A man(cave) among men

There are man caves that conjure mental images of dark basements, hand-me-down recliners, the faint aroma of yesterday’s pizza. Then there are man caves like the one recently built by Brian Heimsoth’s team at B&C Enterprises. It’s a standout design that conjures mental images such as … well, you don’t need mental images. We have pictures. And it’s a good thing, because otherwise you might not believe a space that bears the title “man cave” could be this cool.

B&C Enterprises is located in Elgin, Illinois and was started by Brian and his brother, Chad, in 1995. The pair focused primarily on residential building for the first few years, then slowly began to incorporate commercial projects into the mix. The perspective of having worked on both sides of the business perhaps gave Brian a little more clarity as well as some much needed ingenuity when longtime client Mark Wesa, an industrial electrical contractor for whom Brian has done several commercial projects, approached him with his desire for a “place to tinker around, do hobby projects, have a workshop, and park an RV and a couple cars.” Oh – and he wanted it on his property in a residential area that came with all the restrictions that neighborhood communities with HOA’s and manicured lawns often do.

That’s a tall order. But tall, in this case, was not an option. The county in which Wesa lives restricts buildings in residential areas to a maximum peak height of 22 feet. So Heimsoth – never one to shy away from a challenging request – resorted to a little creative thinking and leaned heavily on the architects and civil engineers involved on the project. “We just had the architects design the height restriction into the concept. We ended up tucking the building into a hill a little bit to get the proper clearances and maximize our ceiling height, which worked out great. It’s perfect.”

For Heimsoth, there was never any doubt that a metal building was the best solution for the job. “Any other type of construction would have been really difficult because the building is sitting up on a knee wall where we had to build it into the side of a hill. Building a pole barn was out of the question because it wouldn’t be conducive to the way the land lays; and a 60-foot clear span would have been difficult with trusses.”

So, after what Wesa says was close to a year of revisions involving Heimsoth, the civil engineer, and the architect, construction began in the winter of 2016. “In Illinois, the ground freezes in winter, but we got the foundation in at the very end of the construction season”, said Wesa; “They started erecting a couple months later, and by springtime the building was up and done.”

“Up and done” was really just the beginning for Wesa, though, who wanted something more than just functional – he wanted to have some fun. Together, he and Heimsoth created a vision; the finished product of which is sure to set a new standard – if, in fact, there actually is a standard – in man caves. The building has overhangs, high-end lighting, a radiant heat system, a decorative staircase leading to the second-floor mezzanine, and landscaping worthy of an HGTV feature. “When we started, people were asking ‘why are you building that next to my house?’, says Heimsoth; “but now that it’s all said and done, it’s beautiful.”

Heimsoth built the building with 100% Star materials – from the structural steel to the standing seam roof. B&C Enterprises has officially been a Star dealer for less than a year but the Heimsoth brothers have worked with the team at Star for many years through projects they’ve done with other Star dealers. When it was time to make the expansion into their own metal building dealership, they knew Star was the one they could trust for quality and reliability. And now, Heimsoth says, they’re experiencing all the advantages of being a part of the company from the inside: “Since I’ve joined, I’ve been able to draw the buildings myself and get a quicker turn-around for my customers. I also have a lot more knowledge because I went to Star Builder’s School and am getting more proficient in S.B.S.”, he says; “They have a lot of resources for us to tap into that really help our customers get a better product in the end. Star is a very recognized name in our area and it really gives us a competitive advantage.”

The team at B&C Enterprises enjoys being able to set themselves apart with their growing reputation for projects that aren’t, as Heimsoth describes it, “the standard mundane type of construction”. His collaboration with Wesa on the man cave to beat all man caves was, in Heimsoth’s words, “… like building a commercial building with a residential mindset. It was a fun project because I got to be free and use my imagination.”

At Star, we couldn’t ask for a better challenge than partnering with a builder who wants to push the limits and discover just what’s possible with metal building construction and a little imagination. We encourage you to think boldly and creatively – and we’ll be here with the technology, materials, ideas, people and passion to help you make it a reality.