Dear Minneapolis – St Paul Magazine,

My wife and I very much appreciate your magazine, and the positive focus on this region that we love.  We would like to offer you our home construction story for one of your journalists, if it would be of interest to you.  Essentially, I am hoping that a story in your magazine might arise out of this, and thus repay our builder with positive exposure regarding wonderful, positive work he did for us.  After reading your magazine for the last 6 years, I think that this story fits in with other stories you have written in the past.

I am a physician at Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater.  I believe strongly in living in the patient catchment area that I work in, so that the work I do is a direct investment into the community I belong to.  We set about trying to find a place to live in the Saint Croix Valley Region – and eventually started to look at land.  A nurse administrator at our hospital was selling a very complicated piece of property, and I went out to look at it about 15 times before I could see a way to build on it.  I had three recommended builders come out and look at it – and of the three – only one gave me a very well thought out, intelligent, and honest approach to the property.  His advice was to wait, get a full survey of the property, and find out exactly what we were up against prior to buying it.

Josh Clendenen (Delaney Company, LLC) was this builder.  We were a bit concerned about the idea of spending  $1500 on a survey without even owning land, yet we took his advice.  He was dead-on.  The land was very complicated, and only a very small piece of it was buildable within county regulations and code.  Most of the 4 acre property was too highly sloped to build on, or sitting in a wet region below the hill.  Furthermore, the house would require 3 waivers from the township and one variance / waiver from the county – before it could even be deemed buildable.  The end result was the placement of an offer on the land contingent upon obtaining the necessary waivers and variances that were required to prove buildability. 

We did not own the land, nor did we have any contracts for building, and yet Josh offered his own time to help us obtain the required variances.  He sat through multiple town board meetings with me, and one county meeting.  It took about 4 months.

During the 4 months we were waiting, Josh redesigned a previous house he had built to fit our needs, our lot, and our modest budget.  The house he designed is breathtaking, and yet affordable.  It is not large, but it has a floor plan that wastes no space.  Similar to the “Not So Big House” movement, we intentionally built to a size that would maximize quality rather than quantity.

There is a formal dining room that is extraordinary – and holds to our strongly held belief about the importance of family dinner time.  We wasted no space – and essentially took an informal breakfast nook and turned it into a beautiful formal / informal dining room with a panoramic view of our own private wildlife sanctuary.

There is custom designed cabinetry that considers every miniscule detail in advance.

There is a space conscious clothes closet in our mudroom that also acts as a guest closet for the formal entryway, as a result of a very clever design.  The mudroom has custom designed lockers, shelves and cabinets.  We have an master suite with easy access to an upstairs laundry, heated floors, soaking tub, separate water closet, tiled shower and huge walk in closet.

The kid’s bathroom has 2 separated sinks.  Furthermore, the toilet and bathtub are separated from the sink area by a door, allowing them to get ready for school at the same time, without invading their individual privacies.

Our house is environmentally sound, and holds strongly to energy star and green built principles.  It passed the “blower test” with flying colors.  The carpet is made by Dupont from corn fibers, and is really comfortable to walk on.  The insulation is spray foam.  The basement is poured concrete.  The appliances are energy efficient.  The exterior is entirely James Hardie siding, and is meant to last for 50 years.  The landscaping acts to beautify the home, while holding back the hill with a 130 foot long rock wall behind the home, and a second rock wall in front.  The house was intentionally designed to complement the land surrounding it, and once we get some more trees placed in front, it will do so.  It is truly built to be eco-conscious.

Finally, we realized that we may wish to eventually grow.  Instead of creating a situation where we would have to add on in a few years – we designed the home to have an extra 1800 or so square feet of unfinished space with a bonus room above the garage and in the basement.  We also pre-designed for a future deck off of the formal office, and a future screen porch off the dining room.  Again, we chose not to finish these areas to maximize quality of construction rather than quantity of construction.  

Josh Clendenen came through for us – and built a home that is remarkable, without going over budget or compromising on quality.  The amount of details built into this home are in excess of anything I’ve ever seen in a home of the same cost-point.  He was very hard working, and wonderful to work with.

 I would sincerely like to invite you to my home to confirm the principles of the story for yourself.  I hope one of your journalists would find this story worthwhile to work on, as I believe that this builder deserves to be rewarded for his extraordinary quality in construction.  This house would have won him an award on the Parade of Homes, had they not stopped giving out awards during the spring parade.

 Thank you for your time.

 Sincerely,

Dr. Kreegan Reierson

When we decided to build a new home, Delaney Company was highly recommended to us by another extremely satisfied customer. After meeting with Josh and touring several of his recent homes, we knew we had found our builder! Not only were the homes beautiful and well-built, but it was clear from the beginning that we would be well taken care of. Our questions were answered quickly, issues were resolved promptly and fairly, and we were kept fully informed during the entire building process. Even after we moved in, Josh continued to make sure everything was satisfactory. The fact that our home won the People's Choice Award on the Parade of Homes was the icing on the cake! We had a wonderful experience with Delaney Company, would use them again ourselves, and enthusiastically recommend them to anyone looking for a wonderful new home.

Robin & Scott Howard