After 8 Years, Heights Grocery enters final stretch

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 13, 2026

The old red Grange Hall near Vashon’s north-end park-and-ride has held potlucks, memorials, plays and pumpkin-carving parties for half a century.

After eight years of meetings, paperwork and design revisions, Jennifer Potter is nearly ready to move into construction — the project’s second phase — bringing Heights Grocery closer to opening as a neighborhood grocery store and coffee shop.

Potter, founder of Heights Grocery and longtime steward of the Vashon-Maury Grange Hall, is working to convert the historic building at 10365 SW Cowan Road, and the project is closer than ever to breaking ground.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Potter said. “I’m excited to share this opportunity with the community after years of clearing one major hurdle after another.”

The project has cleared several significant milestones in recent months. The hall was officially designated a King County landmark in December, making it the only Grange hall in the county to hold that distinction. The King County Landmark Commission subsequently granted a Certificate of Appropriateness for the proposed alterations.

Of the four permits needed to open the store, three have been completed. The final step is septic design approval, followed by sign-off from the health department.

“I’m so close,” Potter said, referring to the years of regulatory hurdles she has worked through.

The next phase is construction, which will include a new roof, structural repairs, electrical work, insulation, plumbing, refrigeration, ventilation and skylights, as well as the interior buildout for the market and coffee shop.

The design was developed over several years with local architect Sean Waldron and design partner Rachel Waldron of Waldron Designs — friends of Potter’s who said the project won them over from the start and became a genuine labor of love.

From the beginning, their approach was rooted in a simple idea: don’t hide the building’s age.

“Our mantra has been to have a ‘light touch,’” Sean said. “We aren’t trying to hide the building’s age and want to let that original timber frame do the heavy lifting.”

The hall is what Sean calls a standout example of island-built vernacular — anchored by peeled vertical logs from 1953 that are still visible on the interior, giving the space its character and rhythm. Even new structural elements, like steel bracing designed to anchor grocery shelving, are detailed to work honestly alongside the historic wood rather than clash with it.

“We’re detailing it so the steel bracing and wood work together, making the new interventions feel like a respectful addition to the historic fabric,” Sean said.

Potter describes the experience of walking inside as encountering “a building within a building” — the original log cabin structure encapsulated by later additions built up around it over the decades.

“When people walk in, they’re seeing the significant artifacts of the past — they’re looking in and seeing the log cabin walls,” Potter said.

Outside, rather than one large entry, the plans call for three distinct covered areas plus an informal uncovered seating zone: a main entry canopy protecting the front door and an outdoor sales area; a second covered entry to the east for informal mingling; a northeast covered porch and deck for coffee drinkers; and an open seating area for sunny days — a layout Sean sees as central to how islanders actually use space.

Wood tongue-and-groove decking and wood framing throughout are intended to weather and age alongside the original logs.

“This layout gives North End residents the flexibility to sit together however they want — creating a transition from the rainy ferry commute into a space that feels warm, dry and fundamentally Vashon,” Sean said.

Potter describes the same sensibility from the visitor’s perspective.

“It was really designed for people to ease in and to come and go and get what they need, or sit and stay a while,” she said.

Inside, the floor plan is organized around flexibility and community use. Sean said the team carved out dedicated nooks within the market hall for local partners — including a spot for island growers, an outdoor area for landscape retail, and an 88-square-foot corner laid out for a cafe A permanent display area for the Vashon Heritage Museum is also planned, to tell the building’s story alongside the story of island life.

Potter has already secured a $65,000 award from 4Culture, with additional grant applications in progress through programs available to landmark building owners. She has also launched a community-based fundraising campaign to help cover construction costs.

The north end of Vashon has long lacked a nearby grocery option, with residents making the trip into town for basics. Heights Grocery is envisioned as a neighborhood market carrying everyday staples — milk, eggs, the things you forgot on your last uptown or off-island run.

The store will also be the first on Vashon to carry produce from the Vashon Island Growers Association and accept VIGA Farm Bucks, a local currency that lets islanders purchase produce directly from island farmers.

“To be able to say we truly have hyper-local food — I am excited for,” Potter said.

Potter, a self-described “tiny market junkie,” has already begun dreaming up how she will stock the shelves. But getting those shelves filled — and the doors open — will depend on community support, she said.

“I am inviting the community to invest in this phase because, after eight years, my personal resources are nearly exhausted,” Potter said. “The process has significantly depleted my savings, largely due to the long-term cost of maintaining a mortgage on a vacant building. I simply don’t have the liquid assets left to finish this alone.”

For Sean, the project represents something he hopes others will take note of beyond Vashon.

“Jennifer and our team are trying to prove that you can take a 70-year-old structure and make it work for modern commerce without stripping away what makes it special,” he said.

Potter said she is hesitant to name an opening date just yet. Islanders eager to help can learn more at heightsgrocery.com.

“I’m excited to just open up the opportunity for people to help build this store together,” Potter said.