Kara Wilbur started as a planner and then moved into real estate development to help build the kinds of places she was hearing over and over that people wanted, but that few developers were building. Wilbur has been part of efforts to build affordable, multifamily housing in places that haven’t had new housing in years, like Madison and Rumford, and in places where additional housing is needed, like Newcastle, Brunswick and Yarmouth.
Mainebiz: How would you describe your mission with the company?
Kara Wilbur: The mission of Dooryard is to build places in the spirit of what people love about Maine, where new buildings have a connection to the past and to each other. By acting as better stewards, we can reduce development costs, while also creating long-term value, both in the form of less financial burden on municipal resources and higher per acre taxable value. This approach requires greater focus on the details and actively coordinating with architects and engineers. We’re building what is commonly called missing-middle housing: duplexes, small apartment buildings and cottage-scale housing that largely stopped being built in Maine towns after zoning changes in the mid-20th century. We work proactively with communities to help change cumbersome zoning. Large setback requirements, overly wide streets, large minimum lot sizes and other suburban standards don’t allow for a neighborhood pattern that allows new development to feel stitched into our existing communities.
MB: How involved are you with the design of the buildings you sell and install?
KW: I have a big part in the design, because I’m filtering all the preferences I’ve heard from the public over the last 20 years and balancing those preferences against today’s construction costs and modular sizing requirements. Our goal is to create buildings that will be cost effective, attractive and efficient to build. What that generally produces is a classic early Maine farmhouse-style. The buildings are simple and well-proportioned, like something you might see in a coastal fishing village, tucked into an historic neighborhood or out on a farm. These are buildings that are affordable, but still give people a sense of pride.
MB: How many housing units have you developed in Maine since you started Dooryard?
KW: A big focus for us is bringing new housing to smaller Maine towns that have seen little development. Many of these communities want housing, but traditional development models don’t “pencil” there. By combining modular construction with smaller-scale neighborhood design and new financing provided by the state through the Rural Affordable Rental Program, we’ve been able to make projects work in places where housing hasn’t been built in generations. In the past three years, we’ve built 52 units in Madison, Newcastle and Rumford. We have an additional 50 units coming this year in Yarmouth, Brunswick and Madison.
MB: What projects are on the horizon for Dooryard?
KW: Dooryard is launching a fund to raise equity so we can build more projects across the state by addressing the gap in funding that often exists between the cost to build and what people in smaller communities can afford. As a company, we’re focused on scaling our work thoughtfully, growing our capacity while continuing to partner with local landowners, developers, municipalities and community stakeholders who want to see housing built in a way that strengthens their towns and leaves behind a strong built legacy. Our long-term goal is to show that Maine can build a lot more housing without losing the soul of our communities. If we can demonstrate that these projects are financially viable and supported by residents, we hope to see more towns update their zoning and development standards so that these types of buildings and neighborhood patterns become easier to build.
MB: Any new building types you’re excited about?
KW: Dooryard has a new 12-unit building type that reimagines the classic in-town small apartment building, departing from the three-story, 12-unit box surrounded by parking that has become popular in Maine. We’ve worked really hard to create a building type that you can line up along a street, helping to shape meaningful public space, where people can bump into each other, and where it can feel like a neighborhood instead of a housing project.
