A few weeks into building her family’s forever home, Jessica Rhoades felt inspired to share the journey. So she grabbed her smartphone, started recording videos, and created a YouTube channel called Rhoades Ridge Farm.
There, Jessica chronicles the experience of building and living in her family’s custom Halsted home. She starts just six weeks in at the framing stage, continuing all the way until her family’s first Christmas, 10 months after they moved in.
For Jessica, sharing the journey mirrors how she sees her home. “I wanted to grow with it,” she said. It’s also a chance to help others see that building a custom home is more attainable than they may think, especially if they partner with the right builder.
“That’s the great thing about Schumacher,” she said. “They have fantastic homes for every budget. You can look at their plans and consider things you could upgrade in the future but you still get the great structural piece of mind. That’s what sold us on using them.”
Framing and Drywall Stages
The video series starts at the completion of the framing stage. The focus quickly draws toward the biggest customization Jessica and her husband made, their two-story great room. It’s all the more powerful because it came by subtraction, not addition.
“We actually took some square footage away, believe it or not, because this plan does not traditionally have an open-style great room,” Jessica said. To open up the great room vertically, the Rhoades removed one of the Halsted’s upstairs bedrooms, along with the loft. In doing so, they transformed the look and feel of the original Halsted plan.
To start, two rows of large windows look out onto a backyard bordered by mature trees. Beside the windows rises the framing of what will become a two-story fireplace. But the most eye-catching feature, even at the framing stage, is the catwalk. It spans the length of the great room as it leads from a turned staircase to two upstairs bedrooms.
As she tours the framing, Jessica shares how their dream home almost didn’t happen. Originally, she and her husband targeted the Madison house plan, but couldn’t get the budget to work with the customizations they wanted. But then their New Home Consultant at the Schumacher Homes Cincinnati office stepped in and showed them how they could accomplish something similar with the Halsted.
“The Halsted was a nice compromise to get us as close to the Madison as possible while staying within our budget,” Jessica said. “That’s a testament to our NHC, Aric. We never would have thought to look at this plan.”
Check out the framing stage video, then take a look at the drywall stage video.
Paint and Trim Stages
The Rhoades’ forever home takes a big leap forward in the paint and trim stage videos, starting with Jessica giving the first full view of the exterior. Moving inside, Jessica shows us the freshly painted interior. “We ended up going with Useful Grey,” Jessica said. “Especially with all the windows, it makes the space feel more airy,” Jessica said.
But it’s at the trim stage where the interior shows its strongest definition yet. A second coat of paint, along with more detailing such as the staircase bannister and catwalk railing, show us how the Rhoades envisioned the great room. We also get to see the floors for the first time as Jessica pulls back some of the protective cardboard to reveal the Arcadia laminate flooring.
Beyond the paint and trim, Jessica brings our attention to the newly installed kitchen cabinets. In doing so, another noteworthy customization comes into fuller view, the generous kitchen bump-out. The bump-out gives the family space for a dining area. It also has a door leading into the backyard, creating a nice flow between the kitchen and outdoors that will help the Rhoades entertain family and friends.
See the paint stage video here, followed by the trim stage video.
Final Walk-through
On the final walk-through, Jessica offers the most in-depth look at their custom Halsted home yet. Starting with cedar posts on the front porch, she tours nearly every room while detailing the selections she and her husband made.
In the finished kitchen, for instance, Jessica calls attention to the countertops. She offers a piece of advice for others when planning the kitchen of their custom homes. “Bring your sample,” she said, referring to a countertop sample. “Or see if you can have a sample to bring to the home to find out what that looks like with your paint color.”
Jessica then brings us to the mudroom, giving viewers more insight into her thought process as she envisioned her family’s forever home. Since they’ll live in the country with their kids, they opted to go with standard linoleum. “It’s gonna be muddy for quite some time. I did not want tile right now, believe it or not,” she said.
From there, Jessica swings by the two-car garage on her way to the master bedroom and bath. Then she heads upstairs to show us the other bedrooms, pausing to look at the upgraded carpet covering the stairs and catwalk. As she views the upstairs, she again goes further into why she and her husband chose the customizations they did.
“This is our forever home. Our kids aren’t tiny, they’re going to be out of the house sooner than later, so we were OK with not having the original loft space that came with the Halsted, or the fourth bedroom,” she said. “We wanted a more modern, open look, which is what this catwalk gave us. We’re really, really pleased with the outcome.”
Of course, Jessica couldn’t account for everything. “I love to decorate. But I’ve never had this much wall space, especially wall space with height,” she said.
Check out the final walk-through video here.
Christmas in the Halsted
Ten months after moving in, Jessica graciously invites viewers to share in her family’s first Christmas in their new home. The two-story great room comes alive with lights and garland running up the turned staircase. But the main focal point is a 12’ Christmas tree placed by the fireplace, its full height reflected by the great room’s two rows of large windows.
A smaller Christmas tree recreates the effect in the kitchen bump-out. And speaking of all those holiday lights, Jessica offers a tip - make sure to consider extra outlets in the walls, she said.
See the Rhoades’ Christmas in the Halsted video here.
We at Schumacher Homes feel honored to have been part of the Rhoades’ journey to their forever home. We’re also grateful to Jessica for being so generous in sharing how her family continues growing with their home. And like you, we can’t wait for more videos.
About Schumacher Homes
Schumacher Homes, based in Canton, Ohio, is America’s largest custom homebuilder, with operations in 32 markets in 14 states across the country. The National Housing Quality award winning company has built over 19,000 homes, customized to fit each family’s lifestyle, since its founding by Paul Schumacher in 1992. Schumacher Homes takes each customer’s inspiration and gives it a home. Each Schumacher Homes location includes a one-stop shopping design studio and showcase homes displaying the latest in architectural and product trends. Stop in today, be inspired and receive your no obligation price quote.