Schademan

Kim Schademan and his family’s story is a remarkable American tale of grit, perseverance, challenge and success. His great, great grandfather John Jacob emigrated from Germany becoming the first homesteader in Nebraska in 1889. The Schademan family of farmers and ranchers continued to grow but when the Depression and Dust Bowl hit the Great Plains in the 1930’s, like so many other families they lost virtually everything. So Kim’s grandfather packed up his six sons and eight daughters and headed west in their Model-A Ford. “It really was something right out of The Grapes of Wrath,” says Kim. A wrong turn took the family from California north to the Yakima Valley where they resettled. Kim’s grandfather wasted no time putting his boys to work. All six joined his fledgling construction business. In the growing Northwest there was demand for good builders. Soon they were doing everything from homes, farms, barns and churches. He remembers some colorful adventures watching his dad and five strong-willed and competitive brothers all trying to work together. Eventually Kim’s dad moved to Ellensburg to start his own construction company, putting his oldest son Kim to work. “At 18 I was running a foundation crew that was putting up 20 new houses. Growing up with the family business I learned it all at an early age from the very best. My Dad always demanded excellence in everything we built. Even today, at age 84, he is still giving me advice.” By the mid 1980’s it was Kim’s turn to strike out on his own, moving to Bellevue to become the third generation of Schademans to have his own building business. Schademan & Associates was founded in 1984. Over the next 30 years, Kim would build more than 100 luxury homes throughout the Puget Sound region—earning a reputation for quality, integrity and outstanding customer service. “Going back to my grandfather, then my Dad and my uncles, I guess you’d say building is in my blood,” Kim reflects.