Last week’s home build on Manfred Drive in Luverne was a high school reunion of sorts for five LHS graduates.
Jake Guy, LHS Class of 2013, is the licensed general contractor with G3 Homes LLC, a business established in 2020 with his brother, Joe (Class of 2018), and dad, Tim.
Recruited with the Guy brothers to complete the construction were Matthew Sterrett (Class of 2013) and Dalton Jacobsma (2014).
G3 Homes is a Wausau Homes Builder, which uses premade trusses and custom-crafted framework to construct a home.
A crane is necessary to lift and set the premade framework and trusses into place, a process that takes a couple of days to complete.
Jake Guy scheduled a crane from Barnhart Crane and Rigging in Sioux Falls on Aug. 22 and 23 to assist with the task.
When the crane operator arrived on Aug. 22, he was someone all the LHS graduates on the construction site were familiar with: Brian Barnhart (Class of 2013.)
“We knew Brian worked for them, but we didn’t know he was going to be our operator,” Joe Guy said.
In 100-degree heat, the five schoolmates worked together to frame the two-story, four-bedroom home in two days.
“It was so much fun doing this set with these guys,” said Jake. “They powered through the heat and really helped this set go smoothly.”
Joe said, “A lot of random jokes from 10 years ago were said here and there. That put the whole construction site in a better mood.”
The single-family home is the first to be built in Luverne by G3 Homes.
Jake said the work of construction and home remodeling is second nature for the brothers, who often helped their parents, Tim and Renee Guy, with remodeling themselves while living in their home.
After high school, Jake chose construction as a career and was working in construction when the Guys took advantage of the booming Sioux Falls home construction market and started their own business.
However, the plan was sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic, as it curtailed face-to-face contact with potential customers.
“The (building) process is different and it’s hard to build trust in a whole new market and a whole new way of doing things (without meeting with the public face to face),” Joe said.
Now they’re turning attention to building homes in their hometown.
Their first home on Manfred Drive is being built for TJ and Angela Newgard.
TJ is a teacher at Luverne Elementary and Joe was a student in TJ’s physical education classes.
TJ was one of the football coaches both Guy brothers remembered while playing on the high school team.
Working with someone familiar has added significance in the design of the new home.
“It makes it a lot easier if you know the person,” Joe said.
And the same familiarity on the construction site also makes the months of working together easier.
On Monday Jake Guy (driving the telehandler) and Matthew Sterrett (on scaffolding), along with Joe Guy (inside), complete roofing work at the home they are building on Manfred Drive. The three are all Luverne High School graduates.