About

Welcome to Building Beyeler Hollow! 

"You have to be crazy to build." That was our mindset as recently as a year ago. We'd been looking for a house on land for several years and kept coming up empty. We had a pretty long list of requirements: five bedrooms, master on main level, 10 plus acres, craft studio for Mandy, walk out basement, able to shoot off the deck, etc. We went through several houses that were close, but none that were perfect.

Then one day Mandy's parents, Steve and Kim, suggested that we visit a 60 acre farm that was for sale near their home. We were hesitant, since the house on the property was a two bedroom, one bath ranch that was much too small for our needs. But we went and looked just the same. After walking back behind the house and getting to the literal "back 40", we fell in love with the land. We knew our house needed to sit at the top of that hill and overlook the valley, surrounded by trees on all four sides.

We got into talks with Steve and Kim and ultimately decided to go in together and buy the farm. Steve and Kim would purchase it. We'd work together with Clay County to split it up into four lots, and we'd buy the lot that felt perfect for us. It also helped that my brother and sister-in-law fell in love with one of the lots as well, and will be our future backdoor neighbors.

We were able to start and finish this project in a little over one year due to the flexible work lifestyle we enjoy. At the time, I was working full-time at an amazing electrical contractor. I was able to take a few months off to focus on the house building. We still enjoyed a income during this time due to our amazing home-based business, Sugar Bee Bling, where we sell amazing $5 Paparazzi Jewelry. We have owned this business since 2011 and were working it part-time for several years before transitioning to full-time with both of us working it. You can read more about our journey as a Paparazzi Independent Consultant here.