Model Home offers beauty and low-maintainance living

By Alison Stucke

Thehouse at 272 East Second Street in Knife River is a model home in many ways. Designed and built by J&R Sundberg Construction, Inc. for the 2019 Homes on Parade tour of the Arrowhead Builders Association, the loft-style home showcases sleek, modern design, energyefficiency, and low maintenance. It’s move-in ready, with some rooms already furnished.

“For this home, ‘Simple is beautiful’ is our idea,” said Ray Sundberg, general partner of J&R Sundberg Construction, Inc. “It’s very Modern Design with very minimal maintenance – kind of like condo living.”

People walked through and viewed the home during the tour this past May, and viewings can still be arranged until the home sells. Viewers may buy the home, or they can contract with J&R Sundberg to build a home at their location, or to have work done to their existing home. One individual is even talking with the company about the possibility of having the model home built at his location.

Low-maintenance inside and out

Sitting on a 13,500-square-foot lot with seasonal views of Lake Superior, the two-story home is only 10 minutes from Duluth. The outside of the home is partially clad in corrugated, unpainted galvanized steel, which will age with a patinaed look, and other seamless steel siding with a woodlook finish. All of it is galvanized, needs no maintenance, and rust-proof.

“That’s the main idea of the home,” Sundberg said. “The owners won’t have to do a whole bunch of maintenance.”

A double car port is attached to the home above the side entrance. Walk inside the home here, and a convenient utility/laundry room is on the left, with a combination water heater/boiler that runs on propane to keep the home warm with in-floor heat on the lower level and hot water base floor heat upstairs. Also in the laundry room, a stacked washer/ dryer is conveniently located next to a deep cabinet sink.

Straight ahead is a white-with-black-trim bathroom with traditional wood cabinetry in pickled grey, which matches the ceiling of the great room, as well as the kitchen cabinets, the great room’s table and counter. This bathroom also features a unique shower with a multi-windowed glass door that opens and closes at the corner seam.

To the right is the open-concept area covered in easy-care wood-look luxury vinyl plank (LVP) flooring. The kitchen is the first space to appear. The kitchen features wood-look thermally fused cabinets by CABnX called Quest. This durable material is harder than wood, and it resists scratches, dings, and stains. Another CABnX product, Slick, is used on the cabinets with a glossy, metallic look to showcase the kitchen’s modern style. Backsplashes are glass painted grey with a touch of blue. These products and colors combine to create an up-tothe-minute kitchen style that you’ve got to see.

‘All ready to go’

An island with more cabinets, another double sink, plus a seating area transitions the kitchen into the dining area, where a long oak table includes a “live edge.”

Down at the other end of the great room is the living room with comfortable stuffed chairs and a sofa, as well as a big-screen TV. Soffit LED lights and pendants light the great room. Under-cabinet recessed lights at the kitchen provide practical yet attractive soft lighting of the work spaces. Overall, the LED lighting contributes to low electric bills.

“We bought all the furniture to stage this,” said Sundberg. “Some people really like a home that’s all ready to go.”

Simple is beautiful

Again, as in the bathroom near the home’s side entrance, throughout the great room, predominant colors are the white of the walls and island countertop; the oaky brown of the natural wood flooring; the pickled grey of the ceiling and the large table; black for the window lining, stools at the kitchen island, and other accents; and green/blue upholstery on chairs.

“It’s fairly monochromatic, but with enough color that it doesn’t feel clinical,” Sundberg said.

Stacking windows on the wall facing Lake Superior give the feel of being in the woods as views of birch and aspen appear just outside the great room. No window coverings constrict the view.

“The windows have only a few operators to open and close, so there are less parts to wear out,” Sundberg explained.

The Corian windowsills with no trim or window treatments provide a straightforward style and, again, less to maintain.

“You’re not looking at the windows for decorations, you’re looking at the windows for windows,” Sundberg said. “A large overhang helps shade the sun.”

Open the sliding doors to enjoy the patio, which features stamped, stained concrete with a slate look. If the concrete should get chipped, the color would remain consistent, since the stain goes through all parts of the concrete.

Space to make your own

Back inside the house, across from the dining table is a flex room.

“That room could be used for multiple purposes – an office or another bedroom, or something else,” Sundberg said.

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They left this room unfurnished, he explained, because most people have some furniture that they like to bring with them when they move into a new home. This open space gives the home buyer an opportunity to create a space that they want while having the rest of the home ready to move into.

A very honest home

By the home’s main entrance is a classically simple yet beautiful slat wall made only of wood and held up only by four slender square tube steel supports. All sides of the wall can be seen and are part of the wall’s simple but elegant design. To Sundberg, the slat wall symbolizes a key concept of the home.

“Everything about this home is very honest,” said Sundberg. “It is what it is. There’s no trim hiding anything.”

Modern styling

A floating staircase is made of steel, aluminum rail, and Douglas fir planks. It leads to the second floor, where a long hallway showcases more of the wood-look LVP flooring. Two spacious bedrooms (unfurnished) include closets with built-in shelving organizers. An upstairs bathroom includes a bathtub/ shower and faux concrete sink and vanity with pickled gray stain full-overlay slab doors in modern styling.

Sundberg said people have been liking this model home and have been asking to incorporate elements from the home into their own existing homes.

“We try to stay ahead of the curve with design ideas,” Sundberg said of his company. “These Modern Design ideas are being used in other parts of the country. The thing I like is the idea of having less maintenance to worry about for the homeowner.” D

The kitchen features wood-look thermally fused cabinets with modern finishes and black accents. An island with more cabinets, a double sink, and a seating area transitions the kitchen into the dining area.