Anna, left, and Sarah Hamilton took a break from their busy lives to share some details of their latest project, building low-income housing in Cook County, talking over coffee at Java Moose. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
Low-income housing, or affordable housing if you like, is a need that has been discussed for more than 20 years by groups like the Cook County/Grand Marais EDA. The subject has been brought up at school board meetings, hospital board meetings, Grand Marais city council meetings, etc. with a lot of hand wringing but no solutions.
Can’t be done. The lots are too expensive, infrastructure work too exorbitant, just the price of building in northern Minnesota is too costly.
Sure, all true, but why let that stop you?
Turns out two sisters, Anna and Sarah Hamilton, who are decidedly rich in friends, ideas, passion, and can-do spirit—but not money – have decided to take on the project, and they have just finished and sold their first affordable home in Grand Marais, a town where even small homes are often priced at more than $200,000.
“We sold it for $110,000. That’s more than we planned to sell it for, but we learned some hard lessons on this first house that we won’t need to repeat on the second house,” said Anna.
With the first house gone, next on the agenda is to build a cluster of homes, said Sarah. “We are trying to get the price under $100,000 per home. The buyers would own the lots, but there would be restrictions on them. We don’t want these houses to become vacation rentals.”
Anna and Sarah Hamilton are well-known to most residents of Cook County. Both are businesswomen known for their hard work and their views on subjects near and dear to their hearts. But to really know them, you have to know more about their past.
The sisters
Anna moved to the Gunflint Trail in 1984. Ten years later Sarah followed in 1994. “We both worked for Ginny and Larry Backstrom at Poplar Lake Lodge (Trail Center), then I moved off the trail and Sarah contemplated moving back to Iowa,” said Anna.
“Skyport was for sale at that time, and we took the plunge and asked a person we knew if he would consider being a silent partner (we had no money). He said yes, but then we found Skyport to be in too bad of shape. Ginny and Larry heard that and said, ‘Why don’t you buy this (Poplar Lake Lodge)?’ so we did with the help of Dave Beattie. That was 1995.
“In 1998 we bought Clyde’s Place, renaming it ‘My Sister’s Place.’ We bought it because of the snowmobile issue. No one wanted snowmobilers in town at the time, but we did and thought heck, we could pass them back and forth between the trail and Sisters.
“Our goal was to integrate winter sportspeople; at that time, there were huge attitudes between the silent sports crowd and the non-silent crowd. We even had signs on our tables at Trail Center saying, ‘We cater to all outdoor enthusiasts, you get along and respect one another or go somewhere else,’ and it worked.
“Our other goal was to provide year-round work and training for folks with no skills, like us. That also worked. We raised many of the people in the businesses and feel fortunate to have had that opportunity.
“Even back then, no one wanted the dog mushers. Sarah did, and from that time on, she has sponsored and housed The Beargrease, Gunflint Mail Run, and Mush for a Cure. The mushers have been very loyal to Trail Center and to Sarah because of her generosity and financial support.”
Sarah funds and volunteers for many things, including Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota (which the sisters traveled to this week). She sponsors children’s food programs, clothing drives, and vets and their families. She has raised lots of interest and funds for the plight of these folks, said Anna.
Both Anna and Sarah headed up a non-tolerance effort for child molesters in the ‘90s, intending to change the leniency law for offenders when Kathlyn “Katie” Poirier was kidnapped from her job at DJ’s Expressway in Moose Lake, Minnesota and murdered.
“We sent out over 5,000 postpaid cards to Minnesota politicians and gave out at least that many bumper stickers,” Sarah said.
“I raised a couple of children that were not mine, then Sarah and I took care of our parents until their death. We took on a couple of other business endeavors (Mercantile, Dork Wear, and then Hughie’s, named after our dad Hugh) with the goal of providing year-round employment and mentoring. Both of us are high school dropouts who struggled, times were tough, and school was not on the priority list. Moving to Cook County saved us, both of us, and we want to give back, always give back. We are lucky, and we know it. Providing housing for the little guy like us excites us to no end. We believe everyone deserves the chance to live and work in this jewel town.
“Our mother was in the food business our entire life. She fed people who had no money when she had no money. She always made them work for it, however, as pride is vital to all of us,” Anna said.
“Anna had a dream of building low-income housing that local workers could afford more than 25 years ago,” said Sarah.
“It wasn’t possible for her to pursue her dream until she sold her restaurant (Hughie’s). When that sold, she had the time and energy to pursue this,” said Sarah, adding, “Some people think we are rich. We aren’t rich. It takes a lot of time and sweat equity for us to do this. I do what I can, but Anna is the contractor and does most of the work.”
More houses
No government money was used to build the first house, and the Hamiltons aren’t looking for government funding. “We like our autonomy. If you take money from the government, you lose some of that,” Anna said.
The first house is 480 square feet and built on a cement pad. It comes with Marvin windows, Smart siding, a covered porch, and is extremely tight and energy-efficient. The next house(s) will be slightly larger than this one, said Sarah. “We are looking at making them 520 square feet. Not a lot bigger, but that will give us the flexibility to add more space to the rooms.”
Donations of money and materials covered most of the cost to build the first house. The sisters had an out-of-pocket expense of more than $3,000 on fees they didn’t know about, but that lesson has been learned and won’t be repeated, said Anna. “We got lots of offers from people that wanted to help, and lots of people did help us,” she added.
Anna did all of the painting and staining of the house. Sarah did some work, but admitted, “I’m not as handy as Anna.”
Anna shot back, “She’s my support. None of this would happen without Sarah.”
Up next are plans to build a cluster of 5-6 homes. The sisters are currently eyeing one piece of property in the city of Grand Marais and making a pitch for it. If their offer is accepted, they will start building in the spring. If that offer isn’t accepted, they will continue to look for land in the city.
“We are also filing to become a 501c3 nonprofit,” Anna said. “That way, it will be easier to accept donations. Another option is to pre-sell homes. These homes will come with some deed restrictions, but everyone will own their land and house. We want to build homes for people just starting or people working in jobs that right now don’t pay enough for them to own a house. We know people who are renting that would love to own their place. People in the service industry that work very hard and should be able to own a house. That’s why we are doing this. We don’t make any money from this venture, but we are glad to do it and will do all we can to make it a reality.”
If you would like to donate or learn more about the Hamilton sisters’ efforts, you can go to their website: Hamilton Housing LLC.
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