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A DEDICATED TEAM
Meet the team
At Trailside we’re committed to long-lasting partnerships. We carefully select talented trade partners and dedicated professionals who work proudly as a cohesive team to deliver innovative and high-quality projects.
Collectively, our team has called the area “home” for hundreds of years. We are home building and real estate experts, customer service extraordinaires, development specialists, craftsmen, architects, landscape and interior designers. Perhaps most of all, we are outdoor enthusiasts and are passionate for all the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
marketing & Customer relations
Nathan Nicholson
Marketing and Customer Relations Coordinator
Licensed Real Estate Broker
A Washington Native growing up in the small town of Snohomish, Nathan appreciates the uniqueness of local living. He is passionate about functional design combined with the roots of nature. With a knowledgeable background in Real Estate and years of visual marketing experience, he thrives on assisting those on their own unique PNW ownership. Prior to joining the team, Nathan was responsible for advising customers on market conditions and providing in-depth financial analysis for a local Multi-Family Investment Brokerage. This paved the way for his creative thinking and problem-solving skills while flawlessly driving Sales and Marketing initiatives to success. While not in the office, you can find Nathan playing golf, traveling, or with family and friends.
Tetiana dmytrus
Marketing Intern
Tania is the newest addition to our team. She moved to the US from Ukraine six years ago and is approaching the completion of her sales & marketing degree at the University of Washington. Tania’s passions lie in real estate and social media, already gaining a substantial following through her content creation and successful brand collaborations. After graduation, she plans to obtain her real estate license, but she’s already making strides by networking with realtors and home developers. Tania’s expertise in social media will undoubtedly help Trailside grow organically, and we look forward to her contributions to elevating the company’s media presence. In her free time, Tania enjoys pilates, city walks, and traveling.
Operations
Brian Martens
Project Manager
Brian has worked in the construction industry as a Project Manager since 1999. Prior to 1999 Brain held construction superintendent positions and was also a Union Carpenter. He brings a wealth of construction knowledge to the Trailside Homes team and has exceptionally high customer service standards. Brian is passionate about guiding customers through the custom home process where his keen sense of “the bottom line” and his value of clarity and integrity help to unite happy customers with their new finished home. Brian is originally from California and moved to Washington State in 1994. Brian loves the outdoors and is currently building a cabin at Snoqualmie Pass so he can take full advantage of Upper Kittitas County Winters!
Justin Bennett
Project Manager
Originally from the Midwest, Justin brings a strong work ethic and a meticulous approach to every project. After moving to the PNW, and receiving his BS in Construction Management, Justin built his foundation as a Kittitas County inspector, acquiring a wealth of knowledge in ensuring compliance with building codes and regulations. Being an inspector allowed him to understand the intent of the code and devise practical solutions based on that knowledge to better serve customers. Having three kids who play sports, and being into sports himself, he takes great pride in being a sports enthusiast. Justin embraces the peaceful atmosphere of Ellensburg, where his family, and five pet ducks have found solace there for the past decade. Outside of work, Justin can be found with his family, watching his kids play sports or enjoying the Pacific Northwest.
Blakeney Wisner
Management Services Administrator: Pre-Construction
Blakeney Wisner, in real estate since 2014, holds a unique background in residential sales, new construction, commercial real estate, and administration. Known for her attention to detail, creative problem-solving, and industry involvement, she’s passionate about the challenges and opportunities that real estate holds. A Seattle native, Blakeney grew up on the west side before relocating to her new home in Cle Elum, a small mountain town in the heart of the Cascades. Blakeney will take on the role of Management Services Administrator: Pre-Construction at Trailside. She will be responsible for planning the details of Trailside Homes before they break ground. Outside of work, she enjoys yoga, time with loved ones, reading, and various outdoor activities. Blakeney holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Marketing from the University of Washington.
Construction
Brian Wetzel
Senior Construction Manager
As a Washington State native and second-gen home builder, Brian is passionate about delivering high-quality homes and exhibits an extensive career in working with some of the largest production, custom, and luxury home builders. Brian always strives to deliver quality homes that are on time with an intense level of care and attention to detail exceeding our customers’ expectations. In the workplace and outside, Brian is a natural team player with a positive and fun personality that is unmatched. When Brian is not working on special projects with his 2 children, playing softball, golfing, or spending time at the ocean you’ll often find him with a big smile as he shares fun stories about his precious granddaughter and black lab, Kashmir.
Lisa Lutton
Construction Administrator
Prior to joining Trailside Homes, Lisa was a Project Coordinator for a custom home builder. She has vast experience in the real estate industry, having spent 17 years as a commercial and residential broker and facility manager. Born and raised in Washington, Lisa enjoys many outdoor activities. She spends most of her time with her husband and four children and their dog Bella. You will most likely find her in the gym weightlifting or on the water, along with running half-marathons and spartan races, snowmobiling, fishing and hiking.
BILLY PRITCHETT
Assistant Construction Manager
Before joining the team at Trailside, Billy has worked with a wide range of companies, from those specializing in remodels to 10,000+ square foot custom homes. This huge range of experience has put Billy in many roles from laborer to superintendent and everything in between. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Evolutionary Biology with a specialization in fish and wildlife. When he isn’t working, Billy is spending time with his wife and three children, camping, salmon fishing on the Columbia River and relaxing at home.
Finance
Amanda Mikolasy
Financial Controller
Amanda offers over 15 years of progressive accounting and construction/real estate industry experience, and she is a whiz with numbers! Amanda’s extensive knowledge as a Controller supports all facets of the Trailside organization and her acute desire to leave no stone unturned not only benefits Trailside’s internal operations but those of our customers and their valuable home projects as well. In Amanda’s spare time, she enjoys cooking, listing to music, reading, and most importantly spending time with her family.
Kristin DeBusk
Accounting Specialist
Born and raised in Alabama, Kristin moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2011 and has been here since. For the past 8 years, Kristin has worked in new construction as an accounting professional and plays an instrumental part in our day-to-day operations. As a highly skilled and organized professional her communications with cross-functional teams and trade partners prove efficient and valuable. In her downtime, Kristin enjoys crafting and spending quality time with her wonderful husband and sweet dogs, Bella and Gracie.
Land
Jim Berger
Land Development Manager
Jim has an extraordinary 35+ years of experience in land development and construction where he started his career as a craftsman installing underground utilities and site work for one of the regions’ largest development contractors. His notable successes were the completion of a King County master development and several production home communities. Jim’s extensive knowledge in land development and construction has paved the way to recent victories for our development team and is paramount to the overall success of Trailside’s newest, master-planned community of Ederra. In his personal time, Jim enjoys spending time with his wife, Mimi, and their two dogs, Zeke and Ziggy at their Hood Canal property, fishing, and crabbing.
Executive
denis hernandez-granda
President
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Denis has spent much of his 25+ year career as Chief Operating Officer and President in diverse engineering and construction firms around the country which makes him the perfect leader for the team at Trailside Group. With a BS in Engineering Management, Denis believes in turning chaos into well run organizations. His purpose is to make it so people can enjoy, grow, and find fulfillment in their careers. Denis believes that building teams with the right “who” in the right “seat” has proven to be the key to success. As the result of having the right team in place, a key performance indicator is Denis excels in business development with greater than 60% close rate. He has an extremely productive and result-oriented management style and recognizes the importance of teamwork. Excellent leadership, strategic planning, supervisiory skills, and technical abilities. Denis an avid reader of business development & leadership success and enjoys spending time with his wife, five children and four awesome dogs.
Barbara Rodgers
Vice President of Land Development
Barbara is an experienced VP of Land Development with a demonstrated history of working in the real estate industry, performing civil design, land entitlements, heavy construction, and equity construction lending. Amongst Barbara’s depth of skills is land management and her education in architecture; she is also fluent in Norwegian, is an avid cook, reader and painter. She has two grown children, two dogs (Poppy & Sprout) and a coop full of chicken princesses. Born in Norway and raised in WA with a large family line of both Washingtonians and Norwegians, she has noteworthy family ties to the Cle Elum and Upper Kittitas County region. Her Grandfather, Morris Jenkins donated his historic preservation work in the Cle Elum area to Central WA University’s archives and can be viewed online.
Pete Caro
Director of Construction Operations
Pete offers over 20-years of success in managing high-volume and custom residential construction projects from inception through to the conclusion of the warranty period. Pete has held positions such as General Manager, VP of Construction Practices, VP of Construction and Director of Construction for companies like BDR Homes, Shea Homes, Richmond American Homes and Centex Homes. Pete has extensive experience leading teams to success and is a strong strategic partner to key executive management teams. Pete could easily be called “Coach Pete” and it would be an appropriate title as he thrives when he can nurture, guide, grow and help lead teams – including youth Baseball and Football. Pete is a family guy and you can often find him taking in a game with his kids, skiing, hiking and enjoying the awesome PNW.
Jennifer Ewart
Director of Special Projects & Designated Broker of Trailside Real Estate
Jennifer has worked in the real estate industry since 1999 with experience in residential homes, land and timber acquisitions, home building and land development. Jennifer is the Designated Broker for Trailside Real Estate, a dedicated service provider for Trailside Homes. As a longtime resident of both Seattle and the Central Cascades, Jennifer enjoys time with her two amazing daughters and husband, Sean Northrop Founder of Trailside Homes. In Jennifer’s free time you can find her hiking, biking, running, cross-training, SUP’ing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and exploring the Cascades and Seattle with great friends and her dogs – Uma and Piper.
Sean Northrop
Founder & CEO
Sean has worked in real estate development and place-making since 1993. He is passionate about building homes and communities that allow homeowners to live a full experience indoors and out. He enjoys a four seasons outdoor lifestyle and sharing his experience in construction and design of all seasons homes with others. Sean is a visionary leader – having assembled a team of like-minded individuals with skills and talents that span the spectrum of home and land development, architecture, interior and landscape design – and more. He is a creative, flexible and collaborative partner who is truly invested in delivering your vision of the perfect basecamp. Away from Trailside, you can catch up with Sean exploring with family and friends in the Cascade Mountains, the San Juan Islands, or discovering the many neighborhoods throughout Puget Sound.
Dogs
If you visit our office you’ll likely meet Uma. Uma enjoys going to the Trailside Homes offices with her humans, Sean and Jennifer. She’s full of energy and is in charge of all things fun at the office – balls, floor cleaning, and napping. Her favorite things are tennis balls. The more, the better! Uma has a big voice and lets you know when she hears you coming but don’t let that fool you – she’s a big softy, loves a good belly rub, and likes to curl up at your feet. Say “hi” to Uma the next time you visit the team!
UMA
CBO (Chief Ball Officer)
Description coming soon!
PIPER
Director of Treat Development
Our sweet Osa. The Adventurer. The Explorer. The Lover of all things food related. The Garbage Hound. The Companion. The Campsite Burglar-er, Our Partner in Crime. Our Office Dog. Our Watcher. The 1st Kid and The Tolerater of Small Children & rotten little sister puppies. We created the most awesome memories over those special 15 1/2 years Osa and there isn’t a day that we don’t think of you and smile. We will love you always & forever, Sean & Jennifer
