Mr. & Mrs. DeTray arrived in Olympia in 1952, towing a 1946 Spartan 27' Trailer behind their 1951 Ford sedan. Mr. DeTray had traveled all over western Washington working for the phone company. They thought Olympia looked like a nice place to settle down and raise a family.

What was missing, though, was a desirable location for them to set up housekeeping in their trailer home. Most of the communities they lived in were on the outskirts of town with varying levels of quality. Mr. DeTray devoted time to learning as much as he could about developing a community. In 1956 they purchased property on Fones Road, added spaces by hand, and created a first-class community with 90 lots. Mind you, Mr. DeTray was still working full time for the phone company, too.

As tenants moved their new homes into DeTray's community, Mr. DeTray found himself in high demand to help them service problems of all kinds. In 1962, Mr. DeTray decided that as long as he was doing so much service work on people's homes, he might as well sell them, too. They signed on as a dealer for the Guerdon Factory in Idaho and brought the first double-wide home into the state of Washington for a dealer to sell.

By 1970 the business was growing and four acres were purchased to build Washington's first environmentally displayed sales center. Homes were arranged in a community-like setting complete with landscaping, walkways and fenced yards.

Two new communities were developed and opened in 1978, including Colonial Estates on 14th Avenue SE in Olympia. This 183-site site for age 55+ boasts a 4,500 square foot clubhouse with indoor swimming pool, hot tub, kitchen, meeting space, and billiard tables.

In the early 90's, the family of businesses expanded further with Skyline Estates, a family community in Pullman, and Viking Estates, a 55+ community in Puyallup. A second retail sales center, DeTray's Custom Housing, was also opened in Puyallup.

A new DeTray's venture for providing quality senior housing was realized in August 1998 with the opening of the Colonial Inn next door to Colonial Estates in Olympia. The Inn provides independent living apartments for seniors age 62 and over.
A second wing doubling capacity to 100 residents opened in April 2006.

DeTray's Family Enterprises continue to grow. Lakeview Meadows, a 90-site age 55+ community on the south side of Chambers Lake is now open.

Other plans are being drawn and dreams becoming reality for the first, second and third generation DeTray family members. Whatever lies ahead, you can be sure that quality and service will be the hallmarks of anything carrying the DeTray name.