Hillockburn Farm opens shop featuring soap and home decor
Emily Lindstrand
Hillockburn Farm's new store in Estacada offers visitors space for creativity, shopping and classes
Hillockburn Farm is known for soaps and body care products, but their new shop in Estacada features an abundance of offerings.
When customers enter the 4,000-square-foot building at 27412 S. Hillockburn Road, they'll see a variety of home decor goods, plants, soaps and personal care accessories for sale.
At the shop's DIY bar, visitors can create their own face masks, bath soaks and body scrubs. There is also an area for workshops and meetings.
"A lot of people know us as a soapmaker, but this space is so much more," said Hillockburn Farm owner Rebecca Kaihani. "(We want to have) community events where people can hang out."
Their store in Estacada celebrated its grand opening on Sunday, Dec. 1, but Hillockburn Farm began five years ago.
At the time, Kaihani and her husband were trying to conceive a baby. Concerned about the contents of their body care products, Kaihani threw all of them away with the goal of creating her own.
"I thought, how hard can it be?" she recalled, noting that it ended up being more difficult than she expected.
During that period, Kaihani and her husband suffered several miscarriages. After the last one, Kaihani fell into a deep depression for several weeks.
"(One day) I thought, I have to get out of bed and shower. It turned out we were out of soap," she said. "I threw myself into making soap and lip balms."
She began participating in neighborhood markets and pop up shops and eventually opened her own business in Northeast Portland. Hillockburn Farm's products also made their way to retail shops across the country. Meanwhile, Kaihani and her husband had a son named Asher.
After several years, Hillockburn Farm closed their Portland location because of rising rent costs, and Kaihani is
happy to be in Estacada. The new store is open from noon
to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
There will also be additional holiday hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, Saturday, Dec. 21, and Sunday, Dec. 22. Visitors on Friday who wear crazy holiday outfits will receive 20% off their purchase.
Kaihani estimated that so far, half of the store's customers have been from Portland, and half have been from the Estacada area.
"It was nice to meet everybody and see that they responded well to the shop in Estacada," she said. "There's a lot of love in the (Estacada) community. It's small enough that you can get to know your neighbors."
Kaihani eventually hopes to partner with other local artisans and makers for pop up shops and workshops.
She noted that one of her favorite products she offers is the mixed bag, which offers a variety of soaps.
"It's like a box of chocolates, but with soaps," she said.
For Kaihani, the best part of her work is interacting with customers.
"We have products for skin sensitivities. When I hear about these ailments, it's great to be able to guide them to the products that would help them," she said.