Home & Garden June 2020

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Sky reaches into this home of two pilots

Todd and ChristynaRose Assink make Lynden their family base and restful retreat from their flying profession

By Elisa Claassen for the Lynden Tribune

Psalm 19: e heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. ere is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. ... e commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 57:10: For your steadfast love is great

to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

LYNDEN — ey met “in the air” and continue to make their livelihood traversing the heavens, as both Todd and Christyna-Rose Assink are commercial pilots.

eir new home in Blankers Estates on the Ridge brings that sky environment in to them through large windows facing east toward Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters.

“Everything is nearby,” Todd said. “… to be able to nd a lot like this!”

Minutes from Lynden’s Fairway Center and other shopping down Kok Road, Todd and Christyna Assink still feel very much a part of nature and rural Whatcom County on this hillside terrain. ey also have connection to city water and sewer — no need for a well or septic system.

As they sit at their table or on their new indoor-outdoor stamped concrete

and stone patio, they can watch the wild members of the neighborhood. Winged friends touch down and take o again. Snow geese. Swans. Eagles. Hawks. Creatures of ight.

e Assinks were happy in the Mercedes Street neighborhood on Lynden’s east side in a nice spec home. ey had not planned to build their own new place, but were noticing homes that cousin builder

Dale Assink of Pine Creek Construction was working on. ey walked through several of them. After seven or eight years of this, they not only knew details they wanted, but that they wanted Dale to be the one doing it for them.

“It was God’s timing,” Christyna said of their eventual visit with Jerry Blankers, broker for the new 34-lot Estates plat, in 2018. Lots 11, 13 and 14 were spoken for and pending sale, but lot 12 was still available.

Lot 12 happened to be the one they most wanted. However, it did involve dealing with both the City of Lynden and the nancing bank in a special way — as to different approaches in regard to the nearby oodplain. At the time federal FEMA maps were being updated.

By using a slice of his pilot navigational skills, Todd triangulated exactly where the best view toward the mountains would be on a clear January day. is aided him not only in selecting Lot 12, but also in how to position the house itself on the lot to best advantage.

It worked out as he had planned. Realtor and developer Blankers made sure, they said, to help them each step of the way from purchasing to handling the oodplain mitigation and insurance issues. While the sky is ever present, the

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This home for the Todd and Christyna-Rose Assink family was the first one to be completed in the new Blankers Estates on the Ridge plat o Kok Road in Lynden. It is close to valley farmland and has clear views toward Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters. Retaining wall protects from floodplain. One interesting feature is a separate driveway to a third bay of the garage tucked behind the first two visible with the house. (Elisa Claassen/Lynden Tribune)

home is also just feet from where Nooksack River oodwaters could be creeping up. e boundary of the city with Whatcom County is also close by. In a ood event this past Jan. 31-Feb. 1 they had a chance to watch the action for a rst time, and the water rose in front of them to the south, but their house property was ne. e con guration of the house on the lot had to be turned slightly, a few feet, to t in the 100-year oodplain mitigation as it was nalized on maps, Todd said, and that a ected how the retaining wall was built. But they were able to work with

Blankers and mason Sergey Kasantseva on every aspect of it.

Working with cousin Dale Assink on this house became a renewal of some old family relations, and memories, for Todd — even going back to the road that bears the Assink name. (Technically, Dale is a rst cousin to Todd’s dad.)

And the building inclination is in the family. Todd’s father, Dennis, was a 28year electrician with Excel Electric.

“After 29 years, you get a knack,” Dale said of his own time as a builder with so many di erent clients. He said he visualiz-

es a project in his mind from the beginning and then enjoys seeing a design come to life in built form. So the two talked plenty throughout the process. Dale sketched — and built.

As to the 3,050-square-foot house itself, it is centered upon a spacious uncluttered great room with an 18-foot-high ceiling at its peak. It is the core, and the rest of the house moves out from it.

Di erent woods were selected and are tied together with light oors and dark rustic trim: Douglas r for the beams, glossy bright hardwood hickory oors or

a cream-hued carpet, alder cabinets and a dark stain for the chairs, kitchen cabinets and more.

e short entryway contains the rst of several elements created and built for the home by Rachel Hernes of local ReCreated. Between the team of builder/designer Dale and his interior designer Leslie Lohse, they listened to get a picture of the Assinks’ preferences and made a home that is highly livable for the family of four.

“It’s not my profession,” Christyna

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Hollie & Tera

The family is, from left, Christyna-Rose, Sadie, 6, Cayden, 9, and Todd. Mom and dad are both commercial airline pilots, Christyna with Alaska and Todd with Allegiant. They are able to set their flying schedules to complement each other's and be the best for family time back in Lynden. Todd grew up in Lynden, Christyna in Michigan, and they met while flying for United Express. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

said of designing and furnishing a home. “It eased my stress” to have others making their contributions, she said. So while Christyna stayed focused on ying and tending family needs, Leslie could nd the perfect xtures and nishes.

Since Christyna was ying more and Todd was o work for some of the building period, he oversaw the family’s transition from the two-bedroom apartment they had rented at La Villa Apartments for the year and a half of construction. She was able to return home to things already reasonably in place. e next day after moving in was anksgiving 2019. ey could really enjoy the holiday with thankfulness and comfort.

While their prior home had more color, this one is more soothing in being neutral and monochromatic. But God’s everchanging skyscape is always eye-catching through the windows, the Assinks realize. What matters to them are home and family and God’s creation — with touches of ying as well.

Add in these touches as well: Pillows with Lynden themes. A customized clock of the Assink Family Rules: love, laugh together, say please and thank you, help each other, respect others, do your best,

listen, share, give lots of hugs and kisses, have faith, always tell the truth.

A framed window made by Lyndenbased Jessica Stuart Designs greets visitors with the family name within the entry area. e raw or “live” edges of wood on the mantels on both inside and outside the massive replace, milled and created by Green Leaf on the Guide, come from maple trees that were actually harvested on the ridge above the house.

Children Cayden, 9, and Sadie, 6, have their rooms in one section of the home. ey share a Jack-and-Jill bathroom between them. eir spaces re ect the things they enjoy: the University of Washington Real Dawg reading program (30 minutes for 30 days), taekwondo, and a number of blankets and toys made by family friend Ruth Norman. Christyna had her fun adding in Pan-Am (Pan American Airline) colorful décor. A blue half moon tail betta sh is their latest pet. Rachel Hernes of ReCreated contributed again with a “device” that holds Cayden’s belts.

A guest room, often used by Christyna’s parents from Wisconsin, has its own restroom nearby with linen closet within.

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Above: A big clock near the front door proclaims the household values. Upper right: The construction process was in close consultation with Dale Assink (red shirt), Todd's cousin, as general contractor. Lower right: The patio is the perfect summer socializing spot. (Calvin Bratt and Elisa Claassen/Lynden Tribune)

Family photos line the connecting hallway. A spacious o ce, which could easily be converted into a formal dining area later, occupies the front. e kitchen and adjacent current dining area combines casual and elegant with straight-backed

chairs in a dark-toned theme. Fortunately, a favorite dining table from Colony House worked well in their past home and now this one. Above it is a unique rustic lighting xture. e kitchen island has an e cient work space with room to prepare meals,

visit and eat alongside. e countertop is of granite.

Just beyond that are the laundry with front-loading appliances, a long hallway with a full-length wooden bench and ReCreated coat/backpack holder above.

A well-thought-out separate pantry is for stocking up for COVID or otherwise. But it is the garage that requires a second look. It is a three-car garage, but done builder

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Left: The south side of the Assink house maximizes views to farmland and mountains, and that is where you can step out onto a spacious patio area to enjoy good weather. Right: The kitchen area is in dark wood shades while the great room opens up into lighter colors. (Calvin Bratt and Elisa Claassen/Lynden Tribune)

Dale-style. It solves the problem of a garage eclipsing the home in outward appearance. Two cars enter from one driveway. A separate space is entered via a di erent approach and a separate door. (In fact, Dale said another homeowner, who used this garage style, ended up changing the third garage space to being a work area that happens to have an overhead door.)

Due to the slight repositioning of the home on the lot, its design was also changed a bit. e staircase was shifted further over to the bonus room, which serves as a cozy family and TV center — or they have gathered on Sunday mornings more recently to watch church together, Christyna said.

e master suite nearby, with walk-

Left: The master bath features a variety of tile and has heated floor as well. Above: Two prints of oldstyle planes hang over their bed. (Elisa Claassen/Lynden Tribune)

in closet and a spa-like shower and bath, complete the living space. And there are more captivating views of the mountains from here. Once again, two abstract matching prints of very early vintage planes hang over the bed.

The Assinks' story

Christyna grew up on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Ever since she was a girl of 4, she knew she wanted the uniform of ying. Even when her mother told her pilots need to be good at math, which was a bit of a struggle (“I beat the odds”), she still wanted this profession. She gained her private pilot’s license at 16, with the help

of her grandfather for lessons. She went on to teach ying and got a degree at Western Michigan University. Work then took her out in a plane over the Gulf of Mexico to check on oil rigs. Flying is what she has done her whole career and continues in. It was a similar path for Todd. “I liked ying, but didn’t know you could do it as a job,” he said. He found a mentor in a member of his church, Larry Laidman, who ew DC-10s for Canadian Airlines at the time

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Christyna-Rose and Todd Assink settled in Lynden in 2011 and only in 2018 decided to build a new home here. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

A locally crafted window frame introduces the family. (Elisa Claassen/Lynden Tribune)

with routes to international destinations. Prior to 9-11, the veteran pilot took Todd into the cockpit to ride in the jump seat on a ight to Toronto. e food, he remembers, was rst-class. He took his schooling at LeTourneau University in Texas and worked rst in aviation connected to airplane pioneer Bert Pither.

As Todd worked in his early days as a pilot, life was a bit di erent than he had seen with Laidman. e pay grade is less for those lower on the totem pole. Many pilots, both Todd and Christyna note, must share lodging quarters since they are coming and going and don’t stay put for long. It saves on airline costs.

“I was ying multi-million-dollar aircraft while living in low-income housing,” Christyna laughed of the rst years. Many also don’t realize that ying in smaller planes is without air conditioning and can be downright hot. She was learning to y at a location in Arizona which was bumpy with updrafts. e plane went up and down quite a bit just like the industry itself. But ... "I would never do anything else.”

Friends Katie and Marshall Norman played matchmaker to the sky team. Marshall was a captain with United Express to Christyna’s rst o cer role. e introduction to Todd

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Both the interior and exterior mantel at the fireplace was fashioned out of part of a maple tree that was cut down on the property to make way for the Blankers Estates on the Ridge development. (Calvin Bratt and Elisa Claassen/Lynden Tribune)

took, and not only are the two married but they ew together work-wise with United Express in earlier days. Before kids, they made the most of their travel jaunts by exploring throughout Europe and beyond into Scandinavia, Russia, Poland and Egypt.

“If we had ve days o , we’d rent a car (and explore),” she said. She continued working when pregnant, but by the time she hit her 37th week of pregnancy, and found it was hard to lift her bag into the overhead compartment, she would quit ying for the duration.

A replica of the plane they met on with United Express is in the kitchen cabinet near their formal dishes. ey delight in pointing it out.

Now as they are more senior members

of their respective ight crews, it is easier to put family schedules together. Once Christyna gets her schedule with Alaska Air, then Todd bids on his with Allegiant. Based out of Bellingham, he is technically “on call” and so able to be home quite a bit with just days trips to and from a destination. In contrast, she has more three-day trips based out of Seattle and has previously been based out of cities requiring her to commute there and then board another plane to work for seven years: Kansas City, Chicago and Dallas.

With kids happily playing and a peaceful setting now in a new home in Lynden, they have agreed this is where they will be staying for a long while. ey even built this on a single oor thinking really long-term of their bodily. “We’re permanent here,” Todd said.

Retaining wall is critical to creating the safe space to build right next to Nooksack River floodplain. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

Contemporary farmhouse, and shop, all in town

Roetcisoender family finds a large Blankers Estates lot to match what they sought

By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com

LYNDEN — Del Roetcisoender, as a builder, already had in mind nding

property out in Whatcom County where he could have a shop for his construction equipment along with a rental house.

Del and his wife, Nicole, could have been content staying in their 5-year-old house on Baker Creek Circle, which Del built, although they did hope for a better view toward the mountains someday.

It turned out they could make all their goals happen on a nearly halfacre lot in the Blankers Estates on the Ridge plat o Kok Road. From an August 2019 construction start, they wrapped

up this new striking white-with-blacktrim home, with its shop and accessory dwelling unit, this spring just before the coronavirus hampered everything.

“We sold our (former) home in three weeks, very quickly,” Nicole said. “It did put the pressure on.” In fact, they lived with Del’s parents out of town for two months.

Del (company Traditional Home Construction) kicked into gear building, with oldest son Zach available as well, giving this property their full attention.

It helped that Del’s brother Jerry (JWR Design) was the designer behind it all, and they could collaborate, or adjust, on things with him.

e Roetcisoenders liked the general layout of the house they were leaving, so started with that for the main oor. Di erences were that here at 1610 Farmview Terrace there would be a second oor and no basement, and the outside view would have to maximize the

The Del and Nicole Roetcisoender home at 1610 Farmview Terrace is built into south-facing slope extensively using ManorStone for retaining wall and steps to the front entrance. It's also simple and classic farmhouse style in white with black trim. Del, a builder by trade, did the construction with son Zach while his brother Jerry Roetcisoender was the house designer. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

southeast corner of the house.

Also, there was the challenge of building into fairly steep slope and yet trying to have as much level area as possible for driveway and entrance to the back buildings.

It was all done.

Del built the three-bay shop and second unit portion rst, and the family lived in those quarters while the main house took shape in front.

ey wanted a contemporary farmhouse look — being they’re almost in the country here, after all. e house is bigframed, with its ceiling reaching to 18

feet in the great room and spacious windows opening to southern natural light.

e interior is uniformly light-hued, as seems to have become popular, with beige trim and ooring, and large rugs.

e open railing stairway to the second oor is readily accessible from the front door. O the “catwalk” above are the two bedrooms for Logan and Kiley, kids still living at home, and also the guest bedroom. e master suite is on the main oor. Tucked o a second hallway to the back are a butler’s pantry,

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A second-floor catwalk looks back down on the main living area.

The front entrance is a blend of grey Holland Herringbone pavers, lawn edging and a porch concrete sand finish in black. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

family theater room and laundry.

ere had to be two active entrances to the house, the front street one with the porch 13 steps up from the sidewalk and the back entrance that the family would mostly use. e Roetcisoenders wanted it to feel “welcoming on both sides,” and working with Jerry they accomplished that.

e front yard is a showcase of stonework and masonry to overcome nearly eight feet of elevation gain. e main feature is an array of ManorStone for steps and retaining wall, then pavers are Permeable Holland Herringbone in grey, and the porch is a sand nish with

black coloring.

As usual, Del practiced his “creative as you go” approach, knowing as a builder what works best and where design can be modi ed for a better outcome. For instance, he found a way to expand bathroom space when that seemed too constrictive.

e Roetcisoenders credit the creativity of interior designer Drew Vander Meulen, who works with Jerry, for bringing together all of the elements of wall and ooring, cabinetry and color into a uni ed and pleasing whole.

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Fishtrap Creek Interiors

Del Roetcisoender proudly wears the state championship sweatshirt of daughter Kiley's basketball team title for Lynden Christian this past March, and Nicole is a teacher at the high school as well. They are enjoying both the indoor and the outdoor patio amenities of their new home completed in March in Blankers Estates on the Ridge in southwest Lynden. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

Exploiting the view toward the Nooksack River, Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters meant having a large outdoor patio area looking out in that direction, where barbecuing, lounging and a hot-tub soak are all options.

e grass is in and growing well, and so a Husqvarna robotic mower named Shirley moseys around doing her clipping duties — and entertaining guests. One thing the Roetcisoenders

know needs to be done yet is railing on the front steps.

is is a deep lot, and Del highlighted the boundary lines with future neighbors along Farmview Terrace using a ower bed edger. He has bought two more lots in Blankers Estates, so he may be creating houses there again.

In construction now for close to 30

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Creative Stoneworks of Laurel was the subcontractor involved in providing the kitchen and countertops of both the Roetcisoender and the Assink houses being featured. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

Fishtrap Creek Interiors of Lynden was involved for lighting and Lynden Interiors for flooring while Front and Main Design and ReCreated were both involved on interior design of the Roetcisoender home. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

years, Del, beside being the general contractor, did all of the framing and concrete work as his part of this house. e other craftsmen and specialist companies involved were:

Grading and Excavation — DeKoster Excavating

Brick — Bouwman Masonry and Stucco

Electrical — Northwest Electric

Plumbing — Valley Plumbing & Electric

Heating — DeJong Heating & Refrigeration

Roo ng — Joostens Roo ng

Insulation — Coast Insulation

Drywall — Cascade Drywall

Painting — K&K Painting

Cabinets — Meyer’s Cabinets

Flooring — Lynden Interiors

Kitchen Countertops — Creative Stoneworks

Landscape — VanderGiessen Nursery

Interior Designer — Front and Main Design,

ReCreated

Lighting — Fishtrap Creek Interiors

Appliances — DeWaard & Bode

Furniture — Samuel’s, Wiser’s Furniture

Windows — VanderGriend Lumber

Metal Railings — Innotech

The Roetcisoender Home

Custom Home Design • Ready to Build Stock Plans

We have enjoyed working with you designing your new home!

Robotic lawn mower Shirley has her run at the back of the Roetcisoender place, which contains the three-bay shop building for Del's construction business and also has the accessory dwelling unit allowed in the plat. The family had to live there for a few months while the house was finished. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

About 20 Blankers Estates lots still for sale

Larger site has a deeper Lynden, family history

By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com

LYNDEN — When Jerry Blankers, as property developer, rst put out his billing of Blankers Estates on the Ridge in 2018, he touted lots “big enough to throw a football on.”

Or they could be called executivesized lots. However the phrasing, these were meant to be signi cantly larger than your standard parcel to put a house on in town.

And because this is a time when governments are generally trying to ramp up density of housing, there was an interesting twist to Blankers Estates — room and opportunity on each lot to have an accessory dwelling unit besides the main house.

It is all now starting to develop. Two houses in the plat o Kok Road are now completed and being lived in, and they are the featured homes in this edition of Home & Garden.

A third house, prominent right at the corner with Kok, is nearing completion. It was drawn up by JWR Design (Jerry Roetcisoender) and is being built by Building Brothers (Kevin and Micah Spoelstra) as general contractor. e owner is an Andrews family of California, although it is meant to be used by the Young Life organization in the county, said team leader Luie Smit, who will live there.

Another house is also in progress at 1626 Farmview Terrace.

Jerry Blankers said he continues marketing about 20 out of the 34 original lots. He says his selling points are the size in excess of 15,000 square feet per lot, the proximity to food and other retail services on the west side of Lynden, and of course the magni cent views across valley farmland to Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters in the distance.

Lots are in excess of $200,000 each.

Not exactly part of Blankers Estates on the Ridge, but still in the extended Blankers family, is a house being built by Glen Blankers farther down the slope toward farmland. Glen, recently retired from dairy farming, is a connection to the

history of this site, which once was more than 140 acres all in the hands of his late father, Arnold Blankers Sr. e upland portion out of oodplain, about 19 acres, was suitable for development, led by Glen’s sister, Arlene

Sanders, and coordinated through Jerry.

Where Glen is building, and where his son Greg and family built next door in 2018, is actually in Whatcom County, not in Lynden city limits. ey know, from familiarity with the land and o cial maps,

that their buildings are above the reach of occasional Nooksack River over ows.

Glen Blankers said the land assembled by his father traces back in Lynden history to being owned by the Satterthwaite and Cornie Spaan families.

This is another home almost completed in the plat, right at the corner of Farmview Terrace with Kok Road. It will be used as a gathering place for Young Life in Whatcom County, said team leader Luie Smit. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)