Intel’s impact on Sherwood, Oregon
Chip manufacture Intel arrived in Washington County, where Sherwood is located, in the mid-1970s, bringing exponential growth to the farming community. You can read more of our reporting here.
SHERWOOD, Oregon — Dave Murray lives and breathes lavender.
Murray, originally from Southern California, moved to his Sherwood home (which he refers to as his barn) moved to his own lavender farm, Carriage House Lavender, with a perfect mountain/hillside view.
The 76-year-old developed his two-acre land throughout his time in the Pacific Northwest, adding gas lanterns, cobblestone walkways and a gazebo.
In the beginning, Murray’s barn was “pretty run-down,” he admits.
“The blackberries were as high as the roof line out here (…) the place was falling apart.”
As he and his land have changed, so has Sherwood.
“At the time, Sherwood was very rural,” Murray said. “I moved up here because it was very rural.”
Some of the roads weren’t even paved, the lavender farmer said.
“And personally, that appealed to me.”
If you went into town, there was one traffic light and a single grocery store, Murray said.
Now there’s a Walmart and Target, Murray said, noting there are plans for further housing in the bedroom community. The town is growing, whether a lavender farmer wants it to or not.
(Sherwood’s growth) is massive. It’s unstoppable
Dave murray
Regardless of the growth, Murray remains happy living outside of the city limits.
“I go down into the city sometimes, I’m not so content because it has changed dramatically,” he said.
But he plans on staying in his lavender-producing barn.
Growth is coming regardless
Parrot Mountain, a road near Murray’s home, was previously a vacant dirt road.
Now the roughly 25 acres have been broken up into five pieces of valuavble land filled with homes.
Murray was once part of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, where Sherwood is located.
One development the chamber points to was the housing project Sherwood West.
“Every board member but me loves Sherwood West and I’m going ‘Hold on. You’re talking about another 5,000 houses over there.’ And of course, I’m the cranky old man that moved here because it was rural,” Murray said.
The Sherwood West project is estimated to bring in 4,500 new jobs and between 3,120 to 5,580 housing units, according to an Oregon Metro fact sheet document.
“And everybody else is youthful and looking at growth, income and all that,” Murray said. “I’m going, ‘Woah, put on the reins on that.’
“Because I don’t want to see another 5,000 houses go up.”
This isn’t a new experience for Murray, a former Orange County, California resident who saw exponential growth in the late 1990s in that region.
“I should have been wise enough to buy every piece of real estate I could, because I wouldn’t be living in a converted barn if I had done that,” Murray said. “Sherwood is just like that.
“It’s massive. It’s unstoppable.”