Kit home bill would pave the way for small DIY housing
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 months, 2 weeks AGO
New legislation in Washington state could make kit homes like this 400-square-foot cedar log house easier to buy, build and live in.
COURTESY PHOTO/LITTLE TWIG HOMES
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | March 20, 2026 3:00 AM
OLYMPIA — A bill passed in the Washington Legislature and signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson this year could mean some new options for housing in the state in the future, said the bill’s primary sponsor, state Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview.
“When you’ve got a $600,000 beat-up starter home someplace around Seattle, what about a simplified but modernized version of a kit home from the old days?” Wilson said. “We need all choices on the menu for housing options, except living in a blue tarp on the street.”
The law directs the state Building Code Council to develop rules specifically for kit homes 800 square feet and smaller. Before World War II, it wasn’t uncommon to buy a complete home – pre-cut lumber and all the accompanying materials – from the Sears-Roebuck catalog via mail order. The purchaser then built the home himself on whatever land was available.
The times may have changed, but those homes are available. Little Twig Homes, based in Hendersonville, North Carolina, ships pre-packaged home to a number of states, said owner Aaron Dunn, in a 950- and a 400-square-foot size.
“They’re all DIY-friendly,” Dunn said. “They’re pre-cut, numbered and ready to go … You do have to have some carpentry skill, but they come in panels that are numbered. It’s kind of like putting a big Lego puzzle together.”
Little Twig’s 400-square-foot home, which fits with the state’s new definition of a kit home, comes on a single 53-foot truck, Dunn said. It’s 20 feet by 20 feet, a single story with a 200-square-foot loft accessible by a ladder. It includes the shell, walls, roof, windows, and exterior and interior doors. Any further interior work, as well as power and plumbing, is up to the buyer, he said.
The hangup in Washington state, Wilson said, is that up to now there hasn’t been a standard definition of kit homes for the Building Codes Council to work from.
“A kit home has to be put into a category all of its own because it’s not a two- or three-story mansion. It’s not a ranch house. It’s not a manufactured home because it’s a do-it-yourself, potentially.”
The State Building Code Council is made up of volunteers, and they make changes to the state regulations on pre-determined cycles, said Tim Woodard, chair of the Washington Association of Building Officials.
“When we have to advance these rules outside of the normal cycle, it just means more time away from our daily jobs,” Woodard said. “If we can do it combined with the other … processes that go through the state building code council it enables us to more efficiently address these concerns.”
The new legislation required that the standards be in place by March 31, 2027.
The next step, Wilson said, is to find ways to get kit homes into the state.
“When you go online or you go to a dealership, you should be able to get ready to place your orders and start having homes delivered.”
The text of the new law is available at https://bit.ly/WAKitHomeLaw26. Little Twig Homes can be found at littletwig.homes.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.