Welcome to lyndendoor.com! We are celebrating 28 years in business. During the development of this web site we were drawn toward the very beginning of our company. Although Ted Bargen has been guiding Lynden Door’s development these 28 years, his exposure to the door-manufacturing field started many years ago, growing up in his father’s business ventures.

In 1948 a flood in Chilliwack, B.C. started a sequence of events in John Bargen’s life that began developing the Lynden Door, Inc of today. As a 25-year-old newlywed, he took up the challenge of replacing the waterlogged stile and rail doors in the flooded homes of the Fraser Valley with newly invented hollow-core flush doors. This primitive beginning in Yarrow, B.C. led to an ongoing door production industry that has expanded from the Fraser Valley into Northwest Washington, and through the years has shipped millions of doors around the world, providing jobs to thousands of people.

John’s original 1948 door plant is still standing today in downtown Yarrow, B.C. This building, built by Ted’s grandfather, was previously used as a workshop for their home and barn construction business.

The small door business in Yarrow eventually found its way to Richmond, B.C. into some converted chicken barns on Bird Road. Wooden planks were used to build a driveway on the soggy Richmond soil. These barns served quite well until a fire completely destroyed them in 1958.

A brand new plant was built on Shell Road, complete with dry kiln, planers and cut stock production, and roared into business during the Vancouver post-war building boom. John and his two partners later sold this business to their biggest customer, Sauder Industries in 1965. John returned to the construction business.

The Bargen family moved from Richmond, B.C. to Lynden, Washington and purchased a farm with considerable timber in Sumas, Washington. Vast cedar groves stimulated John and Ted towards producing lumber products. A small portable sawmill produced enough lumber to make John and Ted look for more customers in the wood industry. Research revealed a market able to sustain another door manufacturer and the dream of re-entering the door business began to take shape.

Ted recalls the spring of 1978. "During the month of May, my dad, John Bargen and I along with some great helpers, were constructing our first building for Lynden Door. An open field and tall grass surrounded our project on West Main Street. The framing of the building, which took place in May, included the assembly of twenty humongous homemade trusses to span the forty-four foot building. Sal Biondolillo, who was our first employee, helped build the foundation and then left with his family in a 1970 Chevy van for Florida."

Ted continues, "The vision of making doors was still only a dream as we did construction work during the day and rebuilt used glue-spreaders and Wadkin double-end Tenoners at night. The only new machine to be part of this start-up plant was the lime green multi-rip saw, which arrived from Czechoslovakia. This eight thousand pound machine was delivered to Westside Building Supply on Front Street in Lynden, since we didn’t have a roof over anything until the end of June."

And so it was that John, together with his son, 24 years old and newlywed, started a new door manufacturing plant from "scratch" here in Lynden, Washington. The family has also been blessed with the beginnings of the Cedar Springs Christian Retreat Center ministry in Sumas, Washington; the purchase of John Guenther’s steel door plant in Yarrow, B.C.; and the addition of the Abbotsford machining division, which is now in Lynden.

There has been tremendous growth and opportunities for Lynden Door, Inc.

Lynden Door is grateful to the employees and customers that support us in our growth. We look forward to serving our customer, and making the best flush door company even better!