The Fox Island property where generations of Pierce County families once cut their own Christmas trees is becoming an eight-home gated community, with homes advertised starting at $1.6 million and running up to $2 million. Garrette Homes, a Pacific Northwest company that builds custom homes, is developing the 40-acre site into a project called Ozette Estates, located at 1403 11th Ave. on Fox Island.
The project, first detailed by The News Tribune, will include rambler home plans ranging roughly 3,000 to 4,000 square feet, according to Garrette Homes division president Matt Lewis, who discussed the plans in a phone call on October 23. Garrette Homes' own marketing describes the development as an exclusive gated community with homes listed from 2,958 to 4,190 square feet and acreage-style lots offering room for detached shops and accessory dwelling units. Garrette Homes is a subsidiary of GCH Puget Sound Inc.
Aerial photos of the site show a strip of cleared land for home lots surrounded by forest, a visible marker of the shift from working tree farm to private subdivision. Lewis said Garrette Homes expects to begin construction on the first home in early 2027 and imagines the first residents moving in by the end of that year.
Permits Still Pending Before Any Groundbreaking
Before any of that can happen, Garrette Homes still has to record a final plat with Pierce County to create the eight lots, a step required under state law before construction can start. Pierce County spokesperson Christina Rohila said the county is reviewing building permit applications for Ozette Estates but has not yet issued them. Because the project involves fewer than 30 lots, it will not require further traffic review, according to a county spokesperson.
A public notice published in May said the 40-acre project involves 20 acres of disturbed soil for residential site development followed by building construction, and that Garrette Custom Homes is seeking coverage under the Washington State Department of Ecology's Construction Stormwater NPDES and State Waste Discharge General Permit, as detailed by the Tacoma Daily Index. The notice said written comments on the stormwater permit could be submitted to Ecology no later than 30 days after the notice's last publication date, with the agency weighing whether discharges would cause a measurable change in receiving-water quality.
Who Owns the Land Now
Property records trace a winding path to today's ownership. Matthew Ketcham, who inherited the farm after his father's death, sold the property for $440,000 in March 2013 to TPDP II LLC, according to Pierce County property records. TPDP II LLC then sold it to GCH Puget Sound Inc. for roughly $2.1 million that June. Washington Secretary of State records show TPDP II LLC is registered to Timothy Lunde, who has a Fox Island mailing address; Lunde did not return requests for comment during the week of October 28.
Garrette Homes said it plans to retain about half of the Christmas trees still growing on the property's south side, and Lewis said the property has room to commemorate the former Christmas tree farm, though he said there are no definite plans yet and he expressed interest in learning more about its history.
A Quarter-Century of Family Christmas Memories
The land's story goes back decades. Donald G. Ketcham Jr., a U.S. Air Force veteran and Boeing instructor pilot, bought the land in the 1970s and later cleared it for a Christmas tree lot. The Ketcham family's company, Ketcham Evergreen, officially started around 1987, growing Douglas, noble and grand fir trees on the property.
Ketcham opened the farm on Thanksgiving Day and operated it through Christmas each year, hosting elementary school groups and allowing families who could not afford a tree to choose one on Christmas Eve. For a quarter-century, the farm was an annual destination for dozens of area families, according to the Kitsap Sun archive. Children hung handmade, often birdseed-covered ornaments on a particular tree known as Drew's Tree, which is still standing at the former farm.
Donald Ketcham died in 2011, and the farm closed that same year. His son Matthew inherited the farm after his father's death. John Ketcham said he would have kept the farm operating if he could, but it was not an option.
Neighbors Remember the Farm Online
News of the redevelopment has stirred memories across the island. A Fox Island community Facebook post generated more than 100 comments about memories of the Ketcham Christmas tree farm. Ryan Warter recalled visiting the farm every year with his parents and sister, while Ken Friermuth recalled riding ponies and bicycles and making tree forts at the farm.
The closure of Ketcham's farm fits into a broader pattern across the state's Christmas tree industry, which includes nearly 400 farms statewide, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Pierce County still lists other local u-cut operations, including Snowshoe Evergreen Choose & Cut and Riverlook Farms' Red Barn Tree Farm, for families looking to keep the tradition alive elsewhere.
