A first-of-its-kind home being showcased in Saratoga Springs. (PHOTO: KSL Newsradio's John Wojcik)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah — A first-of-its-kind house on display in Saratoga Springs was designed, engineered and built by an all-female crew.
The idea behind the first ever all-female built home — “The House that SHE built” — originated about three years ago.
“We had 25 to 30 people at our very first meeting … all women,” said Kristin Smith, founder of The House that SHE built. “The very next meeting we decided that we wanted to build an all woman-built house.”
According to her, they didn’t just want to simply construct a home in the Wander community of Saratoga Springs. Rather, they wanted to showcase skilled tradeswomen and their amazing abilities.
They held their groundbreaking in September, then displayed the finished project Friday.
“This is the first-of-its-kind,” said Smith. “It’s the first all skilled labor women-built house.”
To ensure the involvement of women at every stage of the project, they brought in some help from out of the state.
“We have painters, a woman that did the rock on the outside, the roof, the framing, pouring concrete [and] we had tilers,” she explained. “We had women come from all outside the state.”
Beyond creating a beautiful new two-story home, Smith hopes their work leaves a lasting legacy. Specifically, she wants to inspire young girls to pursue careers as skilled tradeswomen.
Smith said not only will more female homebuilders serve to empower women, but it should immediately have a positive impact on the current labor shortage.
“Our vision is to show other girls, and honestly other women, that there is somebody doing these jobs … so they can aspire or see themselves doing it as well,” said Smith.