M/I Homes – Dallas: 5-Time Builder of the Year
One homeowner brought one-of-a-kind to life inside the walls of this new home with an unconventional space that perfectly marries the amenities of the surrounding area with his own passions to create a space like no other at Hollyhock in Frisco.
Can you envision the luxury of living in a community that backs up to the new PGA Golf Headquarters and Omni Resort? One happy homeowner converted his home’s garage to a golf lesson space! Read Brad’s story below.
1. What drew you to the Frisco area and how did you initially decide you wanted to build with M/I Homes at Hollyhock?
What drew us to Frisco initially was the new PGA of America headquarters. Once we found out that our daughter would have practice privileges at the facility when she reached high school in FISD, we began our home search.
After walking through the model home and meeting Diane [New Home Consultant], we knew instantly that this is where we wanted to move our family to!
2. Were there any special memories that stood out during your home building process?
Building our dream home during the pandemic started off as being scary for many reasons. Quickly, however, this home became our happy place.
We probably drove over from Allen to just look at the building process over 100 times during the course of construction. Diane was always so positive and happy, and we just felt like we lived here months before the home was even finished being built.
3. What is your absolute favorite feature of your home?
This home is our dream home, and with so many design aspects in this house that we love it’s so hard to pick a favorite.
The golf instructor in me would have to say that the backyard space for our putting green is my favorite feature, but the husband in me would have to say that the amazing flow and open feel of our home is what drew us to this layout right off the bat. Every day I wake up I pinch myself remembering that this is OUR home.
4. Can you tell us a little about your background with golf and why that was important to incorporate into your new home?
I have loved the game of golf for the past 31 years. In 1998 I began teaching the game and have a real passion for helping people, especially junior golfers.
For about 12 years I was a celebrity golf entertainer. I would perform trick shot and long drive shows at celebrity charity golf tournaments and fundraise for their amazing foundations.
I would still be doing it today if not for a lifelong back disease that forced me into retirement 6 years ago.
Thankfully, I am able to teach full time and give back to the game by hopefully teaching and mentoring kids, many of which are my neighbors right here in Hollyhock!
5. What inspired you to convert your garage to a golf lesson space?
I have had an indoor training facility for a few years now and with the crazy Texas weather this one in our garage has been a blessing. We knew even before we built this house that we would want to convert the garage to my teaching facility so I could teach from home.
My wife and two daughters are my entire world, and being able to work from home and see them in between lessons is worth its weight in gold for me.
6. How long did the process take and how did you go about transforming that space?
The "Champions Lab," as I refer to it, is an ever-evolving space, as I am always trying to make small improvements.
However, to make it functional for golf purposes took about 6 weeks. We raised the ceiling in the hitting area about 18 inches so my students wouldn't feel crammed and then sealed the 2 door garage with insulation to help keep the cool air in.
We then connected the air conditioner directly from the main unit to help regulate the temperature to make it as comfortable as possible for my students and the parents that hang out and watch as well. I couldn't be happier with how the space has turned out. We also have plenty of room for the golf cart in the third car space.
7. If you were to redo the garage conversion, is there anything you would change or do differently?
I think I am constantly trying to tweak Champions Lab to improve the comfort and feel for my clients.
If I could have anything else changed it would have been to add a door to the side of the garage for easier access to the backyard putting green. With that being said, it's pretty simple to just open up the one car garage door and walk around.
8. With the PGA golf course nearby, do you take advantage of those nearby amenities or have any other activities you are involved with in the area?
We are definitely excited about the PGA HQ course opening up next summer.
In the meantime we are spending all of our energy trying to build the biggest and best junior academy we can here in Frisco.
With this unbelievable course right here in our backyard, we want to help this city field as many amazing high school players and teams as possible, plus I just love helping kiddos learn this amazing game.
There are so many life parallels in golf from integrity to character building and many other life skills that I'm just thankful that mentoring our youth and growing the game is what I get to do every single day of my life.
9. Do you have any advice for homeowners looking to do something unconventional in their new home?
My advice to anyone wanting to do something that might feel scary or nerve-wracking...do it! Go for it! If it's something you are excited about, trust yourself and go build it.
We had no clue how this golf room would turn out, but every day I go to work in the Lab I'm over the moon thankful that I am doing it at my home. Find a way, figure it out, and go for it!
We loved seeing how Brad’s passion for golf and serving his community came together as one in this brilliant garage conversion and backyard putting green! The sky’s the limit when it comes to creating a space that’s uniquely your own.
Feeling inspired? Get your creative juices flowing with more creative home design ideas or share in the joy of these other happy M/I homeowners.
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