schroth, had created a number of successful Seattle development projects.

Casey wanted to create a community like Seabrook in Chelan.

After meeting me some years earlier, Casey called in 2012 and said he had found the right property. Would I want to come on board? I said, “Yes!”

The property sat on the north shore, a mile from downtown Chelan. An earlier developer had failed during the Great Recession and left behind two completed streets, two homes, and a half-finished clubhouse.

*The corner of Jackrabbit and Dragonfly Lanes - April 2013*

The Plan

Much of the success of Seabrook and the Lookout lies in their neighborhood design. Planners call it “New Urbanism” - a type of layout that focuses on walkability and connection. Streets are narrow, front porches hug sidewalks, and trails weave throughout.

My formal exposure to new urbanism came in December 2012. A group of architects and planners huddled with Ted and Casey in the River Room at Campbell's Resort.

After two days and a couple of cold trips to the Lookout, a plan emerged:

The Work

The following spring, work began in earnest. Mammoth excavators and dump trucks graded the hilltop. Contractors scurried about renovating the pool and pouring the foundation for the model home. The goal? To make the place attractive for the June 8th launch party.

Meanwhile, online, the Seabrook marketing team sent an email to its mammoth list. Would you like to learn more about a new neighborhood in Chelan? Hundreds of people clicked “Yes!” and the Lookout story began.

In the evenings that spring, I studied for the Washington State real estate exam. I remember passing the test on June 6th and writing up the first of many contracts over that following weekend. We ended the launch party with eight home sales. A great beginning.

A New Beginning

For me, both personally and professionally, the Lookout was a new beginning. In 2012, I had come to see my dreams of building community on our family’s apple orchard were not to be. Nor was my second marriage.

I give credit to Ted and Casey for giving me a shot. Some employers might have looked for a more stable first employee.

Luckily (for both of us), the work was a welcome refuge. And after a while, I found I was quite good telling the story of a new place.

Thank you gentlemen.

The Growth

During those early years, I remember figuring so many things out on the fly. What is the distance between street lights? What is the diameter of the clubhouse fire pit? How should the contractor layout the sidewalk in front of the model home?

We answered hundreds of questions like these and more; all the while, graciously introducing visitors to the Lookout vision.

A new place was under creation. The fruits of our labors began to spring up all around us in the new homes and new families.