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STAY AT HOME

As some of you may have seen last month, we were fortunate enough to display a clients recently finished home in the Parade of Homes Remodelers Showcase tour this fall. This remodel was a little more unique than others because it was developed with our “Stay at Home” division. This arm of Lake Country Builders focuses on renovating the space that a client wants stay in long term as they age. “Stay at Home” designs and builds with aging in place features to offer a greater ease of living and independence for the client, now and in the future.
In this case, our client Judy, wanted to reconstruct a significant portion of her long time home in Wayzata.

Time for change

To accommodate her needs we transformed her existing attached garage into a spacious Kitchen with an easily accessible Powder Room & Laundry Room. We also installed a lift just inside the lowered level Mudroom and entry from the driveway. Her former Kitchen was then converted into an inviting Butler’s Pantry that offers easy access to the outdoor deck.

There were plenty of finer details throughout the space that caught the tour visitors attention as well. Whether it was the motion activated lighting on the stairs, the wireless reverse osmosis water purifying system or the hidden, pop-up electric and USB outlets. There was a lot to take in and we couldn’t thank Judy enough for opening up her home to our guests and for showing all her charm as she guided people throughout her home all weekend.

Ready to work the tour, wait, what’s that?

It is fairly common to stage a home prior to a showing. The goal in doing so would be to keep people focused on the features of the home and not spending time looking at the homeowners personal items. With that said, some of Judy’s items were placed elsewhere to open up the space and most of her personal photos were as well… except for one. A single 4×6 inch photo of Judy and her late husband, hidden on a lower level shelf amongst a plethora of other eye catching trinkets and the two of them were all smiles!

This isn’t work, it’s a home!

Seeing this one piece of Judy’s personal life quickly changed my mind frame from work mode to one that acknowledged that I’m not at work, I am in Judy’s home. This is where she and her husband had raised their family. This is where all of the moments of their life came together every night, big or small, good or bad. There are memories and stories here, memories and stories that I don’t know but Judy does. It took just one small picture to point out another big piece of what “Stay at Home” provides a client.

“Stay at Home” and “Aging in Place” doesn’t just offer ease of living to the homeowner as they grow older.
They don’t just make things more convenient for family members that may be taking care of the homeowner as they age.
They also offer the homeowner the opportunity to stay at home, where they’re most comfortable, where the memories are, where their life is, where their heart is.