When Scott Shoopman set out to build his home north of Powell, he wanted something with a modern look. It’s a style of home you don’t see in this region.

“You won’t find this kind of house even in Billings,” Shoopman said.

Houses with the modern features he incorporated into his five bedroom, two bathroom home are typically found in places like California and Denver — and maybe a few in Salt Lake City.

“You won’t see a house like this around Powell,” Shoopman said. “There are a lot of nice houses in Powell — a lot of them. But this is unique.”

The modern home style incorporates asymmetrical design, hard edges, open floor plans, extensive use of natural light, and horizontal and vertical design elements — some of it corrugated — to add texture and definition to surfaces.

The stacked stones that surround some columns, corners and chimneys are set irregularly, some stones protruding out an inch and some sunken in. The stones have soft edges but their varying dimensions give the surfaces texture.

The open layout has few doors. The doors it has use steel handles rather than doorknobs, another feature typical of modern styles.

The stairs are exposed, showing the edges of the steps. The handrails are stainless steel, with cable lines running parallel to them. Rather than leading up to an enclosed hallway, they lead to an open catwalk.

In the foyer, lights drop down from the ceiling at varying lengths, and each low-wattage bulb creates soft light upon the entranceway.

Off the foyer, Shoopman’s wife, Laura, has a music room with a piano and a keyboard. The walls are painted purple and white, and the floors are striped black and white, matching the colors of keys on a piano.

The living room has floor-to-ceiling windows and opens up into the kitchen, which has a long island covered with a quartz countertop.

Past the kitchen is what’s called an outdoor kitchen. It’s surrounded by glass windows and doors, and during the warmer seasons, these can be opened to create an outdoor feel.

The deck is perched above the outdoor kitchen. It has a linear fireplace, which burns gas that heats a trough of glass pieces. The chimney extends down to the fireplace in the outdoor kitchen. Beneath the floor joists is a membrane that allows water to run down into gutters that divert it to the ground.

At the rear of the home is the gymnasium, complete with a volleyball net and the University of Wyoming Cowboys and Powell High School Panther logos painted on the walls.

“This is what really makes this house unique,” he said of the gym.

While the architecture is unique to the area, it doesn’t contrast with the rural countryside that surrounds it. The gray color and rock textures blend naturally with the surrounding terrain.

Shoopman built nine houses in a subdivision in Powell, and he said they each took about 60 to 90 days. His own home took 14 months.

“Lots of love went into this,” he said.

Next phase of Shoopman subdivision slated to begin

The second phase of a subdivision on South Cedarwood off Avenue E will begin construction in the next few weeks. The subdivision is a project by Smooth Edge Custom Construction, which is co-owned by Shane and Scott Shoopman.

The houses are all 2,000 square feet with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. They have open floor plans and two-car garages.

The first phase of the subdivision was nine houses, which have already been sold. The second phase will be 10 homes.

“People like new houses,” said Scott Shoopman.

Shoopman said the market has been solid in Powell, but the COVID-19 pandemic is certainly going to slow things down.

“We’re totally concerned about it. If people don’t have jobs, they’re not going to buy a house, no matter how good interest rates are,” Shoopman said.

Despite the concerns, Shoopman said they are going to “charge ahead. When this blows over, we’ll be ready.”

The Shoopmans do all the work in-house, which he said helps keep costs down.