SEQUIM — There are consistent callbacks to a simpler, more-rustic time at the Carlsborg Store, from loggers’ boot marks in the wood floor to dozens of handcrafted furniture pieces and goods, to the smell of freshly brewed tea.
The historic 1915 building was given new life with a heightened sense of care by Justin Pollak and Jonel Lyons.
“We really felt like we wanted to touch every square inch of the place and bring it back,” Lyons said. “It needed love.”
Pollak compares their passion for the building to when parents make sacrifices for their children.
“It’s not something you necessarily want to do, but it’s important that it needs to be done,” he said of some of the necessary tasks, such as using a heat gun for many hours to remove carpet and glue.
One area was particularly motivating for Pollack during the arduous task — restoring the floor where he’d buy penny candies.
Lyons and Pollak are looking to create a space to preserve Carlsborg’s history and memories while creating new experiences in the store at 761 Carlsborg Road.
Carlsborg Store, an artisan mercantile and restoration company, is open from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and by appointment Mondays and Tuesdays. It offers furniture repair and restoration services, speciality woodworking, curated goods from professional artisan makers, organic loose leaf tea, boutique body care and more.
Pollak, who grew up near the store, then owned by Jeanne Stevenson, fondly recalls buying candies, playing ball on the side of the building and swimming in the former Carlsborg Mill’s pond across the street.
“Most of the people who come in, who grew up here or had a connection, have had that same experience,” he said.
“They have a ‘wow’ factor, and the memories come back to them.”
An old friend stopped in by chance and they caught up over two hours telling stories and looking at local pieces of history, like the post office boxes with family names on them.
“(The store) is more about community and history and those stories,” Lyons said. “There’s a lot of rich history in our area.”
History to the couple isn’t just what’s written on Carlsborg but also the smaller memories and moments.
“It’s not really just museum history stuff,” Pollak said.
“It’s a family picture … The things that don’t get their story told, a photograph of their grandmother standing in front of the (store) in the 1970s. That’s more interesting to me.”
History
Much of Carlsborg’s history is oral, Pollak said, with some verified and some novel-worthy tall tales. He’s heard about a widow living nearby sitting in a rocking chair shooting at least one horse wrangler through her front door with a shotgun.
“Now is that true? What are the names of those people? I have no idea, but it’s a story from one of the old timers,” he said.
“But having an archive for those stories is important to have so that people feel like they have a place to share.
“Their stories are being honored and cared for just like their furniture and other things here.”
He’s opened up the Carlsborg Store’s history portion of their website at carlsborgstore.com for comments so past and present residents can share their stories, too.
The store, according to Clallam County records, was established in 1915, the same year as the town.
Rumor has it that Carlsborg Store’s building was brought on horse and skid from Dungeness, Pollak said, and he’s found evidence of the building being cut in half for transport.
C.J. Erickson founded Carlsborg, naming it after his hometown Karlsborg in Sweden. As an immigrant, he first came to Minneapolis, Minn., before moving to Seattle and then to the Sequim area in 1914, when he built railways from Port Angeles to Port Townsend.
The Carlsborg Mill and Timber Company opened in 1915 on 87 acres that now houses the Carlsborg Business Park. It changed hands several times after Erickson sold his interests in 1936 before it eventually closed in 1967.
Family history
Lyons comes from two Sequim pioneer families and lives with Pollak on Finn Hall Farm in Agnew, which has been preserved through the North Olympic Land Trust.
Her great-great grandmother, Fanny, and her new husband moved to Agnew in 1920 and cleared 80 acres for a log cabin, while on her other side, her grandmother Carmen lived in Carlsborg at the train depot (the current Waste Connections building).
Carmen’s love for the railroad led her to purchase the red caboose after the trains stopped running, and it’s now at the Agnew farm.
Lyons learned about antique restoration from Carmen, who had the Port Angeles store The Browsery.
As a treat for Lyons, Pollak restored The Browsery’s 1923 cash register and put it in the Carlsborg Store for use.
He moved to Carlsborg in the 1970s, near the Carlsborg Store, and was raised in his family’s cabinet business and came to appreciate wood working, furniture repair and heirloom restoration.
The couple both graduated from Sequim High School.
Purchase
Carlsborg Store initially served as a company store for the mill and farmers with everything from flour to nails to meat, Pollak said.
When Stevenson took over in 1978, the store changed to accommodate clientele with competition moving in by U.S. Highway 101, so it became more of a convenience store, he said.
Stephenson retired in spring 2000, and realtor Paul McHugh took over ownership and leased it out to be Sequim Village Glass for about 23 years.
Pollak had done some work for McHugh and over several years there was discussions about him taking over ownership of the building, he said.
The couple came into ownership in January 2021.
“We were working on our (farm) back then and we had that same opportunity (at the store),” Pollak said.
“It was an old building that needed saved. We cared about Carlsborg and we have the roots.
“We needed that story to keep going, so we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity.”
He renovated the building daily for a year while working his day job as a furniture/cabinet maker for Howat Fine Woodworking. Lyons helped while managing their vacation rentals and was caregiving for her grandmother while helping with the restoration process.
“I don’t feel digital representation has the same impact as being in the building, talking to us, having a cup of tea and feeling and touching the integrity of the products,” Pollak said.
“To truly experience the Carlsborg Store, come in and feel it.”
The store
Pollak said he’s worked on everything furniture-wise to some degree.
One centerpiece is the store’s original front counter that he restored after it was covered in carpet, linoleum and fence boards. He’s also worked on many of the mid-century furniture that is mostly for sale, with new pieces, tools and products cycling through often.
Pollak said he looks to find an 80/20 input/output for each piece.
“You can bring things up to a level so that they can be accessible to people,” he said.
“If I put too much time and money into something, then it’ll become too expensive and no one is going to buy it.
“Every piece has its own personality.”
Customers can decide their monetary versus sentimental value for each piece.
“I tell people it’s like a car wash. You can have the basic version or the deluxe,” Pollak said.
Some of his repertoire also includes lamp repair and restoring items that someone may have found online and it’s missing a vintage piece of hardware.
They also use Lyons’ expertise in repairing and restoring antiques.
She’s also a docent in tea. Daily, people can enjoy tea tastings. Rishi organic loose leaf tea available by the ounce.
Throughout the Carlsborg Store is products from local and regional professional small batch makers, including the Carlsborg Artisan Collective.
“Our vision is that, because we’re makers ourselves, (our goal) is to have a collaboration of artisan makers and people that we know,” Pollak said.
Products include jewelry, quality goods, leather works, housewares, curated vintage and more.
The couple continues to collaborate with their Lune N Leo wood jewelry line with earrings, necklaces and bracelets.
“We want to pay homage to the early era of the store where things were made with natural materials and made to last,” Lyons said.
“We find, if you really want to practice sustainability, then you should buy stuff that’s going to last you a long time,” Pollak said.
“Whether it’s the Seattle hatmaker who does handmade hats, or a garden tool, or a leather-bound journal, the idea is to focus more on the integrity of the products, the natural materials and a non-disposable society.”
The couple said they are open to professional makers who fit the niche of the store.
For more information, visit carlsborgstore.com or call 360-683-2729.
Carlsborg Store
Featuring: Furniture repair and restoration and specialty woodworking services, quality goods, curated vintage, organic loose leaf tea, boutique body care.
Address: 761 Carlsborg Road
Hours: From 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment
Web: carlsborgstore.com
Phone: 360-683-2729
Email: contact@carlsborgstore.com
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
