In the big town of Crane, Montana, people travel the main street on winding roads, where they get to enjoy the cottonwood trees that overlook an older property with new residents, Shawn and T.J. Rost, formerly of Sidney. The Rosts purchased the Tanglen home (more recently the Craig Herberts) in 2009. The home came with one shop, an established garden with raspberries, chokecherries and plums, a grain bin and beautiful landscape, and the couple hopes to one day put all the pieces of the Tanglen property back together again.
T.J. wanted to keep the outside footprint of the home the same without changing much except to update its interior to fit the family needs. “We talked about adding a second floor to the home, but construction-wise it wasn’t going to work structurally,” she said. The square footage is the same with 2,500 on main floor and a 1,200 square foot-1954 basement. (Egress windows were put in downstairs to allow plenty of light and safety for the Rost’s growing children.)
The family of five was living in a camper in Sidney before the purchase, so when papers were signed, all were quite excited to have a real home again. Shawn and T.J. saw nothing in the home itself, but the property was great. “The home had good bones, but the yard, the garden, the out buildings sold us,” T.J. stated. “There are two shops that still belong to Larry and Carol (Knopp) Pierce. We get first option when they decide to sell.”
The home was originally built in 1954, and an addition was done sometime in the 1970s. The dining room is actually what sold T.J. on the house. “We didn’t change that. I love the big windows, which we replaced, but we used the same space for new windows. Now there’re the same size, but much more efficient.”
Before the total renovation inside the home, T.J. went to see Brenda Larson of Creative Solutions and contractor, Buck Dabill of Pacific Woodworkers. T.J. had a vision of what she needed in the home, but just didn’t know what would work and what wouldn’t structurally. “Even after Brenda did the designs, Buck laughed at me because I’d sit on the floor and just look at the walls,” she said, “and then we’d make changes during this process.”
T.J. is an eclectic interior designer, using contemporary mixed with primative styles. She still had a country home with a hip roofline, but couldn’t have the super modern fixtures. By blending her tastes together, it gives the surroundings a beautiful, rich design. “If you do a straight style, it gets a little dirty, I think.”
The renovation is so brand new that T.J. hasn’t had a place to really grasp as her favorite yet, but if she had to choose, it would probably be her office. The massive fireplace is a perfect complement to the wood floor and old beams that came out of a neighboring barn and slabs of cottonwood for shelving.
The master bedroom has to run a close second place, which is an open concept. Although there is a door on the bedroom itself, the couples’ bathroom is open to all who pass the main door. “I don’t like having doors everywhere. Doors can be aggressive in a small space,” T.J. stated. “I’ve been married for years and I don’t need doors on my bathroom.” The bath area features a deep copper tub, unique double vanity with Scotland cobblestone sinks, an amazing walk-in shower with plenty of jets to wash the socks right off of your feet! Most of these accessories were purchased from Signature Hardware and the plumbing fixtures and cabinetry and tops were purchased from Creative Solutions.
Another special feature in the bedroom is the awesome headboard, which opens on a rail to allow the sunshine in. This 19th Century French carved headboard was purchased from Renovation Hardware. It has complex panels, carved corbels and metal trim. It makes a statement with its tall and crafted solid wood design, and will mount securely to the wall behind a platform bed. It took Buck a little bit of time to make this piece work behind the bed. Its primitive look makes it a grand, stand-out piece and along with T.J.’s choices of crystal lighting and other beautiful accessories makes this master suite spectacular!
T.J. is ecstatic overall how the home turned out. Shawn was at wits end to find the perfect location for a home, and he tried to relocate his family out of the area, but the wife won out again! “He is stoked on how it turned out! He didn’t think I could make it look like it does,” she said. Shawn is happy with his wife’s’ knowledge on how to put things together and her decisions on all the fixtures for the home (just don’t look at the checkbook)!
“You have to be realistic and in good humor when you’re doing a remodel, but overall I’ve had a positive experience doing this,” T.J. said. “Buck is very honest and he doesn’t get all worked up. When he sees that I’m all worked up, he can bring me back to where I need to be. I think he’s done a wonderful job.”
If there were any changes to be made, they would change the floors. T.J. loves the Tiger Bamboo with its many colors throughout, but scratches are hard to hide. It’s a possibility to refinish the hardwood, but who wants to do another project when the house is almost finished?!?
And another thing T.J. might change - “I may not have purchased my kitchen two years beforehand.” She is, however, glad that she kept some pieces of history in the home. “The Scottish in me just states that when you remodel, you need to leave something original, and I chose the chimney – showing the original brick.”
If she had a choice of a new build over a remodel – T.J. would do it this way again, “just because I watched my sisters with their new builds. I know I’m never going to get my money back, but everything here is established as far as landscaping, with cottonwoods, the garden, raspberries, chokecherries and the plums. I just wouldn’t have had these things. I don’t think you can put a value on that if your property is that important to you.”
Why did you want to be a part of this event? “I think the Boys and Girls Club is absolutely vital to the community because otherwise you’d have a mass of unsupervised children at home or out on the streets by themselves. Every community needs something like this. There are too many children that come from single family homes where the parent needs some type of help such as this while they work, and then they know where they are at. We are proud to be part of this event.”
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