Photos courtesy Boyer Building Corporation
Just prior to getting married, Mari Becker fell in love: This time, with a rescue dog. Not just any dog—but a Chinese crested powderpuff. Although all rescues are special, these puffs have heightened significance for Becker: Before her father passed away, he told her to get her mother a dog. It was, of course, a rescue puff. She also gifted one of her friends with a rescue puff as well.
Now, Becker and her husband are on their own second generation of puffs. “My husband has a grown son, but these dogs are really our ‘kids’ right now,” she says. “We make our home as comfortable as we can to give them the best lives and make caring for them easy for us.”
They now live in a 3,817-square-foot, farmhouse-style, dog-friendly home in Wayzata, designed and built by Boyer Building Corporation. It’s the second home they’ve built with Boyer. Their brief was straightforward: “a quiet house on a quiet one-acre lot,” Becker says, “with all kinds of things in the house to make it comfortable for the little dogs.”
Inside the home, the main floor’s mudroom and laundry room is “home” to the puffs. Here, the floor is heated. Doggie coats are hung on hooks. There’s a Lazy Susan with treats. Medications—some of the dogs have special needs—are kept and dispensed in an orderly manner. Custom built-in kennels (which can be easily removed or replaced with laundry baskets) are tucked beneath a counter.
The downstairs bathroom includes a grooming station where Becker does all of her own dog grooming. After learning how to groom her first puff, then taking on the grooming for her mother’s and friend’s dogs, she decided taking on the task was cost effective. Her grooming station includes an automated table that has already paid off, she reports.
With a simple gray, white, and black color palette and wood accents throughout, the home is a sophisticated country style with open-plan living for ease and simplicity. The home also orients to the backyard.
A screen porch with Phantom Screens that block UV light gives the puffs access to the backyard when the homeowners are gardening. The property also has two dog-runs: one under a roof with indoor/outdoor carpet and infrared heating; the other with artificial turf, a hydrant, and a larger landscaped area.
The couple dedicated a large portion of their backyard to native plants to benefit the birds, bees, and butterflies, Becker says. A cute shed in the back holds the bicycles, materials, and tools for an array of projects.
When she’s not volunteering at Safe Hands Animal Rescue, she’s busy enjoying her Boyer-built home with her dogs. “This house is just right for us,” she says. “We’re casual people, homebodies, who really love their dogs.”
