Once a funeral home, this old Pierce County house now a coffee shop with global mission

Seven years ago, Luke and Tanya Wilbanks bought an old building on Main Street, in downtown Buckley. Constructed in 1928 with two-stories and 4,000 square feet, it was, for decades, a funeral home. The doorways are large enough for caskets to roll through them, and, tucked into what is now a storage room, there is a pulley system to hoist them to the second floor.

The melancholy of the past has been washed away, thanks to the Wilbanks’ slow-but-steady, floor-to-ceiling renovations.

“Pretty much every square inch has had something done to it,” said Luke Wilbanks. “Where people used to go say goodbye to their loved ones and be a place of mourning, we want to almost redeem it — where friends happily gather.”

Now it is a very different kind of gathering place: a coffee shop.

Anchor House Coffee Roasters has been quietly selling bags of its house-roasted beans. Staring Nov. 17, guests can also relax on-site with a cortado, cappuccino or Chemex pour-over.

Entering through big front doors, you are first greeted by a white tiled floor with a large black anchor. Through a second entryway, your eyes immediately land on the coffee bar with glass chandeliers overhead, where lead barista and operations manager Hunter March, or his wife Emma March, will likely be spotted behind the espresso machine — one gifted to the shop by a kind Samaritan.

Likewise, said Wilbanks, slabs of wood dropped at the back door became long, bar-height tabletops. They found a massive corner sofa — solid wood frame, the cushions a chocolate-brown with ornate gold embroidery — secondhand. It stands out against the purposely plain walls, lit occasionally by an open-bulb sconce.

In the front is one of many nooks, with a bar-top and stools. Walk down the hallway and there is another, with a couch, shelves of literary treasures and a chess board with two chairs on either side. Keep going to the back to discover the roastery, with bags of beans and a giant world map on the wall showing coffee’s global reach.

A small counter lets guests peer into the process, helmed by father-and-son Chuck and Nate Jung, who have honed their skills on a home roaster, sharing beans with friends and family.

A GLOBAL MISSION FROM BUCKLEY

Anchor House is more than just good coffee. Ten percent of proceeds will benefit Love Justice International, a Christian nonprofit that operates children’s homes and schools in South Asia and Africa and works to stop human trafficking.

“You have something you’re passionate about, that you can’t let go,” said Luke Wilbanks. Through coffee — plus a selection of pastries to meet any dietary need from local vendors (including Tanya Wilbanks’ own gluten-free treats under The Baker’s Cookie banner), high-quality chocolates, plus sandwiches and salads — he and his team want people to leave the cafe “more hopeful than when they came in.”

When not constructing tables and installing new but rustic hardwood floors, Luke Wilbanks — who spent some of his childhood in Enumclaw where, in the 1980s, his mother and sister operated two espresso stands — has worked as the water manager for the Town of Wilkeson. He was elected to the Buckley City Council by a single vote in 2017, though his term expires at the end of this year. He is also a pastor. He met Tanya at her job, as a barista at a coffee stand in Ballard.

At the time, he said, he was in between a multi-year journey with Global Vision, in which he traveled across the country and Europe to bring attention to trafficking and gain sponsorships for at-risk children.

“I’m single, I have legs and a voice,” he recalled. “I’m going to use those things to try to make a difference.”

The experience showed him that “the coffee shop was always the center of any community.” Instead of continuing his mission in Thailand, he and Tanya married. They found the building now home to Anchor House and everything, gradually, fell into place.

Located en route to Mount Rainier National Park, the owners hope to be part of boosting Buckley as a destination, not unlike its little neighbor to the south in Wilkeson — home to woodfired pizza at The Carlson Block, coffee and empanadas at Nomad PNW and most recently Simple Goodness Sisters Soda Shop.

To kick things off, fall specials include a Cherry Pie Latte with oat milk and caramel, the Fallen Oak with hazelnut and pumpkin, and an Orange Ginger Mocha with almond milk, chocolate and candied orange. At its core, Anchor House offers meticulously roasted and brewed coffee, whether you choose a traditional espresso drink, nitro cold-brew, Aeropress or pour-over.

“We want people to feel special when they walk in,” said Luke Wilbanks.

ANCHOR HOUSE COFFEE ROASTERS

▪ 873 Main St., Buckley, 360-601-2347, anchorhousecoffee.org

▪ Monday-Saturday 6 a.m.-6 p.m.

▪ Details: coffee shop and community gathering space in refurbished 1920s building; retail bags of beans and full coffee spread, plus pastries and snacks

This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.