A Brief History - 25 Years in the Making
Early in 2005, Rick Harrison Site Design Studio was working with a land developer outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan on the layout of a new residential community. At the same time, Douglas DeHaan and his design/build team were creating plans for a new home for the land developer. As the developer received the preliminary land plan from Rick Harrison, he saw Rick's trademark pattern of coved homesites and a higher density cluster of homesites designated as Bayhome sites. Intrigued by the promised density of the Bayhomes, the developer asked Douglas to review the land plan and to sketch some floor plan and elevation concepts.
When Rick Harrison came to town to present the preliminary plan to the township planning commission, Rick saw the sketches that Douglas had produced. "I could see that Douglas understood what we were striving for with the Bayhome layout. His sketches showed a pleasant, inviting streetscape and the floor plans took advantage of the viewscapes inherent in a Bayhome community."
Rick invited Douglas to travel Minneapolis with the promise that he would introduce Douglas to several developers in the Twin Cities area who were at various stages of implementing Rick's land plans.
The hallmark of an entrepreneur is recognizing an opportunity when it is presented. Within weeks of receiving Rick's invitation, Douglas had recruited Dan Henrickson as a partner in the new venture that they named Homescape Communities. A short time later as the company started to take shape, Scott Kammeraad joined the team as a third partner. Homescape Communities was rebranded as Homescape Design Group. Over the ensuing months, the company fleshed out its first several Bayhome, Cove Home and duplex plans. And what started as a simple set of drawings on a sketch pad has mushroomed into a robust plan library with developer clients all around the US.
We invite you to learn more about the players behind Homescape Design Group.
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Douglas DeHaan
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Douglas DeHaan grew up in the design/build business. His great grandfather originally established the company in 1926 that would eventually bear the family name. DeHaan Homes was known from the start for superior Dutch craftsmanship and workmanship.
Douglas began working in the family business at a very young age. Through more than 25 years field experience, he has gained invaluable knowledge of best practices in homebuilding. Through the years Douglas has also reviewed thousands of house plans."Good residential design is always a compromise between art and science. I have worked with many creative designers and architects who seem to have very little sensitivity to the buildability or the financial consequences of their design choices. Don't get me wrong - I love good design, but it has to fit within the budgetary constraints of a project. I believe that it is the builder's role to help the client to establish those financial boundaries.
"Since I bought out my father in 1996, DeHaan Homes has evolved to become a unique homebuilding operation. We provide our clients with the most detailed and comprehensive cost estimates of any builder around. We operate a talented design and estimating team that fleshes out every detail of a project. I like to say that we'll find the fly poop in the pepper when we dig into a plan."
The residential design practice in DeHaan Homes complemented by the architectural practice of True North Architecture provides the nucleus of Homescape's design team. Every plan to emerge from the Homescape design team undergoes a rigorous review process for both aesthetics and buildability. Douglas DeHaan's years of construction experience are an invaluable resource in this process.
In addition to the homebuilding and design businesses, DeHaan previously owned a majority interest in an interior design and high-end cabinetry shop called Spaces Unlimited. Says Doug, "We made a substantial investment in in-house design services and product showcases because we wanted to offer our clients a completely coordinated experience. When you're trying to pull together a bunch of independent resources each trying to protect and expand their piece of a design/build project, the client inevitably gets squeezed. With our in-house approach, we've been able to prove that the custom design/build process doesn't have to be stressful or inefficient. Our clients would readily endorse this claim."
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Dan Henrickson
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Dan Henrickson's True North Architecture, Construction and Investments is one of the premier commercial architectural and development practices in West Michigan. Dan started True North after earning his masters degree in architecture from the University of Michigan. Over the years, Dan and his True North colleagues have designed dozens of high profile retail and office buildings as well as multi-family and single-family residential. Dan is licensed as an architect in seven states.In addition to his talent as a designer (elevations are his specialty), Dan brings a disciplined approach to business management and an entrepreneurial drive to Homescape.
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Scott Kammeraad
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Scott Kammeraad is the marketing and technology partner within the Homescape management team. Scott has been a software entrepreneur most of his career since he earned his MBA from the University of Virginia in 1985. In the mid 90s, Scott started a company called DigiDox that focused on a new publishing technology developed by Adobe Systems called PDF. Eventually, Scott and his partners sold their company to Adobe. Subsequently, Scott started another company called Home Ensemble that combined his aptitude for software with his love for residential design and construction. Home Ensemble provided enabling technology for homebuilders and developers to organize and promote options and upgrades through a web-based software interface.
Scott is the primary account manager for all Homescape clients.
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