In this episode of Home: The Second Story, we sit down with Ashley and Greg Luthman to explore their journey of building a custom home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting their design process in the spring of 2020 and moving in by December 2021, they offer a detailed, honest reflection on what it took to transform a blank field in Versailles, Ohio, into a forever home for their growing family of six.
We talk about the motivations that drove them—rooted in a desire for stability after frequent moves and the challenge of accommodating four children. Finding land was a feat in itself, made possible by a family connection, and that set the stage for collaborating with Sheri to design a house that balances functionality with character.
Ashley and Greg entered the process with a clear understanding of what they didn’t want, based on experiences in prior homes. That clarity helped shape choices that favored natural light, thoughtful layout, and long-term adaptability. They describe how small design decisions—like maximizing daylight with large windows and building spaces for coziness—paid off. The design emphasized living intentionally: thinking through how they’d use each space, from everyday routines to future family changes.
They also share candid lessons learned. For example, the unexpected impact of locating the master bedroom above the utility room, and their wish for better sound insulation between floors. They reflect on how some oversights came from not having their architect engaged throughout the construction phase—reminding future homeowners of the value of continuous collaboration.
Despite supply chain chaos and material substitutions during construction, Ashley and Greg stayed focused on their vision. They made trade-offs but kept their eyes on the end goal: a warm, inviting home built for love and memory-making. Their two favorite features—the wood-burning fireplace and a practical basement staircase—represent their blend of emotion and pragmatism.
Through it all, their advice is clear: build with purpose, stay flexible, and keep the end in mind. This episode is a rich resource for anyone considering a custom build, offering both inspiration and practical takeaways.
Voiceover (00:02):
Everyone says how horrible it'll be to renovate or build your house. We're here to say, it doesn't have to be that way.
Join three seasoned architects as they interview homeowners who recently completed a large project, and ask them one simple question: what do you know now that you wish you knew before you started?
Welcome to Home: The Second Story Podcast.
Sheri Scott (00:25):
Hi, and welcome to Second Story. We're three residential architects sharing real conversations with homeowners who have taken on a custom home or renovation project. I'm Sheri Scott, joined by my co-hosts Taylor Davis and Marilyn Moedinger.
If you haven't already, check out our first episode to hear more about us and why we're doing this. Today we're joined by Greg and Ashley Luthman. Hello. Welcome.
Ashley Luthman (00:53):
Hi.
Greg Luthman (00:53):
Hi. Thank you.
Sheri Scott (00:55):
So, for full disclosure, I was the architect for Greg and Ashley, and I invited them here to talk about their experience. But it's been a while since we've talked.
Greg Luthman (01:06):
It has been, it's been a couple years. I think we've been in the house for about two and a half years now. Three years now.
Ashley Luthman (01:12):
Three years.
Sheri Scott (01:14):
So, Marilyn, you want to lead them through our first five questions?
Marilyn Moedinger (01:18):
Yeah. So, we call these the first five. So, they're just a quick lightning round of questions to help everyone understand who you are and what your project was about. So, yeah, number one, when did you start your project?
Ashley Luthman (01:30):
We started with Sheri in the spring of 2020. That's when we first reached out.
Marilyn Moedinger (01:35):
Wow. Spring of 2020. And then when did you move in?
Ashley Luthman (01:38):
December 1st of 2021.
Marilyn Moedinger (01:40):
What type of project? Was it a new build from the ground up?
Ashley Luthman (01:44):
It was a new build, yes.
Marilyn Moedinger (01:46):
Got it. Okay. What's the size of the house?
Greg Luthman (01:50):
It's a 2,700 square foot house. As far as what style I have to defer to Ashley on what to call the style of our house.
Ashley Luthman (02:00):
So, I would like to explain it as on the outside, on the exterior, it looks like a farmhouse, traditional white with white trim windows, and then on the inside, a little bit of a modern country cottage feel. So, it's a little eclectic, but it all goes together really well, so-
Marilyn Moedinger (02:18):
Well, that's the point of a custom house, right? Is that it can be whatever you want. And did you use an architect? We know the answer.
Greg Luthman (02:25):
We did.
Ashley Luthman (02:28):
Yes.
(Laughter)
Marilyn Moedinger (02:28):
And yes or no question. We want to hear from both of you. Are you glad you did the project?
Greg Luthman (02:35):
Yes, absolutely.
Ashley Luthman (02:36):
Yes.
Marilyn Moedinger (02:38):
Great.
Taylor Davis (02:38):
Oh, we love hearing things like that (laughs).
Sheri Scott (02:40):
I know, I know.
(Laughter)
So, you guys tell us a little bit about what made you decide to start the project? Like, was there a catalyst or a change, or how did that process go for you to decide, “Okay, we're going to do this.”
Ashley Luthman (02:56):
Individually and as a family, we had moved a lot of times. We were in the process of still growing our family, and we had just moved into a smaller house and found out we were going to have four children (laughs).
And so, we decided that we really wanted to plant roots and create more of a stable environment, so we weren't moving all over the place. And he was from a little town that he grew up in, and we both decided that that would be a really great place to plant those roots and build a home.
And do you have anything else to say?
Greg Luthman (03:38):
Yeah, we found land, which around here is actually kind of hard to do. And so, once we found land, we were able to take that next step of reaching out to an architect to say, what would this look like to build out here?
Sheri Scott (03:50):
Was it hard to find the land?
Greg Luthman (03:52):
It was, it was actually very hard to find land at least in this area. You either have to be lucky or you have to know somebody. And I think we kind of fell a little bit into both of those. And so, some family had bought 16 acres with a house that they were able to buy and they didn't need all 16 acres, and so we were able to get the top four. And so, now we have family as neighbors too. So, that's also a good thing.
Taylor Davis (04:20):
You mentioned you started in the spring of 2020; it's kind of a daunting time to undertake a construction project like (laughs). How did that impact your process?
Greg Luthman (04:33):
I don't think anybody knew what we were getting into in spring of 2020, so we were all just kind of, of working through this. And so, I do remember that we had a lot of Zoom sessions. I think, the one in-person session we had to start, obviously all masked up, and I think it was right after we were allowed to … everybody was allowed to go places again.
But yeah, that was an interesting time. We knew it was going to take a little bit to get through the design process, so we didn't actually break ground until the spring of ‘21, but we did start in the spring of ‘20 at least talking to different architects and finally working with Sheri through the rest of the design process.
Marilyn Moedinger (05:20):
So, you guys mentioned that you had a really hard time finding land. Where did you end up getting the land? Where is it close to?
Greg Luthman (05:26):
Yeah, so we ended up finding land in what was my hometown, Versailles, Ohio. And I'd mentioned that it was really hard to find land. It's a very strong community up here, very good schools. And so, it is hard to find land, but we were lucky and we found some land that we can build on.
Marilyn Moedinger (05:47):
That's awesome.
Sheri Scott (05:48):
So, jumping into the design process, you mentioned that you had lived in many different places. I would imagine that that taught you a lot about what would work and what wouldn't work.
Ashley Luthman (05:59):
Yeah. I would say to a large degree, yes. There was at least a lot of things that we knew we didn't want in a house (laughs).
Sheri Scott (06:07):
Right.
Marilyn Moedinger (06:08):
And that's super important.
Sheri Scott (06:09):
That's half the battle.
Ashley Luthman (06:10):
That's super important. A lot of the homes that are in neighborhoods that I would say are quickly put up and similar to others in your neighborhood, that kind of thing. I'm not saying anything horrible or bad about it. That's where we grew our family initially, that's where we had two of our children, and the home suited us very well. It was very beautiful.
It just came with some of those things that we’re like, “Okay, we know we don't want this or this when we go ahead and decide to build a house.” So, definitely learn things that we didn't want in a home.
But then our last home we lived in before building, gave me a lot of inspiration for the build. So, we were able to take some design qualities and aspects of that home and put it into this home.
Greg Luthman (06:59):
You want to give an example? Because I mean, we don't have any lights on right now.
Ashley Luthman (07:03):
Yes.
Greg Luthman (07:03):
That's probably (laughs).
Ashley Luthman (07:04):
This is the biggest example that's — I'm glad you brought that up. In the home that we lived in while we were building was in a very old home built in the early 1900s. So, it was covered in windows, there was windows everywhere.
So, we never had to have a single light on in the house. And that was essentially what we based our design on in the back of the house was creating basically floor to ceiling windows and French door like windows to recreate that light that we had in the older home that a lot of older homes had, so they didn't have to have electricity on all the time.
So, we absolutely love that aspect of it. We hardly ever turn the lights on unless it's nighttime or it's a really, really dreary day (laughs).
Greg Luthman (07:53):
I think everybody, whenever they at least design a house, they design against the problems of their previous house. And so, we have a big master bedroom (laughs) because we didn't have a big master bedroom before. We have plenty of storage because I think we were lacking in storage before. So, those might be a little bit more mundane details, but …
Sheri Scott (08:14):
That's why I asked the question because we do get clients sometimes that honestly haven't had a lot of living experiences of different places to live. They've lived at home and then they've had maybe one other house or two other houses.
And sometimes even though you guys are on the younger side for people doing custom homes, you had a lot of that experience, and I remember that you knew pretty much what you wanted and were pretty firm on square footage and things like that. So, I think it served you well.
Ashley Luthman (08:51):
Yeah, for sure it did.
Marilyn Moedinger (08:52):
I'm curious to hear a little bit about you came into the project with a strong sense of what you did and didn't want, which is great. What were some things that came out of the design process that maybe surprised you that working with Sheri, working with an architect that maybe you wouldn't have come up with on your own or sort of that creative process?
Greg Luthman (09:11):
I had a couple ideas, but I'm going to start with at least one.
Ashley Luthman (09:13):
Go ahead.
Greg Luthman (09:14):
So, I think after the initial meeting, the first actual meeting, once we signed the contract and started going down the design process, Sheri had met us up here at the lot, which was a field. And I remember we walked right out in the middle of the field and Sheri stopped in one spot and said, “This is where your dining room's going to be.”
And we looked around and we said, “Yeah, you're absolutely right. This is where our dining room's going to be because we had a beautiful view one way.” We had a beautiful woods and the other way, and you were talking about all the windows that you wanted in there.
And so, that's where, at least my impression that the entire design started with a concept that we wanted the majority of our living to happen here, where you have all this beautiful view and natural light, and then the rest of the house kind of just organically grew from that, was my impression.
Marilyn Moedinger (10:01):
That's a beautiful moment to remember too. What a cool moment.
Ashley Luthman (10:06):
It was really neat. You kind of envisioned yourself standing in the living room and seeing it all. So, it was really neat to have someone there that had that vision and knowing where to go with it. So, thank you Sheri.
Greg Luthman (10:20):
Yes.
(Laughter)
Marilyn Moedinger (10:21):
Good job. Sheri (laughs).
Sheri Scott (10:23):
Yeah, you're welcome.
Greg Luthman (10:25):
We were doing Zoom calls again because of the pandemic at that time. And I think there was one iteration where we had the master bathroom, and it wasn't the way that Ashley wanted it. She's like, “I want more natural lighting here,” because I don't think we had any natural lighting at the time. And I'll say it was starting to get just a tad bit emotional, because you have so much invested.
Ashley Luthman (10:51):
I cried (laughs).
Greg Luthman (10:53):
It's so much invested in it.
Marilyn Moedinger (10:55):
Everybody does. It's okay.
Taylor Davis (10:57):
Yeah. It's alright.
Greg Luthman (10:57):
(Laughs) so much emotionally invested in it. I thought it was amazing that the very next iteration, which was not that many days later, it took into account everything that Ashley wanted, and in a way that I never anticipated how you would fit that in.
I'm an engineer, I'm a very logical guy. I'm like, “How are you going to get natural light in here without giving something else up?” And yeah, Sheri, you and your team were able to get everything that Ashley wanted and still meet the rest of the design constraints.
Sheri Scott (11:27):
That's a good lesson for people, because I always tell my clients, don't settle and don't feel like you're going to hurt my feelings by saying, “You know what? I slept on it, and this doesn't work for me.”
There may be time implications and other things we need to talk about for the changes, but you get one shot at this, most people. This is your forever home. So, it really made sense to take a step back at that point.
Taylor Davis (11:56):
We generally don't get offended. (Laughs) we want to make sure it's your project. So, I'm glad you related that experience because that's important.
Greg Luthman (12:06):
So, I think that's a very important point that goes beyond just the design phase into the actual construction phase itself. We had more than one instance where we came out and not everything that you have in your head is going to be on a specification or on a blueprint that somebody builds.
And you're going to see something that has been started and you're like, “That's not how I wanted it.” Don't be afraid to say, “That's not what I want.” (Laughs).
We actually had another instance like that with the stairs as the stairs were going in. Luckily it was a day and a half after they started on the stairs. And Ash was like, “That's not what I wanted.” And she was so I'll say afraid of talking to the contractor, “Oh, I don't want to cause concern.”
And the contractor was great about it. He said essentially the same thing to you guys said, “This is your house. You have one shot of getting this right. And it's only a day's worth of work. It's not going to be that much to change this. We'll get it right. Tell me what you want, and we'll get it right.”
Marilyn Moedinger (13:07):
Well, that's so crucial too, because it's a day's worth of work on that day. But if you would've waited until after you moved in, it's definitely not a day's worth of work then (laughs).
Greg Luthman (13:17):
Exactly.
Taylor Davis (13:17):
So, you're looking at it forever and thinking, “I should have said something,” which is a whole other like-
Sheri Scott (13:23):
Even worse. Yeah. The regret. Yes. So, our one big question that we want to answer for everyone, what do you know now that you wish you had known before you started the project?
Ashley Luthman (13:36):
So, I kind of wrote down a couple notes really quick because I didn't want to forget what we had discussed. I said I wasn't going to take notes, but I did.
Marilyn Moedinger (13:43):
Love that.
(Laughter)
Sheri Scott (13:43):
Good, good, good.
Ashley Luthman (13:46):
So, through the design process, I would say some things that I wish that we would've known that we didn't before. I'm going to start with a couple of little things that we talked about right before hopping on, that I don't think anyone would really think to think about.
So, the first one is, we built our master bedroom above the utilities in the basement. I would highly suggest not doing that because every night in the middle of the night our water softener goes off and it wakes us up almost, eh, not every night, but it wakes us up sometimes.
So, that is something that I would've never even thought about. And now I wish we should have moved utility somewhere else.
Sheri Scott (14:30):
Yeah.
Ashley Luthman (14:31):
The other thing is I wish that we would've put insulation in the ceiling, like underneath the flooring of upstairs, because we have four very loud children, and it sounds like a herd of elephants upstairs when they're playing.
And we're just like, “I wish someone would've said, hey, well you should put some insulation (laughs) in the ceiling.” But that's not anything that you would ever — I don't think many people even think about that when in the process of doing that. You want to say something?
Greg Luthman (15:01):
Yeah, I just kind of wanted to generalize it just a little bit more. I was actually very happy about how when we approached the design process just you and I before we worked with Sheri, but also when we worked with Sheri tried to go very much at how do you want to live in your house? Not how do you want your house to look, but how do you want to live in your house?
And almost doing that day in the life, you're going to do this. You're going to come home from work, what are you going to do, the kids are going to come home from school. You're going to bring your groceries in. That type of thing.
So, I a hundred percent recommend that. And I think we tried to do that. I think we just missed a couple things that we would've never thought about.
And again, I don't think the utility room is part of the design itself. I think that kind of came after it. We're in the construction, hey, where do you want your water softener to be, I don't know, back there. That seems to make most sense because that's where the well is coming in.
But again, in retrospect, maybe we might've had in the same spot, maybe we would've had a different spot or maybe we would've done some more mitigations. So, yeah, I agree with you on that for the lessons learned.
Ashley Luthman (16:10):
Yeah, I do. We did do quite a bit of that actually when we met with Sheri talking about where do you come in? How do we want to get to the kitchen? Where do you want to walk through? Those kinds of things.
And there's a lot of homes that you come into the garage and you go in through a door and you enter the kitchen almost immediately. But the way our property is set up and how we chose to lay out so that we get the optimal viewing is we decided we want view over convenience of being able to walk out of the garage into the kitchen.
So, we actually walk into the mud room from the garage, which actually is genius. I'm so glad we did it because our kids are coming in with muddy shoes and all the things and they're coming in from the garage. So, it's perfect.
And we literally only have to take a few steps to walk through the foyer and into the kitchen. But that was something that we were willing to compromise on to have the view and the natural light that we have coming in and coming off of the road that we wanted to come off of.
It's all these trade-offs that you're kind of working through to decide what is going to be the best flow for our family, but what is also going to give us the design that's going to give us the optimal view and being able to utilize the space at its most potential.
But I wanted to add something to what he said is how we were very intentional of living a day in the life. We also were very intentional about making our space very cozy and very intimate. And we designed our foyer, which is beautiful.
We designed our foyer for like you're walking in, I mean, it makes the outside of the house very farmhouse. It is very beautiful. We have a two-story foyer to give you a little bit of an image there.
And then, so we have the staircase that is like kind of a grand staircase and a little balcony that sees over into the foyer. It's beautiful. We have a light fixture that makes the centerpiece of the room. And something that we maybe didn't think of in the design process is the loudness of the kids.
But also, it's slightly different than the rest of the intention of the design of the house and which is still beautiful, and we love walking into it. And it's actually everybody's favorite part of the house when they walk in. Greg has a little story he wanted to share about the foyer.
But it's also keeping in mind, thinking about all of that kind of stuff can be hard when you're in the process, but it ties back into living in the day of and things that maybe we wish we would've known prior to. But speaking of the foyer, he wanted to share with you about his grandpa.
Greg Luthman (18:49):
Oh yeah. My grandpa who's unfortunately passed now, but at the time he was probably 91 and we had just finished building and we were taking him and my grandmother through the house and we got to the top of this foyer up the stairs in the foyer and he looked out and he just sat there for about a minute and a half and said, “This is my favorite part of the house.”
So, I mean, just (laughs) because maybe we had some learnings with echoing kids and in big spaces like that doesn't mean that we probably wouldn't do it again. It sort of just it does what we wanted it to do, so-
Sheri Scott (19:28):
You had a lot of great wisdom in that whole conversation. One thing that I picked up on was you're setting priorities. I mean, you guys called it compromise, which it is compromise. But before you compromised, you set your priority that you wanted the view and the natural light. And so, then it's easier to compromise once you have that priority set. So, you guys did a really good job of that.
Ashley Luthman (19:52):
Yeah. Thank you.
Greg Luthman (19:53):
Thank you.
Marilyn Moedinger (19:54):
And I wanted to throw out too that you're talking about the echoing and the kids and running around and stuff. One of the things I think that is really hard for owners to kind of grasp, and it sounds like you guys were trying to do that in various ways, is that your family is growing and changing and evolving.
So, what might be kind of loud and crazy for a couple of years is going to quiet down and be okay and the foyer will sort of take on … the foyer isn't going to change. It's still going to be that beautiful moment.
And maybe when everyone's just a little bit older, it won't be (laughs) such an echoey space. Or maybe it will be and maybe that's okay. But I think designing and building a house that can kind of live with you and grow with you over time, I love what you said about it being cozy.
That's not often what people are doing. They're trying to pack as much space as they can. And oftentimes people find that if the space is cozier and they're not building as much, then they can build better because it's smaller and they can be more focused on making spaces really special. So, sounds like you guys are on top of that.
Greg Luthman (20:57):
Yeah. That's interesting you say that. I do think that one of the very first meetings we had with Sheri, we talk about what's the functional needs for this. We'd actually talked about that. We said, “Hey, we're going to have kids that are going to be here for no more than 20 years, right?
(Laughter)
Sheri Scott (21:15):
Keep your fingers crossed. Yeah.
Greg Luthman (21:17):
And it's going to be an Ashley and I for the rest of the time in this house. I said, so conceptually what I want is a 1700 square foot ranch and then take a thousand square feet of bedrooms and put it on top for the kids.
So that when the kids leave the house, I'm never going to go upstairs, probably never going to go down to the basement anymore. And there we have everything we need on that level. And, and that's what we have.
We have our kitchen and our kind of living area; it's kind of a combined living space with our master bedroom right off of it. The mud room, laundry room and our pocket office on the first floor here, that's all we need.
So, we have playrooms for the kids downstairs. We'll end up fixing up the downstairs. We have bedrooms for the kids upstairs. But when they're out, we probably won't have a whole lot of need to go to those spaces.
Sheri Scott (22:08):
Until they come back and visit.
Taylor Davis (22:11):
Yeah, they'll come back and visit. I've got a quick follow up question because I asked about build in during spring of 2020 or designing during spring of 2020 because you all actually built during the times of the unknowable lead times and no, we can't get that tile, and you're going to have to change your mind.
Greg Luthman (22:25):
It was a mess.
Ashley Luthman (22:26):
Yes.
Taylor Davis (22:27):
So, there was a whole lot of … I'm assuming there was a lot of changes or decision making on the fly. Or delays that you didn't anticipate. What advice would you give to — I mean, you all arguably lived through some of the roughest construction periods we've had in a really long time.
What advice might you give to homeowners who are about to embark on that journey? Because you guys sort of, you got it all. You got door hardware; I mean the whole nine yards.
Greg Luthman (22:55):
Keep the end in mind (laughs).
Marilyn Moedinger (22:57):
Great advice.
Sheri Scott (22:58):
That's good.
Taylor Davis (22:59):
That’s good advice. It’s great advice.
Ashley Luthman (23:00):
That is a really good advice. I also think go in with an open mind and be willing to be flexible. So, when we started this process, I didn't think I was flexible (laughs). And I was like, I want what I want and it's got to work out.
And then like you said, we built in 2021 where supply chains were really short. And guess what? You don't get brown deck. You got to choose a gray one. And you don't get ten-inch board and batten, you get eight and you're like “Okay that's not how I planned this, but okay.”
But as you're moving along, stay focused on your goal. And I love that he said focus on the end because the end goal is to build a home where you can grow with your family and make memories there.
And the biggest thing that I love to tell people is that we were building a home that is full of love. And if that is your intention behind it, then “Okay, yep, I'll go with eight inches.” Because at the end of the day, it's not truly about that. It's about building a home that's going to grow with your family and you're going to be able to make the most beautiful memories here. And I'm going to stop talking because I'm tearing up now, so-
Taylor Davis (24:15):
It's such a good answer.
Sheri Scott (24:17):
That is a great answer. I love that.
Marilyn Moedinger (24:18):
Thank you for sharing that.
Sheri Scott (24:20):
That's why we all do this.
Greg Luthman (24:22):
Yeah. I think I had kind of two moments that stuck out with me for that period. The first was, so we said we had started the design in early spring. We were actually fairly cost conscious. I'll be honest, if I would've known what the final cost was before I started, I might've reconsidered, but I'm glad I didn't. Very glad we did (laughs).
But we got to the fall of 2020, and we were working with the contractor in the lumberyard, and we were getting quotes for everything and said, “Ah, man, these … to a person, everybody said, well, the prices are going to go down. We're through the pandemic. The prices are going to go down. Well guess what happened in spring of 2021? Prices did not go down. They kept going up.
And so, we had a pivot or persevere moment. And we had everybody lined up. We had everybody lined up to break ground and start going. And I had actually talked to, say, a colleague at work that's around the same age and they were getting ready to break ground when they originally were going to do it four or five years prior to that.
And he said something to the effect of just do it (laughs). I mean, for a lack of better terms, it's not going to get cheaper. It's not going to — if you're going to do it, it's the right thing to do. Do it.
And I'm glad that we followed that advice because even though we got I'll say the short end of the stick for the supply chain piece of it, we snuck in right in the door with decent interest rates before the interest rates started climbing in ’22, so-
Taylor Davis (26:00):
And you just never know what the next thing is going to be, so-
Marilyn Moedinger (26:03):
Well, and you know what they say they, the best time to build a house or plant a tree is 10 years ago or now. Don't wait. It's so true. I have so many clients who waited and then they're like, “If only I would've done it three years ago.” I'm like, “I know.” But it's hard, it's hard to make that decision in that moment.
Ashley Luthman (26:23):
I don't know if this is helpful, but to kind of extend a little bit on that supply thing and choosing to persevere and go forward. There were moments where we got word of “Hey, OSB is going to go up by this much.”
So, we purchased ahead of time and we stored it. I don't know if that's something that's helpful or I'm supposed to say that, but it was something that was actually, it was helpful to know that, to kind of do your research and know when things are going to be trending up and be like, “Okay, we're going to be proactive.”
We're going to buy it, and we're just going to — thankfully we had someone that could store it for us safely until we needed to use it. That's always something that I like to kind of throw out there too, that there's options to make it work.
Greg Luthman (27:10):
Well, it's more than just on supply chain stuff. We actually had I'll say a minor build error. Basically, lumberyard specifications versus what was interpreted from the design actually had a dimension error by one foot off.
And we were worried about what to happen, but then just brainstorm it and working with the contractor actually figured out a really clever solution to keep the entire design the way it needed to be and mitigate through that error.
So, not just stopping at, hey, here's a problem, I guess you're just going to have to live with the problem. No, here's a problem. What are the different ways around that problem still to still keep the intent that we're trying to get to?
Ashley Luthman (27:54):
Yeah.
Marilyn Moedinger (27:54):
That's the key of having a good team. If you've got a good team, architect, builder, contractor, then they're willing to work with you in those creative ways as well. Whether it's storing the OSB or helping you through that kind of stuff. That's definitely really key is having the good team.
Greg Luthman (28:11):
Absolutely.
Sheri Scott (28:13):
Okay. Well Greg and Ashley, did you have anything else on your mind or in your notes, Ashley (laughs) that you wanted to share with us?
Ashley Luthman (28:21):
In my notes that I said I wasn't going to take?
Sheri Scott (28:24):
Yeah, yeah.
Marilyn Moedinger (28:25):
Notes are fine.
Taylor Davis (28:27):
We know that there's no such thing as a perfect project, (it) doesn't exist. But we are always curious, what's something about your home right now that you love every time you walk into it?
Ashley Luthman (28:38):
You want to take it?
Greg Luthman (28:39):
Yeah, I do.
Ashley Luthman (28:40):
It's yours. It's yours.
Greg Luthman (28:41):
It’s mine (laughs). So, when we were designing, working with Sheri and her team on the design, actually got two now because I thought of one. So, there were two elements. I'll talk about the first one- that was a fireplace. We wanted a fireplace in our main living space.
And so, Sheri drew it up and we got to looking at it, and this was probably after a month or so, I looked at it, I said, wait a minute. I wanted a wood fireplace, not a gas fireplace. That's something that from when I was growing up, I remember having a wood stove at my parents' house, and I wanted the same thing.
And Sheri looked at, she's like, “I don't know how you're going to get a wood fireplace in there, because now you have to actually have to have a chimney and all this other fun stuff.”
But again, that pivot and persevere, we figured out how to make it work. Put a chase on the outside and the builder did a fantastic job of making sure that we got it right so that we didn't take any space away from the upstairs and all this fun stuff.
And we absolutely love it. The kids love it. Every winter that we've been in here for three winters now, we have that wood fireplace fired up nearly constantly. And I think it makes our cozy home cozier. And I do hope that those are memories that our kids are going to be able to take with them.
Ashley Luthman (30:03):
Yeah, for sure.
Greg Luthman (30:05):
What do you think about that one?
Ashley Luthman (30:06):
No, and that's a good one. Yeah. It's exactly what our hearth is supposed to be, kind of the center of your home and it creates that togetherness and the coziness, and I got to pick the stone out so I mean, I'm good with that.
Sheri Scott (30:19):
It’s beautiful. We can see it right behind you.
Marilyn Moedinger (30:21):
Yeah. Is it behind you? Yeah.
Ashley Luthman (30:23):
It is.
Sheri Scott (30:24):
There you go.
Marilyn Moedinger (30:25):
Beautiful. Right on cue (laughs).
Greg Luthman (30:28):
I'll say the second one is not nearly as emotional. It's much more utilitarian. I wanted stairs from the garage down to the basement, and I think Sheri, one of the members of your team did the original drawing and it kind of had a landing to go down to the basement.
And I said, “Wait a minute. No, no, no. Let me build a story from you. I want to carry a couch from my truck through the door, down to the basement straight.” Sheri’s like, “Oh, I got it.”
(Laughter)
Marilyn Moedinger (31:01):
Perfect.
Greg Luthman (31:03):
And again, it's a nice sloped, very easy to carry a couch and big stuff down to the basement and it might not be as emotional as what the fireplace is and stuff like that, but definitely myself, whenever I go up and down that stairs or whenever I have somebody carrying stuff with me or going down they’re like, “Hey, that's a really good idea. That's awesome.” So, that's the second one I just thought of while we're here.
Ashley Luthman (31:26):
That's good.
Marilyn Moedinger (31:27):
I love that one because that is about living in your house and operating in your house; those are not small things. Those are just as important as the hearth. It's like your house should be supporting the way you want to live including accessing the basement. That's no less important than the hearth, if maybe slightly less poetic, but that's okay.
(Laughter)
It's all super, super, super important.
Greg Luthman (31:50):
Absolutely. I think those are our two fav … well, at least my two favorite things.
Ashley Luthman (31:55):
No, I agree. I love the fireplace too. Yeah, it's good.
Sheri Scott (31:58):
I love to hear that you use it, because a lot of times, especially with wood-burning fireplaces, people will tell us after they've been in for a while, they're like, “Yeah, we don't use it.” So, good for you for going through the work and making those memories happen. It’s good.
Greg Luthman (32:15):
Absolutely.
Sheri Scott (32:15):
Good stuff. Okay. Well, you guys, thank you so much for sharing all of this. I appreciate it. Some really good nuggets of wisdom there to share with people.
Ashley Luthman (32:28):
Thank you for asking us to be a part of it. This was fun. I enjoyed sharing about it.
Taylor Davis (32:35):
Well, we hope it's reflective for our guests too, because sometimes we're living so fast, we don't take the opportunity to kind of go back and reflect on the process and think about it a little bit and what was value about it and what wasn't.
And we really appreciate that y'all would share that reflection. Because there's a lot of, like Sheri said, lots of nuggets of wisdom that we think could help other folks who are about to embark or in the process of embarking on this process.
Sheri Scott (33:01):
Awesome. I hope it does.
Ashley Luthman (33:03):
Yeah, I hope so too. Definitely.
Taylor Davis (33:04):
Thank you.
(Transition)
Sheri Scott (33:05):
Okay, so here we are on our recap with the Greg and Ashley interview. What did you guys think?
Marilyn Moedinger (33:13):
I loved it. I thought that their insights were so thoughtful. I think that's the result of having taken that time to be living in the house for a couple of years. They said it had been three winters. They've had time to be in the house and reflect on that process. So, it was really beautiful.
I think one of the things that they said a couple of times, which I think was such a great takeaway is stay focused on the end.
Sheri Scott (33:41):
I wrote that down too.
Marilyn Moedinger (33:42):
So, eyes on the prize.
Sheri Scott (33:44):
That's right.
Marilyn Moedinger (33:44):
And that's just such a great thing for someone who's just starting out to hear and/or someone who's in the thick of it and they can't see the end. And here are these lovely people in their lovely homes saying, “We're so happy. Eyes on the prize, you'll make it, it'll be okay.”
Sheri Scott (33:57):
Yeah. And like you said, they are three years out, so I think a lot of the emotion is gone. I talked to them a couple of times during the process, and it was hard. It was a hard time. It's already a complex process for anyone to build a new home, but especially during COVID, they had a lot of things thrown at them that they had to make different decisions on. They did a great job of it. But yes, keep the end in mind is good for anyone.
Taylor Davis (34:26):
There's always going to be a complication. And it may not be as big as COVID, like rocking the whole world, but there's no such thing as a start to finish perfect project. And so, I think hearing from people who have experienced maybe kind of one extreme end of the kind of challenge spectrum when it comes to construction and having them come out on the other side, not only okay, but glad about having done it.
Like excited about having been a part of the project. They don't regret it. They weren't like, “Oh my God, this was the worst.” I mean, we had to ask them about it, for them to even talk about it. It wasn't the first thing in their minds, which was, we should have never built a house during COVID. That wasn't the first thing they thought of.
The first thing they thought of was, we love this house. This reflects our family. The first thing that Sheri, they talked about was you standing in front of the field. It wasn't the bad stuff that stuck out to them. It's the really good stuff.
So, I loved that about it because I think that time and distance are always helpful, but it helps to sort of understand that even with the most challenges, if the process is right and the team is right, you can kind of get through it and get to the other side and still have a project you're really excited about.
Sheri Scott (35:37):
Yeah. And one thing I loved about everything they said was, this house is made especially for us, there is no doubt about it, that they took the time to know what they needed, to know what they wanted to know, how they wanted to raise their family.
So much of it went into that. And when she said they designed it on purpose to be cozy and intimate, they really did. It is not a big house. It didn't need to be big. That wasn't what they were going for.
The foyer they talked about, that's very traditional. Most of the houses we do tend to be on the more modern side. And this was a great exercise because they kept kind of pulling us back. And she really wanted that very, very traditional foyer.
And I think part of it is because I know that she's a photographer and she kind of wanted those moments for her family to take the pictures in front of the big stairwell and they just did such a great job of getting the house that was perfect for them.
Marilyn Moedinger (36:49):
Something else that they said along those lines, I think is a great takeaway for our listeners is you as an owner or a client are not going to hurt our feeling if you speak up about.
So, Sheri, you just said, normally, you're doing things a little bit more modern. They were pushing for you to go in a different direction. That's exactly what they should do. It's a collaboration between owners and architect.
That's when you're going to get the best result and saying things like, “Hey, I really appreciate, architect, what you've designed here. I'm not feeling it. I'm not even sure why maybe, but it's just isn't sitting right. Can we talk about that?”
You know what? A good architect is going to say, “Absolutely. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention. Let's dig in, let's figure it out.” We want you to love the house, not walk in and say, “Well, the architect made me do this.” No, that's not what we're here to do.
Taylor Davis (37:53):
We talk about that all the time. Our job is not to have a house that you drive by and say, “Oh, that's a TPD house.” It's to drive by and be like, “Oh, that's the Smith's house, or that's the Davis's house,” or whoever. It's because it's so reflective of them and who they are. So, if they don't engage in that process, we don't get to that point where it's their house. We have to have that back and forth.
Marilyn Moedinger (38:14):
One more thing I wanted to just point out is some of the things that they mentioned as things they wish they would've done differently. So, the sound insulation or the location in the mechanical room, they brought up that those were not things that were in the initial design, but that came up during construction.
And I just want to put a point out that if you are working in a full architectural design services situation where the architect is engaged the whole entire time, then those are things that your architect is going to be empowered to find and to make sure are right.
And they expressed a bit of regret that they didn't get those details quite right. And I think Greg even said but Sheri, you were not part of that decision and if you were, you might have done something differently or advise them in a different direction.
So, I think it's yet another reason why having the architect in the project, not just drawing up plans and then saying, “See you later,” but to really dig in and help all the way through the project, avoid some of those issues.
Sheri Scott (39:15):
Yeah. That is the best process. And there were many reasons I won't go into that we didn't do that. It was decided in the very beginning what our contract would entail and we were happy to help them. But yes, I think there were a few things that came up that we could have planned for that we just didn't have time to get to all those details.
Marilyn Moedinger (39:41):
Yeah. And that's a tradeoff and it's okay. Every project is a little bit different, isn't it?
Taylor Davis (39:45):
Yeah.
Sheri Scott (39:46):
Yeah, for sure. Every client.
Taylor Davis (39:48):
Decisions get made on every single project. And some decisions have ramifications, but others, they roll with it. They're just like, “Yeah, it's the water softener. It wasn't that big of a deal.”
Marilyn Moedinger (40:03):
Exactly. If that's your smallest complaint, you're doing pretty good.
Taylor Davis (40:06):
Heck yeah.
Marilyn Moedinger (40:07):
(Laughs), thank you so much for joining us on Home: The Second Story. If you enjoyed today's conversation, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review for more inspiring homeowner stories and tips. We'll see you next time.
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Voiceover (40:21):
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