A vision over 20 years in the making is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for Woodland area resident Brian Trembley.
Trembley has been on a quest to open a Victorian-era styled home for a bed and breakfast, with surrounding amenities and activities on his property, completely built from scratch. Trembley, owner of Sticks Milling, a portable bandsaw mill, has crafted every wooden aspect of this venture from siding, railing, support beams, everything.
“Not only did I do all of this wood on the sawmill, I’ve also done all the wood for the other outbuildings on this property,” he said. “There’s a chicken coop. There’s the barn down there. There’s the Santa Claus chalet. There’s a kiln over there. There’s a wood and tool shed down there. I’ve cut it all. So that’s one reason why it’s a 20-plus year project because you simply don’t go to Parr Lumber and buy a unit of two-by-sixes, you cut down a tree and you go from there.”
Trembley also explained that a consistent battle not to give in to building officials has caused the project delays. He said there has been a fair share of differing opinions from building inspectors in Cowlitz County on his work, but ultimately he doesn’t give in, which has saved him tens of thousands of dollars, he added.
Trembley has been cutting each piece of wood for the future bed and breakfast with a vision in mind. Some parts of the bed and breakfast have been crafted solely from a dream, including his great room, which has three balconies that overlook it.
He said he could picture a bride tossing the bouquet of flowers down below. He can picture somebody reading a book and looking out the windows while a hot chocolate machine brews up a savory, sweet drink.
“You’re going to sit here by the fireplace, you’re going to enjoy the company of others. You’re going to play board games, you’re going to walk in the woods,” Trembley explained of a stay at his bed and breakfast. “No, I don’t want to provide WiFi. I know a lot of people probably won’t come because of that. I don’t care.”
Trembley has also been collecting a multitude of antiques to provide the character of the bed and breakfast to make it feel like a Victorian-era home. He said that his collection features original wall art, light fixtures, and even a fully functional typewriter — which will be a part of the experience when staying at his bed and breakfast.
The bed and breakfast is located on a secluded property near Lake Merwin. Trembley believes the location will provide year-round activities and be close enough to business meetings and conferences from Longview south to Portland.
Trembley was first inspired to start his milling business after he felt his work was short-changed once.
“The reason I got started was I knocked down a log truck load plus of logs and bucked them, limbed them, cleaned up the branches and sent it to the mill,” he said, “and I was shocked at how little money I got for all that work. So, I had to take that little money and go where? To the lumberyard. So basically, I cut out the middleman by getting into this business.”
He has now been at it for 23 years and counting.
He believes the property is nearing completion but doesn’t have a timeline for when the bed and breakfast will be available to book a stay. To learn more about Trembley’s Sticks Milling business, visit sticksmilling.com.
