Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021

St. Jude DREAM HOME

Like a lot of us during the pandemic, Bossier City’s Kady Beth Gould had some extra time on her hands.

“I was bored sitting at the house, so I took videos and pictures of what I had done and posted them on my social media,” Gould said.

What she “had done” was decorate Before her and her husband’s new house – using what she learned while earning a fashion merchandising degree from the University of Arkansas.

“I had a lot of feedback as far as ‘Hey, when Covid’s over and the pandemic ends, can you come decorate my house? I love your style!’”

Gould’s style has led to her own business – Kady Beth Design. It’s also led to her first year as the interior decorator for the KTBS 3/St. Jude Dream Home.

“I was ecstatic,” Gould said of her reaction when Dream Home builder Philip Rodgers – who also built the Goulds’ house – asked for her services. “Growing up in Bossier and going to it every year, I’ve always admired it. To be asked to do it was an incredible honor. The fact of what it’s for, and the purpose of it, makes it so much sweeter.”

The 31st Shreveport-Bossier Dream Home is to be given away Sept. 15 from 6-7 p.m. on KTBS-TV. The showcase home is at 4746 Old Brownlee Road in Bossier’s Canal Place subdivision. Tickets, which are sold out, were $100. Money raised goes to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

“We, as a community, have given more than $36 million to St. Jude,” said Jan Elkins, community projects director at KTBS. “Nationwide, with this same project, they have raised more than $400 million. For it all to have started at our station, with (station manager) George Sirven and (station owner) Edwin Wray having the conversation with (St. Jude Dream Home founder) Dr. (Donald) Mack, then to see it grow as much as it has, has been really humbling and rewarding at the same time.”

Approximately 3,250 square feet in size, this year’s two-story home has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and a bonus room. Its estimated value is $550,000.

“In years past, from my perspective,” Gould said, “the house has been pretty modern as far as color schemes and décor, with very vibrant, beautiful colors. Just to kind of do something a little bit different, I went with a more timeless look for the house. My whole goal was if you want to move in this house and you have two boys or two girls or no kids at all, how is this going to suit you? I tried to keep it very timeless – clean lines, very gender-neutral in the extra bathrooms and bedrooms – just to kind of suit whomever.”

To get that timeless look, Gould did not venture too far out on the color wheel spectrum.

“My favorite color to use is White Dove by Benjamin-Moore,” Gould said. “It’s a creamy white. It’s very bright and vibrant, but it’s not really sterile. It’s very inviting and creates a cozy space without it being too bright white. That’s kind of the foundation of the walls. The color scheme is white, with a little bit of blues and greens. I kept it traditional by doing wallpaper throughout the house in certain areas. The backsplash, a lot of it, is this new line that’s glass. That’s something different. The kitchen backsplash is kind of a pottery style.”

The Rodgers family – first George, and for the past several years, his son, Philip – has built every KTBS 3/St. Jude Dream Home. The homes aren’t always the same, but they aren’t always different, either.

“We want to change it up a little bit, so it’s not the same thing,” said Jenny Rodgers with Rodgers Homes and Construction. “We can tweak that with design and flooring choices and things like that. We’re not reinventing the wheel every year, for the most part. It’s what people buy and want in their homes: Open floor plans, a big, spacious master bath. Those things work, so we include those components in the design of the house.

This year’s Dream Home giveaway is a few weeks later than usual.

“We were afraid that, honestly, we would give it away and the house wouldn’t even be painted had we kept the original giveaway time,” Rodgers said. “The first three months of this year, it rained. Normally, we would have started way earlier, but there was just no way possible to build a foundation or even get on the lot with equipment.”

And then there were problems most everyone who has built a home in recent months – or is building one now – have dealt with.

“We have had issues with supply, as far as lumber prices were crazy,” Rodgers said. “Materials are hard to come by. Now, we’ve got delays on appliances in some places with other homes we are building. Different products aren’t arriving at the vendors in time to get to us, because of Covid.”

“Another thing,” Rodgers said. “The subs (sub-contractors) are so busy working on all the houses because there is a huge real estate boom right now. It’s hard for them to come over to us, because they’ve got so much other work to do.”

One thing that makes each year’s Dream Home special is that so many businesses donate their product, services or time to building the home.

“I would say 90 percent of what we get is either discounted or given to us,” Rodgers said.

“We have $30,000 worth of cabinets in the house this year and in a lot of years,” Rodgers said, “from Mike Willett at Builders Custom Cabinets. He has donated, for years and years and years, a hundred percent.”

“Our electrician, G&S Electric, they show up every year for the last three or four years,” Rodgers said, “and they have a day where all of their people are at our house putting the wiring in – roughing it in – getting it ready so sheetrock can be put in … They give it 100 percent. They do not charge us a dime for it.”

The generosity of local business owners is fueled by their desire to help sick children get well.

“I think they believe in what they are doing and the bigger picture of what St. Jude is doing,” Rodgers said. “They, just like us, see the pictures and watch the videos (St. Jude) sends out. You know lives are being saved there, and they know that. They’ve been around patients at different events we’ve had in the past. They’ve seen these kids that get another shot at life because of St. Jude. I think it just means so much to them. They pride they have for it is just beautiful. It’s amazing to see.”

To learn more about the KTBS 3/St. Jude Dream Home, you may visit www.ktbs.com. Click the “Community” tab, then “Featured Projects.”