The Right Owner
Local business owner Anne Cleary’s path to home ownership in central Bismarck took over five years, from the initial purchase of the lot to the completion of the build.
Part of Anne’s initial struggle was her scarcity of options. She wanted to stay in central Bismarck where she grew up and continue walking to her local business in downtown Bismarck. She also didn’t want anything large, but many of the smaller homes in the area are old and in need of renovations.
Venture Real Estate, the agency Anne’s agent was with, had purchased the vacant lot Anne’s house now sits on from the city of Bismarck through a public auction and was waiting to sell it to the right person, someone already looking to build in the area. Anne, whose list of must-haves made her the perfect fit, met with Tanner Reidman, owner and designer at Plain View Design and Build, in 2015. She bought the small 50-by-50 foot lot from Venture in 2016.
From there, the controversy and challenges began to mount. Anne needed to obtain variances for its size, front-yard setback, and rear-yard setback. While she worked with Plain View to get her variances approved, residents from the area protested the building of Anne’s home, fearing that her new build would look out of place in a neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While her initial variance was denied in 2016, Anne persevered and finally secured permission to build her home in 2019.
Since the project ended up stretching out over five years, Anne’s is as well-thought out as any home could be. When it came to design, simpler was better. Anne wanted her home to be functional but look minimalistic. She made the decision to reduce her footprint and live within her means, financially and energy wise. Her small, modern kitchen is the perfect example of this.
Other parts of the home that were specific requests from Anne include a bathroom with a tiled shower, plenty of closet space, a toilet on the main floor for guests, and an outdoor space besides the yard. With such a tiny yard, having another outdoor space was a must, and Anne’s outdoor deck was the perfect solution.
While designing the home was an immense undertaking, actually constructing the home was another enormous learning curve for the team at Plain View Design and Build. The small work site meant all the panels, including exterior walls, had to be built off site by a local fabricator in a warehouse then delivered.
The constraints and challenges were no match for the team at Plain View Design and Build, and Anne’s new home has been a sweet reward after all her hard work getting the build approved. The different perspectives and ideas Anne and the team at Plain View Design and Build brought to the table resulted in an impressive home, one unique to the area with all the charm and character of its neighbors.
The photos featured here were taken by NewAge Creative Studio for the 2021 October-November issue of R+R, but obviously not all the amazing photos taken can make it into the printed issue, so these images are additional photos from Anne Cleary’s beautiful new home.
