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Fall Breeze & Autumn Leaves September 25, 2017 • Fillmore County Journal
An oasis out back
New home with old world charm
Jason and Alyssa sitting on top of the retaining wall they built. Photo by Alyssa Aylsworth The former narrow stairway to the backyard is now a more generous width, with the help of Kevin Eickhoff Building and Remodeling. This width adds to a sense of invitation and enhances the flow from indoors to outdoors. All materials are no maintenance and came from Fountain Building Center. Photo by Julie Little By Julie Little julie@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Have you ever visited a place on vacation that felt just right – inviting, comfortable, peaceful? And did you wish you could find a way to pack that place up in your suitcase and take it home with you? Well, that’s what Scott and Sharone Rustad of Fountain did. On a visit to Scott’s aunt in Texas, they discovered both the hotels and the homes there had stone patios that served as open but intimate outdoor gathering spots. The Texas stone masonry, in a soft sand color, was beautiful. Scott and Sharone felt a strong draw to these patios and the germ of an idea travelled home with them. The house the Rustads live in is both the same and different from the one Scott grew up in. His parents, Donna and Duane Rustad bought the land in 1962 and built the original house just past the church in Fountain off Highway 52. At that time it was an open field with a sinkhole across the driveway. Scott remembers, as a boy, he could shoot his BB gun in the yard without worrying about the
neighbors. The elder Rustads built their home and planted trees that now tower majestically, shading the spacious lawn. Scott moved away for 15 years, then, in 1998 he and Sharone moved back to Fountain and began to make the original homestead their own. In 2005 they tackled the interior. Kevin Eickhoff, of Eickhoff Building and Remodeling, worked with them on the design and he and his son did the remodeling work. “Many walls came down,” says Sharone. “Houses used to have separate little rooms. Now they are more open.” Working with Scott and Sharone, Eickhoff not only remodeled the interior, adding square footage and opening up the space, but also adding a garage and creating a welcoming entrance off a covered deck. For about eight years after their time in Texas, the Rustads dreamed about what they would do to create the kind of outdoor space that they found so compelling. Then last year, Scott said, “Let’s do it now.” Their son, Sam, currently in his first year of college at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, was graduating in
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the spring of 2017 and they envisioned having his party in that outdoor space. There would also be plenty of time for their daughter, Sierra, a junior at Fillmore Central, to enjoy it. Schroder, the mellow golden retriever, makes himself right at home on the new patio, too. Part of the challenge in getting stone work done was to find someone who could do it. “We’re pretty busy,” Scott says, “and while there are people who can do this work themselves, that’s not us. We do know lots of people with skills, but it would have taken them quite a bit of time.” The Rustads heard that The Treehouse Landscape and Garden Center might be an option. “There was a patio at a house near Good Earth Village that Todd from The Treehouse had done. It looked like quality work,” Sharone notes. “When Todd came out to see us, he brought books of design options with him and he asked good questions. When we learned that he and his crew could get the whole thing done in four or five days it was hard to believe.” Scott See RUSTAD PATIO Page 2
By K irsten Zoellner kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com
For newlyweds Jason and Alyssa Aylsworth, of Fountain, their dream home is nearing a reality and despite its old-world background, it’s anything other than conventional. The couple is just weeks away from embarking on the raising of their timber frame home. “We enjoy being a bit different/unique so we knew we didn’t want just any old house that you see every day, says the couple. “We also knew we didn’t want the high maintenance of a log home so we found this to be a perfect fit for us. It allowed us to do a completely customer design, get a cozy rustic feel we like and minimal maintenance.” Timber frame homes evoke the feel of ancient barns with spanning arches, mortise-andtenon joinery, and wooden pegs. Strong, and intricate in framework, the homes eliminate the need for the standard boxing of interior walls making the space open and an architectural work of art. “We were stuck between building a timber frame house versus a log house and timber frame won out,” adds Alyssa. “The timber frame house is constructed much like how
old barns were constructed. The frame fits together like a giant puzzle. All of the timbers remain exposed on the interior of the home.” From start to finish, timber frame homes can take anywhere from 10 to 18 months to complete. With the planning process beginning over a year ago, the Aylsworths have planned for a timeframe somewhere between 6-12 months for construction. On average, it takes at least two months just for the timber to be cut and delivered. The framing is already waiting at the Aylsworth site and the couple is anticipating beginning on raising the frame in September and October. “Being it is a completely custom home that we planned out from scratch, it took a significant amount of time to come up with a layout that we liked as well as one that was structurally possible,” says Jason. Getting the site right was part practicality and part sentimentality, as it was also the location of the couple’s September 2015 wedding. Even before the project officially got underway though, the site was presenting challenges. On a hillside overlooking the See AYLSWORTH Page 4
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