Brandon family adds slide to new home

By: 
Jill Meier, Journal editor

Michael and Jessica share in the fun of the slide they put inside their home. Michael said the slide was added for joking reasons, but he has the attitude that life is too short not to have fun.

 

Michael and Jessica Gross’ home on the city’s eastside has many features, including Smart Home Technology and outdoor amenities, such as an in-ground pool and natural-gas supplied firepit

 

When Michael and Jessica Gross told their friends they were putting a two-story slide in their new home, they received many puzzling looks.

“It was a joke, honestly, is what it came down to,” Michael says. “If anybody knows me and my personality, life is too short to do anything too serious.”

The Grosses say the house has become a popular topic of discussion – and a tradition – when guests arrive. 

“It’s fun when people come over. The kids immediately go to the slide and adults are like, ‘um, no’ but it’s now a tradition when you come to our house.”

While the slide came with a lot of challenges, Michael said the rest of the build largely flowed smoothly. And the rest of the build is quite something. The five-bedroom, five-bathroom home features Smart Home Technology in the appliances, some of the blinds, the home and garage doors and more.

“We did the cool appliances, like the double oven, which is important for me cooking,” says Michael, who is the cook in the Gross home. 

All of the appliances and other gadgets are paired to their cell phones, which allow them to start the dishwasher or see what’s in the fridge for supper. 

The kitchen features white cabinets, white subway backsplash, under cabinet lighting and quartz and granite countertops. The same colors were matched in their basement bar, with the exception the cabinets are white and gray and feature an alligator texture granite countertop.

A three-stall, heated garage, outfitted with 14-foot ceiling height, are also part of the smart home technology the home has. Michael also recently constructed a loft storage, where the garage heater is hidden.

The 14-foot ceilings were intentional.

“I wanted no slope on the driveway, so I lowered everything down to get a flat driveway,” said Michael, who is a Realtor.

It’s from his work that the Gross’ spied many of these features they wanted to include in their new home. One of those features is the sprinkler system that’s tagged to an app and divides the lawn into zones.

“Each zone tells how much moisture is in the ground, so if it’s too went, it will not water in that zone,” he said, noting water conservation.

With technology comes frustrations, but Michael said their young brood has easily adapted to.

“The biggest frustration that we have is our kids are smarter than us. The little boys have found out they can watch YouTube on the refrigerator screen while they eat their breakfast,” he said.

The basement features a bar and game room, a bedroom and bathroom, a closet dedicated to Legos, the media room and walkout access to the backyard, where there is a natural gas-supplied firepit. The in-ground pool is in and the pool shed is under construction. Just shy of 500 feet of fencing has yet to go in around their backyard.

Four of the bedrooms are on the second floor, and tucked in the back of the boys’ closets are passageways that connect their rooms.

“Jessica was very insistent that in their rooms they have a tunnel so they can get to each other’s rooms,” Michael said.

Each floor of the home has its own zone for heating and all of the bathrooms have heated floors. The master bath is also outfitted with sauna, a huge walk-in shower and double sinks. Just outside the master bedroom is the second-floor laundry complete with a beer fridge.

Just off of the main floor living room, which features one of two gas-supplied fireplaces, is an elevated nook for reading books.

Being in the real estate business, Michael said he watched prices and if he spied a good deal, he bought it, thus avoiding delays in their seven-month build process.

The Gross family selected a lot on the city’s east side. It has close access to the forthcoming elementary school. 

“My kids are half way through school, and so this in a sense, is an investment. The market is strong and a home of this caliber that’s close to a school, it’s gone. I don’t collect anything, I’m not into anything. We take vacations and we hang at home,” he said.

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The Brandon Valley Journal

 

The Brandon Valley Journal
1404 E. Cedar St.
Brandon, SD 57005
(605) 582-9999

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