About
Our Story
In 2020, we watched helplessly as Missoula home prices became unattainable for a large portion of our community. As seasoned housing developers, we started thinking there could be a new approach to the whole development and home-buying process.
In 2022 we started West End Farms, with the simple goal of building good homes, in a vibrant neighborhood, at a price that working people can afford.
We bought 70+ acres adjacent to Hellgate Elementary, and worked with the City of Missoula to site 28-acre public park that would sit alongside our new community of 260 homes. In 2024, we donated 16 acres of the park to the City.
Then we started drawing homes, based on six design imperatives:
Smart, functional, and efficient floor plans.
No cheap materials or assembly methods.
Good energy efficiency.
Maximizing contiguous outdoor space for pets, play and gardens.
High ceilings, lots of windows, concrete front porches and side patios.
Enough parking for a Subaru Outback, Ford F-150, and a recreational trailer (in single family homes and townhomes).
We were able to achieve competitive price points across our home types. How? We had purchased the site carefully, and we applied 20 years of design/build experience to bring thrift to every single detail of the process. We also benefit from having our own local construction division and from being a small company that can make decisions quickly.
But what really makes West End Farms unique is our pricing formula and buying process.
We started by changing the traditional pricing formula. We use “building costs + markup” rather than “market value.” This takes the pain of hot markets off the homebuyer. And it allows us to share the benefits of all the thrifty design described above, with buyers.
We still wanted to reach working Missoulians, and to bypass speculation and bidding wars. We decided to offer qualified buyers a chance to buy a home at the set, published price, with no bidding war. We also established a two-year owner occupancy requirement, which survives any resale for seven years. Long-term rentals are allowed after owner occupancy requirements are met. Short- term vacation rentals are not allowed.
We hope all of these choices can add up to a vibrant community of homeowners, near a great school district, with access to beautiful open space, in the place we all call home.
