April 10th marked the birth of a new brand with a company name change from Pennbrook Homes to Abito. Special guests of Abito were treated to a celebration of culture and community at the Tower Theatre in Bend by Portland’s own, “Pink Martini.” World music was on tap April 13th, bringing the Sold Out audience to its feet. We chose the Pink Martini concert as the venue to introduce Abito and our next big project, Basic Village in Bend, because of the band’s unique ability to look backwards to different musical eras from around the world and forward at the same time… to create music that is refreshed and expertly executed with passion… to arrive at something quite modern.

This, too, is Abito’s mission… to create built-communities with a strong sense of place… that look to smart, proven design principles, well-executed in the field… fresh and unconventional… utilizing sustainable practices to the extent practical.

We adjourned across the street to Merenda after the concert to enjoy a fantastic array of gourmet offerings. We had several boards up around the restaurant to convey the spirit, ambition and reality of our design vision for this first-of-its-kind modern community at this scale. I was able to thank everyone for their enthusiastic support of our new direction and offer a sneak peek at Basic Village. We stayed late into the night reveling in the metaphor of music and the rhythmic quality of communal connections.

—Steve Robertson, President, Abito