Discovering The Mature Lifestyle
Being blind didn’t keep one Rosemount man from his passion. Page 3
Home & Lifestyle
March 17, 2016
March Issue
BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Terry Eggan, formerly a builder and now the owner of Bridge Realty, built his own Eden Prairie home in 1998. The construction project was a family affair, and included Eggan’s sister and brother-in-law, his brother, his then-74year-old father, and a lifelong friend. “My mother bravely asked if I could put in an in-law apartment for her and my father, so I did that,” Eggan said. “They lived here for 16 years, until they died, my mom in 2014 and my dad in 2015. Now a niece who helped take care of them is living there.” Eggan considered himself lucky to find a lot in Eden Prairie. “We had to design the house to fit on the lot,” he said. “We live near Flying Cloud Airport and we wanted to set the home back off Pioneer Trail.” He put in a pond with a waterfall when he built the house. Four years later, Eggan added an observatory to the top of the house. “It has six skylights, six windows and a telescope,” he said. “We love it. We can see all the way to Eagan, Shakopee and Savage, and the fireworks in Lakeville.” His dad and a friend helped build the observatory, too. Their workmanship resulted in a video that is available on HDTV. The home is the last one Eggan built during his construction career, and the only one he built for himself. “Before we built this home we found the lot,” he said. “We found the owner and he was willing to sell it. We cleared all the land.” Eggan’s dad, Willard, built a 12-foot tall red Adirondack chair for the front yard that became a landmark of sorts. “My dad loved to have people drive out to see it,” Eggan said. The third stall in the garage became his dad’s workshop. “He built and sold all kinds of chairs,” Eggan said. He recalls growing up in Eden Prairie, where his dad was a builder. “We moved from house to house,” Eggan
Working to stretch the brass spiral staircase for the observatory to proper size are, from left: Terry Eggan, his dad, Willard, and Lyle Hookom of Eden Prairie. (Submitted photo) said. Eggan said he got on-the-job training in the construction business as he worked alongside his dad. “My dad had me picking up nails at construction sites when I was 6 years old,” he said. “He even had me up on the roof. My
mother screamed about that, but I thought I had been promoted.” Eggan said he worked as a carpenter during high school. “We didn’t have vacations; we worked for my dad,” he said. EGGAN - TO PAGE 3