1. W
hen the owner of Haven
Builders opens his box
of tools, there is no cookie
cutter to be found. The idea of building
two of the same house is a foreign
concept to Nathan Stobbe.
Haven Builders’ clients are typically
people who value their individuality and
want their home to express their unique
interests and sense of style. That suits
Stobbe, who started the company three
years ago with the premise that a builder
who paid attention to individual needs
and high quality was sorely needed
in Saskatoon. His team thrives on the
creativity involved in each new project.
“We’ve never built the same house
twice, and each one has custom-tailored
cabinetry and features that are unique
to it,” says Stobbe. “Even if a customer
starts with one of our concept plans,
it will get modified extensively and we
custom design it for them.”
When Stobbe formed the company,
he took all the things that he didn’t like
about his own experiences working
with other builders and tried to address
them with Haven Builders. The demand
the team is experiencing is a testament
to his vision. “People are pretty excited
to find someone who is interested
in who they are and how they’re feeling
and works to incorporate their needs into
the house instead of just banging out
a template house,” says Stobbe. “Haven
DOES YOUR HOME
HAVE PERSONALITY?
BY PAUL SINKEWICZ PHOTOS HEATHER FRITZ
ABOVE L–R Tasha Baier, Donna Senterre, Dallas Stobbe, Lyle Richards, Nathan Stobbe

3. customers are people who don’t want to
live in the same house as someone else.”
As an example, Stobbe points to the
unique features of his latest project at
206 Werschner Crescent in Rosewood.
Priced at $869,000, you won’t find
another one like it in Saskatoon and
it is filled with custom finishes. The clean,
modern lines of the striking exterior
allude to the carefully considered
design elements that pervade the home.
It is highly functional, but also exudes
liveability. “The heart of our company,
and the houses that we build, is a real
focus on kitchens and master suites.
Every house is different, but we try
to create master suites that people really
want to spend time in.”
A dressing room on one side, and
a gorgeous ensuite bathroom on the
other bracket the open and bright master
bedroom in the Werschner home. The
double doors to the dressing room open
to show off custom cabinets with a built-
in dresser and a changing area. There
is LED mood lighting above the cabinets
and the opportunity to use the home’s
eight-zone audio-visual system, so many
pleasant hours can be passed mixing and
matching outfits.
The master bedroom includes two zones
of AV on the home automation system.
Both zones of the master bedroom can be
playing different music or video streams
simultaneously, which means a relaxing
bubble bath in the soaker tub can be
accompanied by soothing music, while
a Blue Jays game is in progress in the
bedroom or indie rock blares in the closet
during a raid on mom’s shoe collection.
The two secondary bedrooms in the
home also have walk-in closets, and each
has unique design elements like 9-and-
a-half-foot ceilings or huge windows.
There is the potential for more bedrooms
in the unfinished basement, and it, too,
has 9-foot-tall ceilings to create an open,
liveable feeling.
For practicality, off the main entrance
is a sunny office space that shares a two-
way fireplace with the living room. At the

4. Haven Builders
829 46th Street West
306.382.3667
yourhome@havenbuilders.ca
www.havenbuilders.ca
garage entrance, a large mudroom offers
a bench, hooks and ample closet space,
eliminating the entryway mess that
is the bane of so many homeowners.
One of the most notable features of the
homeisthevarietyofpossibilitiesitoffers
for entertaining. The living area features
a handsome fireplace with a floor-to-
ceiling custom painted designer glass
surround by Castle Designer Glass. It is
all part of the open main floor area and is
adjacent to the dining area and kitchen.
Warm cork flooring connects the three
areas, with the iPad station that controls
the house AV system situated at the
central hub.
Apatiodoorleadsouttothe650-square-
foot deck with views looking out both
to the neighbourhood in the front and
the park in the back. Natural gas hook-
ups are in place for patio heating or
a barbecue, and of course the ubiquitous
high-end AV system is at your disposal.
The kitchen is an entertaining marvel
by itself. The focal point is a horseshoe-
shaped island with a built-in sink and
induction cooktop. “Like most of this
house, the kitchen is really built around
entertaining guests,” says Stobbe. “The
island allows you to have people sitting
on two sides and it’s also ideal for
prepping and cooking while entertaining
guests. It’s very functional.”
More LED lighting above and below
the custom cabinets helps create the
perfect ambience. Stobbe is especially
proud of the cabinets throughout the
house. He researched cabinetmakers
when he began Haven Builders and
found the quality and service available
wanting. He couldn’t find a company
able to fulfill the creativity and
performance he wanted, so the solution
was to set up his own shop with
a dedicated team of craftsmen. They
only build for Haven’s custom-built
houses and renovations.
The attention to detail in Haven homes
sets it apart. Each house the firm builds
boasts custom-designed solid core
interior doors. Aside from doing all the
cabinetry in-house, Haven Builders has
its own finishing staff to make sure the
finishing carpentry is done correctly and
looks great.
Signature Service
As a master custom-home building
company, Haven Builders relies on great
service to earn its clients. It offers its
“Signature Service” at no extra cost
to ensure its clients get what they
want. “Our customers are looking for
something that is different from all the
houses going up in the neighbourhood,”
says Stobbe. “We do that for them.
And we also want to make sure this
experience is one they love.”
Aside from cabinetmakers and finishing
carpenters, Haven Builders has a gifted
designer,DonnaSenterre,onstafftowork
with clients on the design of the house
to ensure it is perfect for them. There will
be time spent together shopping for the
right colours and materials, doing price
comparisons, and lots of collaboration
on the final design. “First and foremost,
we focused on creating a unique service
model for our customers,” says Stobbe.
“Our feeling is that most people building
a home like their house at the end, but
they don’t like the process. We want
them to be able to love the process
because we think they will be able
to love their house that much more.”
If you would like to learn more about
this and other houses available
by Haven Builders, or would like
to learn more about the unique
experience of building a custom
home with Haven Builders, please
contact Tasha Baier at 306.382.3667
or yourhome@havenbuilders.ca FHS
ABOVE L–R Tasha Baier, Donna Senterre