Glass House Coffee Bar can feel more like a greenhouse at times. Huge windows make up about 60 percent of the plant-filled coffee shop, where pothos vines cascade down from the ceilings and succulents bloom in seemingly every corner. Indie hits play softly over hidden speakers, and the smell of espresso beans is sharp in the air, adding to the cozy atmosphere.

It’s hard to imagine the space used to be the Whiteaker Police Station. A Register-Guard article from 2002 paints a picture of a Whiteaker neighborhood filled with “[h]ookers, drug dealers, and assorted small-time thugs” ruling the streets. This situation caused some residents to plead for more police presence in the area.

The police station, with a staff of two full-time patrol officers, two community service officers and two agents from the Lane County parole and probation office, was said to have decreased drug crimes in the area.

The address 530 Blair Blvd. was first listed in The Register-Guard in 1948 as a three-bedroom home in “a dandy location” available to rent. It later appeared as General Sign Co. in the 1960s, a Peterbilt manufacturing and selling location in the 1980s, and as the aforementioned police station in the 1990s. Now it holds a Tacovore restaurant; Glass House Coffee Bar operates next door, at 520 Blair Blvd.

“There’s a picture in Tacovore from the 1950s that looks like these two buildings used to be a tire shop,” Glass House owner and operator Alex Newton said. “Other people who have been in the neighborhood for over 30 years say they remember when this was a cop shop.”

Newton joined the business in 2019 and took over in 2020. He had worked in coffee before he came to Glass House but hated how corporate the business could be. He grew up in the suburbs of Houston, where locally owned businesses were rare. His first visit to Glass House as a customer kindled his love for small, local coffee shops. He decided to apply for a job as a barista.

“I was working on the producer side of food service at the time, on small local farms like Camas Swale and Dake Family Farms,” Newton said. “But when I decided that I wanted to dedicate myself to Glass House, I knew I wanted to do the business right.”

When Newton took over Glass House, he started using the Tacovore kitchen to make breakfast and pastries for the coffee shop. He loved the community that Glass House had already built and wanted to offer more to his customers. He also began sourcing his coffee from farmers directly.

Glass House is small for a coffee shop, around 500 square feet, which creates unique problems for Newton and his team. There is little space to work, especially when three baristas are crammed behind the bar during a rush. If Glass House didn’t have access to the Tacovore prep kitchen, staffers wouldn’t be able to bake anything in-house.

“A lot of times when people come in and see our pastries, they don’t believe that we bake them here,” Newton said. “But we do — it just doesn’t happen in this building … we barely have enough room to prep coffee!”

On a busy weekend, sometimes Newton has a hard time keeping up with a stream of customers. There are only 12 seats in the shop, so people can struggle to find a place to sit on rainy days when they don’t want to be outside.

“We don’t really even have a space in here where you can get in line,” Newton said. “You’re either blocking the cream station or squishing someone sitting on a stool.”

Another problem arises primarily in summertime. When windows let in sunlight on hot days, Newton said it’s a challenge to keep temperatures in the shop below 90 degrees Fahrenheit. He’s installed two fans, but when temperatures start to climb, he closes the doors and blasts the air conditioning.

But without the windows, Glass House wouldn’t have its signature and healthy collection of plants. Customers love the atmosphere, Newton said, even in the middle of winter.

“Jeffery, our huge pothos, definitely pulls his weight in the space,” he said. “He’s one of the most treasured staff members.”

Yet a tiny shop does have advantages. The smaller space is more manageable and takes less time to clean. Regular customers seem to like the laid-back nature of the bar seating, which can lead to more conversations with strangers and a general community feel.

“On a Saturday, when it’s busy in here, it feels like New York City or something,” Newton said. “It’s loud, people are crammed together, talking, and there’s a certain energy that’s very cool that I think people come here for.”

That energy is something Newton tries to foster. He and his employees prioritize serving people well at Glass House and making them feel welcome in the space, even though it’s small.

“Our mission statement is to foster community through intentional actions and care-oriented service,” Newton said. “I want this to be a place where people can come, meet, talk, share ideas, make friends, and bring friends and family when they’re in town.”

Glass House is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Register-Guard and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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