More than 30 years ago Joe and Elisa Franssen purchased Oak Harbor’s Sun Crest Motel from Gladys Cheetum, and then they went Dutch.

With a name like Franssen, going Dutch made sense. Particularly in a town that is known for its Dutch heritage. So the Sun Crest was remodeled and enlarged, and for the last few decades people coming to Oak Harbor from the north have been welcomed by the quaint Auld Holland Inn with its old country look and windmill.

“I built a windmill in 1975 just for the feature of showing we’re real Dutch,” Joe Franssen said. Carved on the motorized, working windmill is the word “Propatria,” Latin meaning “for the love of the country,” which refers to the U.S.A. This country has been good to the Franssens, thanks in large part to the hard work and business savvy they contributed.

‘“We had a nice home in Bothell but we had a good chance to come over her and spread our wings,” said Joe as he and Elisa talked about their lives. “We saw it and we conquered.”

They had three young boys in 1970 but the Seattle area was going through the Boeing bust and while Joe’s construction business was still prospering, the couple wanted a change.

“In one month we bought it and moved in,” said Elisa. “We didn’t have time to think.” Joe tends to dominate the conversation time, but Elisa frequently chimes in with a memory or humorous aside.

“We wanted more room,” Joe added. “We bought five or six acres and added more later.”

It wasn’t the Franssens’ first move. Joe and Elisa came to America via Sydney, Australia, which was their first stop after leaving Holland. Elisa had moved there with her family, while Joe had moved there as a young man.

“Me and my brother Frank went looking for greener pastures,” Joe recalls. After a few years in Australia where they ended up building homes, they went to even greener pastures in America, first to the Seattle area and then Whidbey Island.

After the motel was established, Joe Franssen decided Oak Harbor needed a nice restaurant. In 1984 he opened the Kasteel-Franssen, which has itself become an Oak Harbor landmark. it’s built like a castle with huge wooden beams, and opened with some of the best French food ever tasted in these a parts thanks to Chef Jean Paul Combetts. “He was such a famous chef,” Joe said, lamenting the fact his chef has retired. But for the last eight years the restaurant has stayed in good hands with Scott Fraser as head chef and it’s as popular as ever. “It’s the best in Oak Harbor. That’s what everybody tells me,” Joe said. The restaurant still offers “classic French cuisine,” but Joe emphasizes that the prices are reasonable.

The restaurant wasn’t the end of the Franssens’ business expansion, however. Their boys, Peter, Carl and Mike, were growing up. Soon all left home, but they eventually decided to come back home to live. Rather than help get them jobs, Joe helped them all start businesses.

Today, the Franssen clan owns the motel, restaurant, Jet City Heavy Equipment Sales & Rentals, Oak Harbor Auto Wrecking, A-1 Towing, Jet-Weld, and a sand and gravel business.

How did one family create so many successful businesses?

“The family is close-knit and the boys were energetic,” Joe replied. He said the boys always loved working on cars and motorcycles as youths. “It was hilarious what those guys did,” he laughed. “Then they went to college and came back.” He built the businesses around their interests.

To Elisa, it’s all a lot of work for her family. “It sounds like a family that needs a vacation once in a while,” she said.

Joe Franssen credits his wife’s frugality with helping their businesses succeed. Elisa was raised on a farm in Holland and learned to keep a close eye on the family’s money. “She saves every penny, she is not wasteful,” Joe said.

One business was added after another, generally after family conversations, according to Joe, to whom family is the most important thing. “With a family, when you work together you can accomplish a lot,” he said. The sand and gravel business grew out of one comment one of his boys made about someone needing a special kind of gravel.

“I’m a believer that opportunity is there for everybody,” Joe said. “It all rests on the dependability of the people. Then you can do a lot of things.”

Joe recalled his youth when he landed in Australia with lots of dreams but no job. He worked manual labor to get started, and he doesn’t take all the credit for his success.

“I was never unemployed — I picked potatoes,” he said. “I dug ditches and slept in a truck. A lot of people helped me and now I help anybody in need of help.”