In a neighborhood where most homes are listed for $2 million or more, the final six families are moving into affordable homes on the former site of a taxidermy shop and Jackson’s first electricity generation.
Construction on the east Jackson neighborhood wraps up this month after two years of collaborative building with homeowners and Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area.
Mariela Sosa grimaces as she remembers the grueling work of laying the foundation under a hot summer sun, part of the 500 “sweat equity” hours homeowners build up to qualify for the heavily subsidized homes. But as she welcomes friends and family into her newly finished kitchen, Sosa is all smiles.
Cancer survivor Nanci Steveson welcomes visitors to her newly finished Habitat home on Aug. 6, 2026. “If we were not getting in here we would have been gone,” she said. (Evan Robinson-Johnson / KHOL)
“My dream was always to have my own home,” she said. “With the help of Habitat and the wonderful community that we live in, we are here finally, me and my daughter, Yaremi, able to make that dream come true.”
For Heather Schmillen, it was a battle with insulation that earned her kudos from the pro builders.
“It was the longest, hardest process of my life,” she said. “I think having a baby so young was easier than putting in insulation and building the walls and all of that.”
Schmillen had her daughter Jordan at age 16 when she was a high school sophomore in Jackson. The pair stood before a small crowd at an early August celebration, full of tears and gratitude.
Then, they made their way across the grassy common space to their new home on the lot formerly owned by Norris and Grace Brown, known for decorating the trees on their lot for Christmas and their cabin’s taxidermy shop. In the 1920s, the property was where Cache Creek’s flow spun turbines for Edward C. Benson, electrifying Jackson for the first time.
A mix of two- and three-bedroom homes overlooking Mike Yokel Park, the Parkside at Benson-Brown Station neighborhood is the first developed through a homeownership model by Habitat. The families still have to qualify by earning under 80% of area median income. For a family of four that’s $118,800 in 2026. But the land is owned and leased by the town and county, which bought the property for $2.3 million in 2020. The site development cost $6.5 million.
Mortgage payments are kept to 30% of the county’s lowest salaries. The recipients are hospital workers, river guides and customer service representatives.
Schmillen works for a law firm in town. Sosa is a certified nursing assistant. Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen called the families “integral to our community.”
In his first dedication as Habitat’s new CEO, Ben Johnson celebrated opening the door to “stability, opportunity, and lasting memories for generations to come.”
Already, the children were swirling around the lawn, racing through Cache Creek, and touring their newly finished spaces.
Jennifer Villalobos and her three young boys were as charmed by the see-through door on their washing machine as the chance to finally live in town after years making the drive to and from Alpine.
“For two and a half years we’ve been living in the car, at the library, at the rec center, anywhere you can hang out,” she said.
Others were moved to tears as they received warm quilts and hugs. More than 25 children will live in the new community.
Brian Becerra-Montiel and Madison Doering (center) have their newly completed Habitat home blessed by Rev. Brian Nystrom of St. John’s Episcopal Church. (Evan Robinson-Johnson / KHOL)
That includes 2-year-old Benjamin, the son of Brian Becerra-Montiel and Madison Doering, a fifth-generation Jacksonite who had never lived in town until the Habitat home came through.
Becerra-Montiel said he applied at the encouragement of his mother, who also lives in a Habitat home nearby.
“Being able to let him experience everything I grew up doing, being outside, with the park less than 30 seconds away, it’s just amazing,” Becerra-Montiel said as he watched his son charge back into the playground.
“I just can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
