Out of the Ordinary

Peek inside stunning, multi-generational homes and what inspires Mike Klein to build them

WORDS BY JELENA BOJIC PHOTOGRAPHY BY TATYANA SEMENOVA

Every single house that Mike Klein builds is designed to take your breath away. From grand aesthetics and functionality, to quality of materials...even the electrical rooms are state of the art. For this

Saskatchewan-born man, work ethics came with his DNA. Growing up on a farm and working hard physically from a young age, Mike still works long, 16-hour days. But he doesn’t consider it ‘working’ – it’s his life work, his pride and accomplishments and his eyes light up when he talks about his beginnings, how he built the career and reputation of Stellar Homes.

In those rare moments when Mike is not working, he can be found with his 2½ year-old grandson, Lucas, or playing Dean Martin vinyl records and working on his car collection. If you’re looking for advice on how to build a successful business, Mike will tell you these three things: work hard, provide exceptional quality and listen to understand.

Growing up on a farm in Saskatchewan as one of 14 kids, what skills did you gain that helped you start and operate a successful business today? Getting up early to do chores prior to going to school was just part of the program. So, milking the cows, feeding the cattle, pigs and chickens was a daily early-morning and after-school event. There was no, I am not feeling good, skip the chores day option. I learned carpentry skills early on in life.

I remember my Dad sending my younger brother and me up onto the roof of the barn to strip the shingles and re-roof. Not at all uncommon, however, my younger brother and I were 11 and 12 years of age at the time. So I guess to answer your question about what skills I developed? To put it into a few words, it was to work hard.

Your favourite thing about farm life? The peacefulness of the open country. The smell of the fresh country air. The tranquility of the farm after a hard day’s work. Despite the hard work, there was a calmness through it all. It’s hard to explain but when we go home to visit, I really miss the peacefulness of it all. My wife Carla and I will jump in the side x side and tour the crops and are drawn back in to see the deer and moose in

the meadows, the pheasants scurrying out of the brush and the ducks in the sloughs. Stellar Homes is not your typical home builder. You have two branches: one that’s focused on custom, residential ‘forever homes’, and one that’s focused on building commercial buildings, strip malls etc. How do these two go hand in hand? From a residential perspective, it has allowed us to bring in some commercial practices to our homes, be it structural or design, and product applications. This has allowed us to offer outside of the box

construction practices for our residential clients.

Your reputation precedes you; you are known for building ‘forever homes’, and never cutting any corners. How do you describe your work? Thank you for that. I guess if I had to say it in a few short words – pure passion. It’s the excitement of bringing someone’s dream home to fruition.

Delivering on goals and objectives set by yourself can be challenging and requires a high level of discipline. What does that process look like for you, and what advice would you give to entrepreneurs and startups today? Keep one eye on the end goal and the other focused on the task at hand. When obstacles come

up, you focus on the solution and work your way through it or around it. To answer the second part of your question, decide who your market is. Once you know that, find out what it takes to be the best you can at it. If you fail, get back up and find an

alternative approach, one that has the successful path forward.

Most rewarding part of your work is…? Seeing our customers’ faces when we do our final walk-thru and hand them their keys.

You build custom homes that are often meant to accommodate multigenerational families. Do you see that trend impacting the future of home building? I believe this part of the market has always existed and that’s one of the reasons I have focused on

that aspect of the market. And yes, I see that trend continuing and growing in the years to come.

Longevity is one way to describe your relationship with the team and contractors at Stellar Homes. What is your recipe for building meaningful and strong partnerships at work? No real secret...engage with the Trades that have the same vision and passion that Stellar Homes has.

I really enjoyed hearing about your restaurant endeavor, and would love for you to share the story of how you and your wife became owners of a Sorrentino’s restaurant in Genesis On The Lakes. Well that’s a long story, so I will try to give you the ‘Coles notes’. My wife, Carla and I lived in the Wolf Willow subdivision in the west end of Edmonton for about 2 years. We frequently visited the west end Sorrentino’s at the same time I was building out the commercial area at Genesis On The Lakes in Stony Plain. With that residential aspect in mind, I envisioned a quality restaurant and lounge for the area residents. And what could be a better fit than

Sorrentino’s?! When I asked Carmelo, (Rago, the owner of Sorrentino’s Restaurant Group), if I could bring their franchise to Stony Plain, his comment was, it is a family owned business. I looked at him and said, “My wife and I have been coming to your west end restaurant 2 to 3 days a week for the past 7 years – are we not family?” And the rest is history.

With so much going on, it’s hard to imagine you have any free time! But when you do, what is your favourite thing to do? Number one is spending time with my grandson Lucas – whether it be fishing, learning and teaching life skills, or simply coloring with him. Secondly, spending time working on my vehicles in my car collection, all the while listening to my vinyl record collection.

Tell us what your top three luxury items are to have in a new home? For me it is a steam shower, a well laid out butler’s pantry and finally, a quality coffee bar with a cappuccino coffee machine. www.stellarhomes.ca