Custom built

A warm and inviting place to call home.

That's what Denise Baar and Jud Pins of Sioux Falls, SD were looking for when they decided to have a new home built within The Grand Prairie, a private community nestled in the southeast portion of the city.

Denise said the couple was drawn to the location in part because of the exclusive amenities, including a full clubhouse, two pools, fitness room and tennis courts. The clubhouse also has an apartment, which allows for out-of-town guests to stay during visits.

"Five years ago, if you asked me if I would ever live at 77th and Minnesota, I would say, 'It's so far out there,'" Denise said. "Now, it feels like a part of the city."

Denise and Jud worked with Deffenbaugh Homes, a Sioux Falls based builder that specializes in custom homes. With close interaction between the couple and the builder, Denise and Jud were able to provide their specialized ideas and requests throughout the entire building process.

While Denise and Jud had never been through the home building process before, they were surprised with the ease of it.

"I never thought I would build a house because of the challenges and decisions that need to be made, but it turned out to be one of the easiest things we have ever done," Denise said.

What resulted was a 4,500-square-foot traditional style ranch walk-out, complete with five bedrooms, four baths, a four-car garage and a rich decorating scheme, of which Jud and Denise moved into in May 2007.

"The process was so simple," Denise said.

Jud chose to incorporate wooden tray ceilings in most of the rooms on the main floor, while Denise picked out paint colors.

Although all of their ideas were their own, Denise worked with Amy Kruetzfeldt, a licensed interior designer on staff at the Stone Center, which provided all of the Cambria counter tops and tile throughout the home.

"We had the paint colors, flooring and rock picked out, and she helped me pick out the tile, bring everything together and confirm what I already had selected," Denise said.

Tiger wood floors wrap through the entryway and into the kitchen and dining area, where the formal dining room features a basket weave floor, mixing the Tiger wood with Cambria tile, surrounded by floor to ceiling tapered, roped wooden columns, which are also featured in other woodwork and furniture throughout the home.

For a unique look, Jud and Denise opted to have the island in the kitchen a lighter, distressed wood in comparison to the rest of the cabinetry throughout, something Denise says is not done very often.

To keep the main floor open and inviting, Denise and Jud opted for as few doors as possible.

"Part of the reason we built a house of this nature is because we wanted something simple that would be easy to entertain in," Denise said. "Because people gather so much in the kitchen, we wanted it open, with not a lot of walls."

And, to do something special with the doorway that leads from the living room to the master suite, Jud and Denise had the top arched, created specifically to the depth and width dimensions on the stone arch above the living room fireplace.

While the couple's home is designed for the possibility of five bedrooms, Denise and Jud only utilize four bedrooms. The fifth, located on the main floor, acts as a den, instead, which Denise wanted to stand out when she was selecting paint colors. Instead of the warm, deep tones that accentuate the rest of the house, Denise opted for a soft green within the den.

Denise had the staircase leading to the basement faux painted, which wraps from the warm tones of the main floor to more earthy tones throughout the basement, which features a wet bar, complete with a dishwasher and full-size refrigerator.

With five children, only one of which still lives at home, Jud and Denise knew they wanted a place their children could come home to.

"We wanted them to feel like it was their home as much as ours. A place where they felt at home and could have their friends come over and enjoy time together," Denise said.

And, while Jud and Denise couldn't be happier with their custom built home, they are already planning ahead for the future.

"We love our home and plan to be here a long time, but after you've been in your home for a long time, there's that urge to want to keep it fresh and start new," Denise said.

In order to keep their home remaining as fresh as possible, Jud and Denise added a dark brown tile back splash on either side of the range in the kitchen after Christmas. This spring, they plan to add on to the deck, which is situated off the four-season room on the main floor and sometime in the future, Jud and Denise hope to finish off the wine cellar in the basement, a space that is currently used for storage.

TECH SAVVY:
Keeping up-to-date with the latest technology, Jud and Denise made sure their home Internet system was completely wireless.

"That makes it easy for the children to take their laptop to any room in the house, whether to surf the net or chat with friends on Facebook or Skype," Denise said.

In addition, the home has a complete security system with cameras, a surround system with speakers inside and out and built-in audio system with iPod docking system in both the kitchen and wet bar.

This article appeared in the April 2009 edition of Okoboji Magazine.