Building for Generations: CedarStone's Mass Timber Innovation Addresses Housing and Workforce Challenges

When CedarStone’s Founder, Cueyo Cataldo, and CEO, Adrienne Fainman, first built a prototype home led by Indigenous architect, Douglas Cardinal, in a First Nations community in New Brunswick, Canada, the response was overwhelming. The community moved elders into the mass timber structure immediately. "It was by far the healthiest home that they had," Fainman recalls. This moment crystallized the mission that drives CedarStone today—creating homes that don't just shelter families but support healthy living and build intergenerational wealth.

CedarStone Design Build, a Eugene, Oregon-based company specializing in prefabricated mass timber systems, represents a new approach to addressing Oregon's housing crisis through innovation, speed, and sustainability. As both CEO and design director, Fainman brings a unique perspective shaped by mathematics, architecture, and a deep commitment to creating homes that nurture family life.

From Mathematics to Mass Timber

Fainman's journey to housing innovation began with an unexpected foundation. "I actually have a mathematician grandfather, so unlike many people, I was taught young that math can be beautiful," she explains. This early appreciation for the intersection of precision and artistry would later inform her approach to architectural design.

The turning point came during her undergraduate studies when she designed a contraption with math students that would paint spirographs on the ground. "That was the first time that I sort of put math to use in something that was in the physical environment," Fainman says. "We did it with inner city youth and made a whole program out of it. So, it felt really fulfilling to do something meaningful in the community."

This experience led her to architecture, where she worked on projects ranging from 20-story towers to collaborating with renowned architect Douglas Cardinal. Cardinal, who has gold medals in architecture and designed the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, became a formative influence on Fainman's design philosophy. "He had been working with communities across the North for his entire career, and in every community, there was a need for housing," she notes.

Living Architecture and Biophilic Design

CedarStone's design philosophy centers on what Fainman calls "living architecture" or biophilic design—an approach that draws inspiration from nature and prioritizes the psychological and physical health impacts of the built environment. "I think very much about family life," Fainman explains, drawing from her experience as a mother of two young children. "It's easy for me to know firsthand what kind of a home supports a healthy family."

This philosophy manifests in multiple ways, from the selection of natural materials to the careful consideration of how families live in their homes. Fainman references research showing that sharp, straight lines can trigger fight-or-flight responses in our nervous systems, while organic textures and varied shapes calm the nervous system. "The more variation in shape and the more organic textures that you have around you, it calms the nervous system, which affects your cortisol levels and creates a sort of domino effect on your health."

The company's innovative use of materials exemplifies this approach. CedarStone combines mass timber with cork insulation and siding—a single material solution that eliminates the need for separate installation of insulation and exterior cladding. "Now we only have to install one material around the house to get the insulation and siding all in one, so we reduce the labor time significantly, while achieving a beautiful biophilic wall assembly" Fainman notes.

Building Intergenerational Wealth

CedarStone's focus on mass timber reflects a deeper commitment to creating lasting value for homeowners. "Mass timber homes have been said to last 100 or up to 500 years," Fainman explains. "They're insanely durable and long-lasting. They're going to be around for many different families living in them."

This durability translates into what Fainman calls "intergenerational equity"—the opportunity for families to build wealth that can be passed down through generations. "If it's a home that's going to fall apart in three years with peeling vinyl, then it's not building wealth…But if it's something like mass timber, it will age gracefully. They last forever."

CedarStone's homes also feature exceptional acoustic insulation, healthy air quality with no off-gassing, and low carbon footprint through carbon-sequestering materials—benefits that extend well beyond initial construction.

Speed and Precision Through Prefabrication

CedarStone's prefabricated approach delivers remarkable time savings compared to traditional construction. The company recently built a single module tiny home in just under four weeks, with installation taking only one day. For flat pack designs, the installation is still quite fast, anywhere from one to two months "It's a prefabricated system, which means you get to build in parallel," Fainman explains. "You can be prepping your site while the house components are being prefabricated. So, you're doing two things at once."

This efficiency stems from what Fainman describes as "a very high level of development of the digital model" before fabrication begins. Everything is built to very low tolerance and high precision, which accelerates the assembly process. Unlike many mass timber companies that rely on expensive CNC fabrication, CedarStone has kept their operation lean by having carpenters hand-fabricate components. "We've found that has saved cost because we're not tied to the overhead of heavy machinery," Fainman says.

The company's Springfield facility enables this controlled manufacturing environment, contributing to their ability to deliver homes in 6-8 weeks with exceptional quality control and minimal waste.

Addressing Workforce Housing Through Labor Training

Recognition that housing solutions require workforce development led CedarStone to partner with Hacienda Community Development Corporation on an ambitious workforce training initiative. The collaboration, funded by Oregon's Higher Education Collaboration Commission, aims to train 60 people in its first phase, representing the nation's first residential mass timber workforce training program.

"Every person we've hired so far we've had to train, because it's new," Fainman explains. "We know who to look for in terms of who's likely to have the skills that they can apply to learning how to build mass timber, but we are aware that we are going to scale and we're going to have to hire more people as we grow."

The program combines online learning with hands-on experience in CedarStone's Springfield facility. Beyond meeting their own scaling needs, the training initiative reflects a broader industry perspective. "The more we support the industry in general, the better it is for us as well," Fainman notes. "The whole industry needs to be supported."

Expanding Access Through Collaboration

The partnership with Hacienda represents CedarStone's commitment to expanding beyond high-end custom homes toward middle income and affordable housing solutions. "What's been asked of us since launching is to develop a middle housing product as well as an affordable housing product," Fainman says. The collaboration aims to create a prototype that serves both markets while advancing mass timber construction techniques.

CedarStone's client base reflects this growing demand. "Everyone that calls us" seeks middle income housing solutions, from developers to individuals asking for homes in the $250,000 range. This market feedback has shaped the company's strategic direction toward greater accessibility and scale.

The company has achieved a significant milestone in accessibility by developing the first Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) home pre-approved as an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in Eugene, making mass timber construction more accessible for homeowners seeking to add housing units to their properties.

Indigenous Housing and Community Resilience

A significant aspect of CedarStone's mission involves supporting indigenous communities through housing development. Cataldo’s First Nation heritage and family connections to Canadian reserves drive this commitment. "Many Indigenous families pass their home down multiple generations, so the home really is that intergenerational space," Fainman explains.

This work extends to partnerships with organizations like Future Generations Collaborative in Portland, where CedarStone is building tiny homes as long-term transitional housing for indigenous families. The project transforms former Presbyterian Church land in the Laurelhurst neighborhood into an early childcare space and community hub.

"Cultures are resilient, people are resilient, values are resilient," Fainman reflects. "We want to create homes that nurture and support resilient people, because it's work to keep a culture and values alive."

Looking Forward: Scale and Impact

CedarStone's goals for the next three to five years center on launching their middle housing and affordable housing design model at scale. "I see us producing that at scale and getting more people affordably into mass timber homes," Fainman says. The company also aims to expand their tribal housing work, reflecting their commitment to community impact beyond market-rate housing.

The company's experience at the Let's Build Oregon event, organized and facilitated by the Missing Middle Housing Fund, reinforced the importance of community and collaboration in advancing housing innovation. "The first thing that comes to mind was just how heartfelt the response to CedarStone was—to see the excitement of developers around what we're doing  Many of them said, 'I want you guys to succeed’ and ‘I want to see you get more of your homes built,'" Fainman recalls.

This support reflects a broader recognition that addressing Oregon's housing crisis requires diverse approaches, innovative technologies, and collaborative partnerships. CedarStone's combination of architectural design, construction innovation, and community commitment offers a model for how housing developers can create solutions that serve multiple needs simultaneously.

For developers, policymakers, and community leaders working to address housing challenges, CedarStone demonstrates that innovative construction methods can deliver speed, quality, and affordability while supporting broader social and economic goals. Their approach shows how housing innovation can extend beyond the built product to encompass workforce development, community partnership, and long-term wealth building.

To learn more about CedarStone's mass timber housing solutions and workforce training programs, visit cedarstonedb.com or contact them about partnership opportunities.