A Full House IN LENNOX

BY MARY MICHAELS | PHOTOS BY JULIE PRAIRIE PHOTOGRAPHY

WhenDanny and Kansas Fergen were first married, they both felt a strong calling to adopt a child — even before they knew if they would, or could, have biological children. After their first adoption came their first biological child. Kansas says they felt like God had a plan for their lives, so they just listened and followed.

Today, the Fergens have four adopted children and four biological children. The children range in age from three to 15. The family decided to move from Sioux Falls to Lennox in 2021, because they wanted to raise their children in a smaller community. It’s a short commute for Danny, who works for Central Church in Sioux Falls, and Kansas says she is blessed to be able to be home with the children.

“We made the decision from the very beginning to home school,” she explains. “While Danny is busy at church on the weekends, he has time with us during the week, so we have that opportunity to work together with the kids when it’s time for school, as well as just to spend time together.”

They had heard about a 100-year-old house for sale in Lennox and knew right away this was the right place for them. Kansas said they knew they would eventually have to make some updates to the house, such as finishing the basement and remodeling the main floor, so that it would work well for their big family. The plan accelerated a bit when Danny submitted an application for the family’s home to Down Home Fab, an HGTV show featuring local residents Chelsea and Cole DeBoer.

So, the project began in the spring of 2022.

Kansas said she and Danny created a Pinterest board of colors and styles they liked, but the most important item on the list was preserving the character of the early 1920s Craftsman-style home, including its original hardwood floors and beautiful oak woodwork. The couple also hoped the remodel would open up some of the living space on the main floor and brighten up the overall décor.

“Reveal day was exciting!” Kansas said.

“We were both a little speechless,” she recalls. “They did an amazing job preserving and enhancing the character we loved about the house while giving it such a bright look and more functional space.”

The living room had been divided into two spaces by columns, not original to the house. Those columns came out, along with built-in shelves that stood on either side of the front window. A small door previously opened to a small storage space underneath the staircase leading to the second floor. That door was removed and the space closed off to provide a long wall that could accommodate an oversized sectional for family seating.

The designers added open shelves and a window seat where the former built-ins framed the window.

“We were a little concerned about possibly losing the built-ins because with homeschooling, we have a lot of stuff,” Kansas says. “But the big drawers they added to the window seat are so great. We can put school supplies, toys, books and games in them, so the kids have easy access, but everything is still tucked away.”

To provide even more storage in the room, the DeBoers enlisted friends who do custom woodworking to create an entertainment center that not only looks beautiful with its black finish and natural wood shelves, but also has ample places to hold additional games and school supplies. The front corner of the room was saved for the Fergen’s piano.

“Music is a huge part of our lives,” says

Kansas, “so saving this space for the piano was very important to us. And, by taking the columns out of the living room and opening up this space, there is finally room for the whole family to be in here together, whether it’s to play music or watch a movie.”

As a unique way to honor the home’s history, the designers saved the little door taken off the storage closet, finished it with a coat of white chalk paint, and mounted it to the far wall of the living room as a flip-down desk for school work or crafting.

The project created a new entry to the kitchen from the living room, and the space that had been under-staircase storage was repurposed into a pantry, which was a pleasant surprise for Kansas.

The Fergen’s dream for the kitchen was something “lighter and brighter” to update it from the existing tan and brown color scheme, as well as to open it up somehow if a wall could come out. There was only a small doorway from the kitchen to the dining room, so Kansas could never see the kids if she was in the kitchen and they were eating or doing school work.

When the construction crew got into the wall, they discovered — as is true in many older houses — that it did serve as a loadbearing wall and had electrical and ductwork that couldn’t be moved. However, they came up with a creative solution by opening up what they could to create a pass-through window with a small overhang on the dining room side that is able to accommodate two stools.

While the original hardwood floors were preserved in the living room and dining room, they were in a little rougher shape in the kitchen. So, the designers opted for luxury vinyl tile that is waterproof, durable and perfect for a big family.

The old cabinets came down, replaced with off-white, Shaker-style cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling to maximize storage space. The backsplash was created with light handmade clay tiles, which helps the dark leathered granite countertop stand out. New appliances and a large soapstone farmhouse sink completed the design.

“We all love to cook, and before, the kitchen was just a little tight for all of us,” Kansas says. “Now, we can cook together and, with the pass-through, I can be in here and still see my kids in the other room. I love it.”

The dining room is a perfect combination of old and new. The two columns with builtins are original in this room, and those were kept in place. The designers added lightcolored wainscoting on the lower half of the wall as a nod to the features typically seen in Craftsman-style homes. Star-patterned wallpaper was added to one feature wall as a focal point when you enter the room, and it complements the color of the woodwork and, while a new addition, looks like it could have been a wallpaper from the home’s early days.

To ensure the family had room for dinners and schoolwork, the designers again called on their woodworking friends to create a new dining room table with a long bench on one side and chairs that could go all the way around the rest of the table.

One interesting piece of history the Fergens had was a black-and-white photo of the original owners standing on the side of the house. The designers had the family assemble in the same spot for a photo, and then they hung both the old and the new in the dining room in rustic wood frames.

Kansas says she and Danny couldn’t be happier with the result.

“Our desire from our very earliest days as a family has been to create a space that is comfortable and safe for our children and their friends. We have a corner lot, so there is great space out there to hang out. And now, we have more space inside. We want this to be a place where the kids can learn and play, have friends over and just create memories.”

The remodel, Kansas says, is just one more step in the plan they feel God has brought to their lives. A well-timed step, it seems, as the Fergens are currently in the process of adopting another 15-year-old child, which will take them from a family of 10 to a family of 11.

The family is living the words of a wood sign in their living room that says, “When you have more than you need, build a bigger table not a higher fence.”