Photos: Spacecrafting
Woman-owned and led design-build company paves path for others.
Jen Stockwell didn’t set out to change the construction industry, but that’s exactly what she’s doing, one home at a time. Stockwell is the owner and principal designer for Edina-based Stockwell Homes, a company she’s been building from the ground up since 2017. But if you would have told her as a youngster that this would be her path in life, she wouldn’t have believed you. “I grew up in eastern Iowa,” she says. “I had no idea what I wanted to be. I just knew I was a creative type.”
Jen Stockwell. Photos: Chris Emeott
That early inkling might have started when she was growing up. Stockwell remembers spending a lot of time in the garage with her dad when she was younger. “I loved using power tools,” she says. “I still do.” Having “super smart, super handy” parents, she learned a variety of useful skills. “I helped roof a house, paint, lay bricks and pavers [and] put up drywall,” she says.
Stockwell’s first job was at a hardware store where she learned to mix paint and “love the smell of sawdust,” she says, but still construction never struck her as a viable career path. She went to St. Olaf College to study music and philosophy, later earning a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from Hamline University.
After school, she worked as the sole female on a technology sales team and was the co-founder and executive director of Alive Magazine, a publication dedicated to highlighting the voices, stories and talents of young women. She then started working in fundraising for a series of nonprofits.
During that time, Stockwell and her husband, Ben Stockwell, started a family and purchased a house on Mirror Lake in Edina—a house that would change everything. “It was probably a teardown,” she says. “The agents said it was in a state of deferred maintenance.” The house checked all of the boxes on their wish list, so they opted to buy it as an investment property that they would live in and work on bit by bit. They rearranged the kitchen, living and dining areas and removed a structural fireplace. “I spent all my free time planning and designing projects on my house and for friends and family,” Stockwell says.
Stockwell’s Mirror Lake home is where thoughtful design meets life. The family’s love of music shines through with a piano tucked seamlessly into the dining room.
But it wasn’t until they brought in a builder to work on their home that she began to realize what she could bring to the table. “My eyes had been opened to how much room for improvement there was in terms of professionalism, communication, transparency and trust in the homebuilding industry that was historically dominated by men,” she says. “I thought to myself, ‘A woman needs to get involved and fix this.’”
Stockwell was that woman, but she wasn’t sure of herself. Friends gave her the nudge she needed. “It took a few years for it to dawn on me that this was a career path,” she says.
To test her skills outside of her own home, she partnered with a private investor to buy a 1950s rambler in St. Louis Park to flip. “We bought Dakota Park for a flip and did a structural remodel,” she says.
Showing the results of their efforts to a coworker, Stockwell got the final nudge she needed. “She said, ‘Jen, it seems so apparent to me that you’re a builder, not a sustainer,’” Stockwell recalls.
Stockwell quit her nonprofit job and, in 2017, started Stockwell Homes, which specializes in custom residential and commercial remodeling. The design-build firm is a certified remodeler and general contractor, taking clients through the entire process: architectural drawings, construction and interior design. “We pride ourselves that we don’t have a formula,” she says. “We see the world the way our clients see it. We try to understand their likes and dislikes and work to marry that with the architecture of the home … We want to help people live better in their homes.”
Stockwell endeavors to honor the roots of a home while implementing new technology and style that improve how people live in the home. “We’re always on a quest to make it easier for our clients,” she says. “The integrity of the architecture of the home is the most important. It’s the personality of the home. Thankfully, we speak a broad language of architecture and design.”
That’s what Stockwell wants all builders to offer their clients. “I want to set a new level,” she says. “Even the playing field.” But making inroads in a male-dominated field like construction is an uphill battle. “It is hard being a woman in a male-dominated industry,” she says. “People assume you can be the designer.” That’s not where Stockwell thrives, though. She relies on other members of her team to handle the interior design. “I love the front end,” she says. “The generative piece. I’m not moved by curtains and pillows. I’m moved by ripping down walls.”
Photo: Soacecrafting
As a business owner, Stockwell understands what it means for a client to hire them, trusting the team with what is often their largest asset and investment. “It becomes a partnership,” she says. “You have to be prepared to be like a family. We might be in your lives for nine months or five years.”
Clients are moved by her results, and the awards are beginning to roll in. Stockwell Homes was awarded the 2023 ROMA Award through Housing First for Remodeler of Merit and NKBA Editor’s Choice Award in the large kitchen category. Midwest Home Design Awards also recognized Stockwell Homes in their contemporary dining room and butler’s pantry/scullery categories in 2024.
Stockwell is just getting started, and she has big plans for the company moving forward. “I have wanted to open a showroom for a long time,” she says, noting that she is currently scouring the Twin Cities for the perfect location. Along with dreams of a showroom, Stockwell is hoping to add another category to round out their ever-expanding portfolio. “Historically, we’ve done remodels,” she says. “But we’re inching toward new construction.”
Stockwell Homes
5201 Eden Ave. Grandview Suite 300; 612.467.9575
Facebook: Stockwell Homes
Instagram: @stockwellhomes
