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Apr 17, 2023

Keystate Homes’ raffled St. Jude house a green, modern haven

The 2022 St. Jude Dream Home in Shaker Heights, built by Keystate Homes. The St.

The 2022 St. Jude Dream Home in Shaker Heights, built by Keystate Homes.

The St. Jude Dream Home in Shaker Heights not only supports a good cause, but also has allowed local businesses to collaborate to build a healthy and green home.

Keystate Homes, a Jewish and family-owned home building company started by the Gotlieb family, was tasked with building the 2022 dream home, which was completed in January 2023. And when the house was raffled off in December, it only took an hour to sell 22,000 tickets at $100 each to raise $2.2 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Kevin Hopson was the winner of the raffle, who hadn't yet taken possession of the home at the time of the Cleveland Jewish News’ walk through.

"When St. Jude came to us, they asked us to replicate the quality of what we do," Andrew Gotlieb, business development manager at Keystate Homes based in Bedford Heights, told the CJN. "And so, we don't defer from that, and that is (a) high quality home with high quality materials, built with green building technology and a sustainable mindset."

Andrew Gotlieb, business development manager at Keystate Homes, outside the completed 2022 St. Jude Dream Home.

As a locally-minded company, Keystate Homes ensured that quality while enlisting the services and products of local designers, vendors and brands throughout the Cleveland area – several of which also included Jewish families. Designers Jacyln Heller and Keren Himmel of H&H Revived; Jeff Schleifer of Graves Lumber; Michael Bruder of Bruder Inc.; Herrick Mann of HAM Landscaping Inc.; Bob Bloom of Bloom Brothers Supply Co.; Ryan Wein of Marshall Flooring; Matt Bursky of Cleveland Lighting; the Edelman family with Edelman Plumbing; and Brian Friedman with Arco Comfort Air, LLC are some of the Jewish families and companies that played a role in bringing the project to life.

As the dream home supports the mission of St. Jude to end childhood cancer, Gotlieb said it was his parents who pushed him to take on the project as they had a friend who lost their grandson to cancer.

"That was really an important mission, and we wanted to do some tikkun olam, repair the world, with that the best way we could," he said. "So, we decided to volunteer for a year to do this house for St. Jude. It is a lot of work to do these types of homes, and it was good that we were able to do it and give back, and hopefully contribute or help in some of the things that affect kids with childhood cancer."

As an award-winning company in green home building, Keystate Homes recycled lumber during the framing process and upcycled bricks, porcelain, quartz and granite for the driveway. The home includes a tankless hot water system, and all windows and mechanicals are Energy Star certified, Gotlieb said.

The 2022 St. Jude Dream Home kitchen with updated appliances, kitchen island and double oven, designed by Ashley Paul.

"It's not only about building a green home, it's about building a healthy home," he said, as that includes proper ventilation, a radon system, anti-mold protection and antimicrobial surfaces and paints.

While this home features more customization than past St. Jude giveaway homes, with the inclusion of an elevator to all four floors for accessibility, Gotlieb said it is quite standard for a Keystate Home. In fact, they plan to build more of the open, modern floor-plan homes throughout Beachwood and Shaker Heights, he said.While the dream home is the largest floor plan at about 4,800 to 5,000 square feet, Keystate also has similar floor plans for 1,500 to 1,700 square-foot homes.

The home also includes many features of an older Heights home with the inclusion of a laundry chute, built-in benches and a third floor, along with some modern updates such as an Amazon parcel chute to replicate a milk chute and smart-home technology. The third floor, equipped with a rock climbing wall and clubhouse, is one feature that makes the home stand out, Gotlieb said.

"The third floor playroom is my favorite part of the house," he said. "Because it entertains for adults on one side and it entertains for kids on another with the slide, clubhouse and rock climbing wall."

One side of the home's third floor features a playhouse with a slide and climbing wall to entertain children.

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