Submitted photo
Michael Byrnes stands in front of the house he built by himself on McCorkle Avenue.
Man
builds house by himself
Builder perseveres amid years of adversity 14 | DISTINCTIVE PROPERTIES
JESSE DUARTE jduarte@sthelenastar.com
C
onstruction projects tend to be drawn out and full of unpleasant surprises, but Michael Byrnes’ St. Helena dream house set a new bar. He lost his mother, his construction loan was almost canceled, he caught a nasty case of COVID-19, he suffered two potentially life-threatening falls, construction took more than two years, and he had to do most of the work by himself. Byrnes says if he’d known what an ordeal it was going to be, his reaction would have been, “Yeah right, I’m out of here.” However, he overcame every obstacle one by one and is now proudly living in the house with his wife, Shavonna Kelley. Byrnes bought the small lot at the end of McCorkle Avenue in 2018. He secured Planning Commission approval to demolish the existing house and replace it with a 1,372-square-foot house of his own design. Byrnes has an extensive background in architecture, carpentry, construction management, financial consultancy for contractors, and design/build contracting. His goal was to design a modest farmhouse — no garage — that would fit into the surrounding neighborhood so neatly that it could pass for a remodel instead of a new house. November 2021
