Bringing the Comfort of Home Outdoors

Butte County’s climate is difficult to beat. Between traditionally mild winters, warm summers, and an average of 300 days without rain each year, it’s a veritable mecca for lovers of the great outdoors. A quick survey would likely confirm that most of us moved here—or decided to stay— specifically for that reason. The climate here was certainly one of the most attractive features when Scott and Michelle Hanosh began searching for a new home. It also ended up being a driving factor in their eventual decision to move.

Originally from New Mexico, both Scott and Michelle grew up enchanted with the outdoors. “I always wanted to be a professional golfer.” Scott laughed, “When I finally realized I’d never be good enough to go pro, I decided to try my hand at school instead. I completed my undergrad in Omaha and thought I wanted to go to medical school, but I realized my true calling was elsewhere. I always knew I wanted to be in the healthcare field and work with my hands—I’ve always enjoyed tedious work like that. Someone suggested dental school, and it seemed like the perfect fit. So, I shifted gears, worked my way through dental school, and I’ve been a dentist ever since.”

In 1990, Scott received an offer from his uncle to join his practice in Northern California. The allure of a great opportunity coupled with some of the best weather an outdoorsy couple could ask for was too great to pass up, so he and Michelle packed up and moved to their new home in Paradise. He worked there for 12 years before opening his dental practice in 2002, and the two continued living and working there until the Camp Fire took their home and upended their business in 2018.

“Everything changed overnight.” Scott remembered, “Our house burned down, but our dental practice didn’t. We began looking for a new home and operating out of two offices for a year to manage the ever-changing landscape. It was stressful, to say the least.” Michelle continued, “It was so unexpected, and it was very difficult. After we lost our home in Paradise, we took the time to find a house that was right for us. I have to say we lucked out in finding the one we did. It ended up being the perfect place for us.”

Tucked away on the west side of Chico, the home truly was a dream come true. “There were so many things about the house that were just right for us.” Michelle said, “The main house was beautiful, but there was also a second home that allowed us to invite my mother to live right next door to us. A studio in the back gave Scott a mancave all his own, and the property as a whole was just full of places to enjoy!” The backyard was one of those places. Spacious, vibrant, and picturesque, its value to the home couldn’t be overstated. Michelle continued, “We loved the backyard so much that we wanted to find a way to spend more time enjoying all it had to offer. We figured a pergola would be the perfect addition to let us enjoy the backyard year-round, so we began looking at options.”

Scott recalled, “We had this little cantilever umbrella that hung over the space, but it didn’t provide much. For years, we talked about doing a pergola, and I had seen one at one of the homes on Canyon Oaks Golf Course that I loved. It had a flat louvered roof, and I just thought it was so cool. We knew we wanted a pergola that would be low-maintenance, and we didn’t want to go with wood that we would require painting each year. We started looking around and Patio Pros was the company that we just kept seeing over and over again, whether in advertisements or actual projects around town. We really liked their structures and the wide variety of options they offered; the pergola I saw at Canyon Oaks happened to be one of their creations as well. It just became really clear that they were the way to go.”

As it turned out, Michelle already knew Laura Eckstrom, who happened to be a member of the Patio Pros team. “I’ve known Laura since she was little.” Michelle said, “I reached out to her and asked if they could do our pergola and perhaps a couple of other projects we had on our property. She said they could do them all and sent her husband, Ben, over to our house to go over our ideas. Once we met him, we knew they just had the whole package.”

Ben and his team discussed options with Scott and Michelle, visited the site several times, and drew up a few plan variations before landing on a towering 21’6 x 22’ custom aluminum pergola. The structure utilized a free-standing Equinox louvered roof system with a pitched gable allowing for some incredible features—each bringing an added level of excitement and comfort to the Hanosh home. To say they’re thrilled with the result would be an understatement.

Scott mused, “As a dentist, we can be finicky. We want things to look perfect, and we’ll spend hours making sure things are done the way they should be. When they finished the project, I just remember saying, ‘Wow, this is exactly how I pictured it.’ One of the things I appreciated most was that this wasn’t some type of boilerplate thing; they customized the entire structure to exactly what we wanted. We would throw an idea out, and Ben would say, ‘Sure, it might take a little work, but we’ll make it happen.’ They were able to make it whatever height we wanted, found a way to engineer it so it didn’t interfere with the view of our palm trees, and made sure it had every possible feature we could have wanted. I’m a tech geek, so I just love every single part of it.”

The pergola truly is full of features. The louvered roof opens and closes to whatever angle the Hanoshes wish at the touch of a button. There are electrical outlets on all four posts along with warm lighting throughout and a center fan that works similar to a whole house fan, quickly exhausting any hot air trapped under the pergola. An automated sunscreen can even be lowered electronically to block the setting sun or raised to provide an open view of the backyard. Michelle’s one ask was that she would never have to worry about rain under the pergola, and this was accomplished by a hidden system of channels and gutters that quickly remove rainwater from the structure during a storm. Best of all, the structure was designed for easy add-ons, such as additional sunscreens or even a projector and movie screen for entertaining.

“They’re just such hard workers.” Michelle said of the team at Patio Pros, “They have great people working in their office who truly care about their customers, and they go out of their way—above and beyond—to make sure their clients are happy. I can’t imagine working with anyone different.” Scott continued, “I appreciate Ben’s interest, as a business owner, in doing something beyond the usual scope—something that’s a little bit different. He took everything as a new challenge and delivered on every single one. He was out here every day making sure everything was done right, and since everything was custom-made for this project, there wasn’t any room for error. His attention to detail ensured there weren’t any do-overs, and that meant a lot to me. I love the structure so much that I can see us having another one built over by our pool.”

Scott and Michelle were so happy with the pergola, they asked Ben and his team to complete two other projects on their property as well—a giant sunscreen for

Michelle’s mom’s house and a craftsmanstyle addition to the front of their own. “My mom’s place has this cool glass garage door that brings the outdoors into the main living space. It’s really something, but it exposed the inside of the house to the street. Ben and his team designed this incredible electronic shade that descends over the garage door to cover it completely, allowing her to see out, but blocking anyone from seeing in. When she wants full lighting, she can just raise it electronically and even retract the garage door. It looks incredible, and she just loves it! The craftsman-style addition to the front of the house allowed us to finally pull the space together. We couldn’t be more thrilled with the work they did for us, and you can be sure we’ll be recommending them to everyone we know!”

If you’re like the Hanoshes and looking to make the most out of your outdoor living space, Patio Pros can help! They can be found online at www.patiopros.com. Here, you’ll find contact information, testimonials, photo galleries, and plenty of information about their services. Check out their Instagram profile @patioproschico and Facebook profile at FB.com/PatioPros to see some amazing patio transformations and start planning your new outdoor space today. As Scott and Michelle will be the first to tell you, it’ll be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.