Tracy Crowshaw, Yakima, who recently bought the old Ranger Station in Packwood, walks in front of the building on Thursday.
When Tracy and Dean Croshaw saw the old Packwood ranger station up for government auction two years ago, they had an idea that would help the community maintain a piece of its history.
The pair of Yakima school teachers purchased the six boarded up buildings that stood empty on the 20-acre property that had been vacated by the forest service five years before. The Croshaws went to work restoring the old structures for long-term housing and vacation rentals.
“We’re trying to preserve old stuff and make use for it,” said Tracy Croshaw, the co-owner of Packwood Station.
She and her husband cleaned up and opened the property’s arboretum to the public.
“People were using it as a dump before,” Croshaw said.
The Croshaws restored the ranger and assistant ranger houses and rented them out to families needing full-time housing. They rented out the wood shed for storage space.
Additionally, they converted the old office annex into a luxury vacation rental that sleeps 14 and even has a jacuzzi.
“The bunkhouse is more like going to camp,” Croshaw said. “So they each have different benefits."
The couple made the old bunkhouse into accommodations for 20 people complete with a fire and a horseshoe pit outside.
“I’m big on historical and have always liked the idea of having a camp,” Croshaw said.
The bunkhouse yard did have a volleyball net until recently when an elk wandered off with the net.
“He walked around town with our volleyball net in his horns,” Croshaw said.
Over the past two years, several groups have stayed in the bunkhouse, including the television crew from the reality show Rock Stars.
The couple had leased the old fire house out to a tool and equipment rental company but now the building, which dates back to 1928, again sits empty.
“Someone needs to find something wonderful to do in here,” Croshaw said. “It’s a really cool old building.”
If the space doesn’t rent by next year, the Croshaws intend to set up a beer garden and possibly an evening concert during Packwood’s semi-annual flea markets, which are held over the Memorial Day and Labor Day holiday weekends.
“That’ll increase the amount of people staying overnight,” said Amber Ackley, of Packwood’s Windermere Real Estate.
The fire building still has remnants of the past inside, like the hanging areas for fire clothing and equipment that now sit empty. Croshaw said she found old notes from firefighters and forest service workers that said things about how much they liked Packwood Station when she cleaned the building.
“There were people who went out under protest,” she said.
Croshaw said a few even came to see them after they purchased the property because there was concern a developer would come in and ruin the site’s history.
“Tearing things down isn’t in our plan,” Croshaw said.
However, the couple does have big plans for improving the property including installing outdoor bathrooms, showers and a barbecue so next year they can show outdoor movies and host more events.
The two will also continue to improve on the trail on site that leads to a small waterfall on Hall Creek and a view of Mount Rainier. The forested area along the trail was once the site of an archeological dig, where some of the oldest tool building artifacts in the Cascade range were unearthed.
In addition, the couple plans to book more retreats and even weddings for customers next summer.
“I have big dreams,” Croshaw said. “It’s a place that’ll draw people back.”
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Amy Nile: (360) 807-8235
