BELFAST – Though many in the industry are urging caution during the ongoing housing slowdown and mortgage crisis, Castle Homes is expanding and sees an opportunity for growth.

King and Mary Bishop founded the modular home company three years ago and have been rewarded by steady sales and profits. They initially leased their Searsport Avenue showroom from race-car driver Ricky Craven, but last fall the Bishops purchased the property. They already have added homes to the Route 1 location, and expect to display even more by spring.

“I think we are going to buck the national trend,” King Bishop said. “Instead of downsizing, we’re going to expand. We had a good year last year and it’s important for us to expand on that.”

For the past three years Castle Homes has been marketing homes manufactured in Canada. But the decline of the dollar and the increase in value of the loonie caused him to look for a domestic source for his product. Bishop said the company now offers an inexpensive Muncy home manufactured in Pennsylvania, mid-priced New England homes made in Greenland, N.H., and a line of custom-built homes from Eco Building Systems, formerly known as Oxford Homes from Maine.

“With Canada we used to get a 28 percent discount but now the dollar is in their favor not ours,” he said. “They were expensive homes to begin with, and you take 28 percent and turn that around – that’s something you just can’t afford. Now we have three U.S. factories.”

In addition, Castle Homes also has grown to include another branch, Maine Camps and Cottages, that assembles buildings in Morrill. Bishop said he has a three-man crew building the cottages, log cabins, sheds and bus shelters at his Morrill factory. Most of the materials in his camps and cottages are from Maine; the logs are from Searsmont, the cabinetry is from Fryeburg and the granite is from Deer Isle and Stonington.

“If we can buy a Maine-built product that’s absolutely what we do,” Bishop said. “That keeps the strength of the economy right here in the state of Maine.”

Bishop said the company will have a major presence at the Augusta Home Show next month, displaying both an inexpensive modular ranch home and one of their Morrill-made log cabins. Castle Homes also will exhibit at the Bangor Home Show.

“This is a highly competitive business at a tough time and we needed to get it right, and I think we have done just that,” Bishop said. “Mary and I have worked hard and put in some very long hours to reach this point and we feel confident that Castle Homes will grow.”

wgriffin@bangordailynews.net

338-9546