Jenny Pippin, FAIBD, CPBD is the founder and owner of Pippin Home Designs, based in Mooresville, NC. She has an impressive resume as an award-winning Residential Design Specialist for 38 years; Jenny specializes in luxury homes tailor-designed to each unique client, all while maximizing the views available on each unique property.
Pippin Home Designs racked up over 50 design awards, national and local. The company has a reputation as the premier designer of “award-winning homes with a view”. Today, their designs span from the regions of Lake Norman and Lake Wylie. They stretch across the North Carolina mountains, along the coast of the Carolinas, and down into Florida. The projects are a balanced mix of new custom homes and whole home renovations.
Jenny describes the unique approach at Pippin as her “You-Inspired Discovery Process.”
“All of my designs ultimately take inspiration from the individual homeowner. They are a true reflection of who the homeowners really are,” she says. “Following this process allows us to create homes that are not only aesthetically gorgeous, but also enhance every aspect of the homeowners’ lives with increased ease, comfort, flow, functionality, and joy. We design all different residential architectural styles, because we work with many different types of people with varied tastes.”
A Home Ideally Suited
Jenny encourages her clients to work in tandem with their entire building team. This collaborative effort allows the various roles to merge and ideas to flow together. This culminates in a home ideally suited for each client and property.
“This team-focused approach leads to higher rates of success, where communication takes precedence. We can find creative solutions for overcoming the inevitable challenges of home building or remodeling. We keep the project on task for completing the perfect solution for each homeowner and project building site,” she says.
Jenny sat down with us to tell us a bit more about her work, creating a dream home, and why she loves designing homes.
What made you want to become an Architectural Designer?
You could say I was born into it! As a creative child, I knew I’d grow up to be an artist of some sort. I’ve always had a fascination with all different styles of houses. A family of entrepreneurs raised me on a farm, where I encountered nature every day. I had the sense that I would one day lead my own company. This company would incorporate my passions of art, nature, and my entrepreneurial mindset. Someone recommended I consider an Architectural Technology program, because it would combine my love of art, drawing, nature, and homes. It was the best advice I ever received! The program was as easy as breathing for me. I learned I have an ability, a sixth sense, to intuitively design dwellings into natural settings. I listen to the land and combine this ability with the homeowners’ desires.
How would you describe your design style?
It’s all about the views! Pippin Home Designs’ specialty is designing to maximize the views offered by each individual property from lakefront to mountainside vistas, the beach, farms, forests, and even equestrian estates. Where there’s a view to be taken advantage of, we’ve created a home to enhance it. [Our focus on views] began in 1987; I moved to Mooresville and rented a home on Lake Norman. Living on this lake front property gave me the first-hand experience of the way a fabulous view can make you feel in your home!
How do you describe Pippin’s unique style or approach?
We consider ourselves consumer advocates and educating our clients is one of our deep passions. We’ve been doing this for a very long time and few clients understand all that’s needed to successfully navigate the home design and building process. We know this industry inside and out, and we love sharing our knowledge with our clients to help them make the very best choices for their homes. Our “You-Inspired Discovery Process” is our holistic approach to design. Designing someone’s home is an intimate process, we consider the whole human by taking the time to get to know each client and how they want to live their life. All of these components tie into the overall project scope, and we educate our clients about high performance, green and sustainable options, and ways to design for a healthy home.
Your husband is also part of the team. Tell us about his role.
The addition of my husband and superhero, Wes Stearns, in 2014 greatly enhanced the success of Pippin Home Design. He is my forever teammate, partner in life and in business. He supports me, and our clients, with his skills in 3-D CADD, and his invaluable input as a professional photographer and artist. We wouldn’t be able to achieve all that we do without him.
What are some of the main things you focus on to accentuate a view?
I walk the property with each client at the beginning of the process to get a feel for why they chose the property. I consider the views they have available and even ones they may wish to block. We evaluate the lay of the land (topography), and the path of the sun across the property, along with the existing trees and other vegetation to maintain and design around. Working with the path of the sun allows us to utilize morning sun inside the home and shade the afternoon sun to prevent overheating the interior spaces, incorporating covered porches and overhangs in the right places, we’re able to capture and frame the perfect views possible year-round!
In addition to capturing the views, we also share our knowledge about high performance homes, healthy homes, and designing for accessibility in every home. Many of our clients are renovating or building their forever homes, and it’s important to also consider ways to accommodate family and friends, so everyone is able to comfortably move around within their homes no matter their age or physical abilities.
