Spring
Home & Garden
April 15, 2013 & April 17, 2013 Special Section
One for the birds By K irsten Zoellner kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Jon and Sharon Johnson enjoy their recently finished new home outside of Fountain, Minn. Photo by Barb Jeffers
A dream complete for the Johnsons By Barb Jeffers barb@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Jon and Sharon Johnson of rural Fountain, Minn. have recently moved into the new home they designed together. Together, along with Joe Hahn, of Hahn Lumber, located in Harmony, Minn., they designed their home and say they would not change a thing about it. The couple, who married in 2012, wanted to build a home of their own with room for their blended family of children and grandchildren when they come to visit. Jon and Sharon planned and designed the home for approximately six months before going ahead with building. When discussing what each of them wanted in a new home, Sharon said they found they “both had the same ideas” which made the decision process easier. The design works wonderfully for the Johnsons and Jon stated “it all goes back to Joe (Hahn) - he took our ideas and did better than we could have even
thought of ” and the exceptional end-product is a credit to Joe and the other creative and dedicated businesses the Johnsons worked with while building the home. The house has an open floor plan which has a natural flow throughout and is large but, at the same time, feels cozy. As the Johnsons are planning for the future and any circumstances that may arise in the coming years, and as they age, the home is set up so a wheelchair can be wheeled from the garage door into the house, throughout the house, and even into the master shower. The total square feet of the home is 3600 square feet with 2800 being living area and 800 square feet of garage space. The focal point of the main living area is an elegant two-sided fireplace with unique stonework. One side includes charcoal gray quartz ledge stone and slate, with the hearth stone and mantel made with Nicolet stone, and the other side surrounded by glass mosaic tile. The impressive stone and tile work was done
by Bryan Ostby, of Fountain, Minn., who is a sub-contractor with New Direction Flooring of Rochester, Minn. The fireplace was purchased from Brekke Fireplace of Rochester, Minn. This outstanding fireplace adds a warmth to the home that only a fireplace can. Brad Fish, co-owner of New Direction Flooring, was immensely helpful in guiding the Johnsons on what materials to use throughout the house. Hahn Lumber provided all the materials for the home except the mechanical and plumbing and Jon said “they were wonderful to work with” and helped greatly in creating the home they have today. New Direction Flooring installed all flooring in the house and was also responsible for the elegant countertops and other tile work throughout the house. Jon described the tile work performed by Bryan Ostby as “awesome” adding Bryan had a lot of “creativity” with the tile patterns which add a disSee JOHNSON Page 8
For reasons that seem unfathomable, feeders have been made for squirrels. Ask any avid birder and they’ll tell you that there’s always one pesky squirrel, if not a rebel gang, that makes off with a cheek full of prime bird seed, leaving the poor birds to scavenge what’s left. And in this neck of the woods, deer pose just as much opportunity for frustration as they belly up to the bird seed buffet. Many attempts to deter, halt, and even send the intruders flinging through the air have been made, but with little success. All the while, the seed is devoured or scattered and to the buyer, money lost. Rushford native Scott Tarras has felt the ire of backyard intruders. “I was frustrated with feeding the deer and the squirrels in my backyard, other than the birds, not to mention being tired of all the broken chewed up bird feeders.” Those irritations ultimately lead Tar-
ras to work out an idea for a long-lasting feeding system that would actually feed the birds and just the birds. The concept for the Feedsavr began in the fall of 2009 after the Tarras family suffered multiple setbacks, first with Scott’s wife Brandee being laid off in January from her graphic design job and Scott being laid off from his position as a pressman at a small print shop a few months later. With persistence, the family opened WonderInk Printing in Rushford and Scott soon after began tinkering with his pet project. “We thank the Good Lord every day for the blessings we have. As hard as it was at the time when we lost our jobs back in 2009, God had a plan for us,” says Scott. “If not for losing our jobs, we would not have WonderInk Printing and the Feedsavr would have just stayed one of those ‘wouldn’t this be a good idea if ’ thoughts.” See FEEDSAVR Page 6
Rochester Garden and Flower Club garden tour By K aren Snyder karens@olmstedcountyjournal.com
“Gardening is an art form,” says Connie Parrett who co-chairs a garden tour that proves her point. The flowerful jaunt, Rochester Garden and Flower Club’s (RGFC) Annual Garden Tour, will take place July 18. “It will be festive and fun,” Parrett says. She and her fellow co-chair, Barbara Muenkel, invite you to come see. The tour, which highlights flower gardens and landscaping, is a popular event that each year draws and dazzles a crowd of several hundred visitors to five or six Rochester-area gardens. The gardens’ addresses? RGFC keeps them confidential until you buy your ticket. The exception to the secret gardens rule is the tour’s first stop, the S.M.A.R.T. Gardens at Rochester Community and Technical College’s Heintz Center. An
outdoor laboratory for RCTC’s Horticulture Technology program, the S.M.A.R.T. (sustainable, medicinal, artistic, resourceful and thematic) Gardens are gorgeous, Parrett says, and offer something new every year. Heintz Center is also the place to buy tour tickets, register for door prizes, browse educational displays and sample Cold Stone ice cream (while supplies last). From there, the tour is selfguided. “Take your map and off you go.” Off to explore colorful and fragrant gardens, such as the one that dresses up a corner lot on a hillside. Flowers bloom in profusion and there’s a water feature and– “She’s got more in that corner lot than people with an acre,” Parrett says, “and her neighbors on both sides of the corner love the view.” Another treat on the itinerary is See GARDEN CLUB Page 7
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