By Don Nelson
After 30 years at the “log office” next to the Farm House Inn on Highway 20 in Winthrop, Chris Stern has moved his business — Common Sense Custom Homes — to a new location on Wolf Creek Road.
The log building has been purchased by former tenant Andrew Nelson of Altius Physical Therapy, which will allow Nelson to expand his practice in the building.
Stern said he will continue to offer the same construction, consulting and contracting services, as well as the mediation service he provides.
Stern has been in business locally since the 1970s. His office had been in what is now the Methow Conservancy building on Riverside Avenue before he and his wife, Cathy, built the log building in 1985.
Stern has always shared the building with tenants, keeping his office upstairs and renting out the first floor. “For about the past 10 years, I’ve been suggesting to tenants that they could buy the building,” he said. Nelson recently agreed to take him up on the offer.
Stern said the mediation service is a small but enjoyable part of his business. The challenge is to “go in being neutral” in mediating issues involving local people he knows, Stern said.
Stern’s office number remains the same: 996-2554. Altius Physical Therapy can be reached at (509) 341-4011.
