Morning Star Builders
Custom Homes
For the past 30 years Morning Star Builders has been building custom homes on Orcas Island, one of which has been featured in Fine Homebuilding. With all the Custom Homes, Steve’s focus is creating spaces which connect with the landscape and efficiently use space. He values creatively using local materials and traditional craftsmanship.
There is a movement towards simpler ways of living on Earth. An idea with roots: Emerson, Thoreau, the Romantics, our First Nation Brothers and Sisters, and beyond to the earliest days of our nomadic ancestry…We see this expressed today in an exciting conversation around human habitat… Micro-shelters, Tiny Houses, PODS… a new American Dream: accessible, affordable, portable, uniquely personal dwelling spaces.
Morning Star Builders is excited to participate in this movement with our introduction of living spaces inspired by the elegant efficiency seen in the seedpods of flowering plants. These seedpods serve as vessels offering protection and transportation for the very seeds of life. Elegant, evolving bio-structures offering wisdom and inspiration to live light!
Steve Diepenbrock, the owner of Morning Star Builders, has over 30 years of contracting and building experience on Orcas Island and has always been conscious of the ongoing year-round housing issue that exists in the San Juan Islands. The need for affordable year-round housing for local islanders is only growing. With this awareness and inspiration to address this issue tangibly, Morning Star Builders is designing and building P.O.D.S (Portable, Obtainable, Dwelling, Spaces) and micro-shelters. Morning Star Builders customizes every shelter to meet the needs of those living in the space. Contact Steve Diepenbrock at msbuilders@rockisland.com or call 360-317-5055 to learn more about getting your very own Pea Pod or micro-shelter of choice!
P.O.D.S: Sweet Pea
Morning Star Builders designed and built the Sweet Pea Pod using as many local materials as possible. The majority of the timber used for this house was sustainably harvested and milled on Morning Star Farm. The Sweet Pea Pod (pictures below) is built on 8 feet wide by 20 feet long trailer, which was custom built to carry the weight of this tiny home. A home on wheels provides the flexibility of location and allows one to move the home as desired based on lifestyle needs.
Micro-Shelters: Ocean Spray
Ocean Spray is one of the micro-shelters that Morning Star builders has designed and built. This micro-shelter was designed to be fully off grid and was built on Morning Star Farm to provide another living space for those individuals working on the farm. All the timber used was sustainably harvested and milled on Morning Star Farm.
