Cortney’s Dream Home

When Cortney Dickson and her husband decided it was time to move into a new home, they made sure to use the opportunity to its fullest. With four kids, (one girl and three boys) they knew they had plenty of adventures to look forward to and they wanted a home that could keep up.

“When we were building it, we tried to be really mindful of the different stages that our family was not only in now but what we would be going through in the future.”

Cortney and her family lived only a short distance from their new home, but they felt they were missing the kinds of things that would really help them live their best life.

“We love to have friends and family over. Our old house just didn’t accommodate that. So we wanted a big kitchen and family room… This is the center of the home, so we made that how we wanted and branched off from there.”

Designing the Space

Cortney has a background in professional interior design and was excited to add her personal touch to a home that she’d be planning from the ground up.

The home is something to behold, broken into three separate sections to accommodate everything they dreamed: the master section (not just bedroom), main house, and then a place for the kids above the garage. Each one is connected by a corridor to make the whole into one, while still affording the privacy that comes with each.

Her approach was a kind of remix of other styles, something she calls, “Modern Organic.” The interior of the home is a hybrid of steel and concrete intermingled with rich woods. The interior is further livened up with a plethora of plant life, which enjoys bathing in the sun from large, open windows throughout the house.

“Our home is almost more windows than walls,” Cortney says. “At one point, our builder came to us and said, ‘the electrician is having a really hard time because there are not enough spots to place outlets in your walls because there are not enough walls.”

But the extra effort was worth it for Cortney—the extra sunlight bringing warmth to her home beyond heat, and brightening her family’s days throughout the winter months.

Family Life

As a young couple with a young family, Cortney and her husband didn’t want the size of the home to become an obstacle to keeping an eye on and connecting with her kids. She and her husband invested in technological additions to shorten the perceived distance between each section of the house, such as smart assistants and home security cameras to be able to check on her kids regularly. But she still enjoys the more traditional method of simply calling up the stairs.

“All of our kids are up by each other and they’re a little bit far from the master bedroom, but none of them seem to mind. The boys wake up in the morning and they all play, and they don’t come right down, and it’s fine. I feel like it’s given them a bond. It’s given them a little independence from having their own space.”

But, as with any parent, the kids can still figure out ways to get up to mischief.

“Probably the second morning that we lived here, our son, who was like four at the time,” she begins, interrupted by her own laughter as she recalls the story, ”... it was early in the morning and he decided to go outside with a chocolate protein shake and filled up his super soaker with it and just drilled all of the kitchen windows with this chocolate milkshake. And we just said, ‘Okay, I guess it’s all downhill from here.’ So {our perfect house} didn’t stay perfect for long but we’re still definitely loving it.”

Topping it off with clean energy

But the cherry on top for Cortney’s dream home came down to comfort and security with solar. Her husband Paul is a longtime Vivint Solar employee so they’re passionate about the value of solar energy.

“It was important to us to be energy independent. The world is crazy and you never know what is going to happen. You want to feel safe and secure in your home.”

The Dicksons decided to get “the works” when it comes to clean energy. Their spacious abode benefits from a solar array, a whole home solar power battery, and two generators. “If needed, we could be completely off the grid, which is not an option that we hope to use, but it’s nice to know that we could.”

Beyond the peace of mind, Cortney loves the promise solar provides the planet. She and her family enjoy a breadth of hobbies, many of which involve nature.

“...We love the environment, so we are up for anything that can be more friendly to that and keeping... the place that we live more beautiful and healthy.”

Cortney loves driving up to the house and seeing the sleek, black solar panels decorating her roof and knowing that she is doing what is best for her family and the world. While she hasn’t necessarily labeled their current house their “forever home,” she feels confident that she could happily live in it forever.