Most homes are built to sell. This one was built to start a conversation.

In 2022, husband-and-wife team Chris and Kirsten Miller of Miller Marriott Construction Co. in Delafield, Wisconsin, wanted to find a way to give back to their community. After going back and forth about how they could make the biggest impact, the answer became obvious: they would build a charity home.

“Finally, we said, ‘Let’s just lean into what we do,’” Kirsten says. “‘We build neighborhoods, we build homes. Let’s just lean into it.’”

Of course, a charity home is not a novel concept. Typically, the term may refer to a residential building owned and operated by a nonprofit or charity to provide housing or support services for individuals or families in need (an organization like Ronald McDonald House may come to mind).

However, Chris, owner of Miller Marriott, and Kirsten, president — client experience, marketing & sales, wanted to put their own spin on the idea: They would donate their construction and design services in addition to land for the home, working with the industry members they had built relationships with over the years to make their vision a reality. Once built, they would then host a series of community events at the house. When all was said and done, the home would be sold just like any other put on the market — but the proceeds would be donated to a worthy cause.

Having been directly impacted by mental illness throughout their entire lives, Chris and Kirsten wanted that cause to be the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). In the middle of building the home, Kirsten’s brother tragically died by suicide — further underscoring the importance of supporting such an organization.

Throughout the journey of building a charity home dedicated to raising awareness for mental health, Chris and Kirsten were able to transform their personal grief into collective action by sparking conversation, reducing stigma, and creating lasting change within their community.

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Meet the Millers

Chris worked construction jobs throughout college and decided to formally enter the industry in 1998 after a bad experience building his own home. The company he was working with abruptly left the project, leaving Chris to finish the construction himself.

“It was very disjointed and unclear. I felt like there was a better way — bundling design and construction into one solution,” Chris says.

He ended up loving the process of building his home, and from there, he built about one spec home a year, growing slowly until he decided to fully leave his corporate job and establish Miller Marriott in 2004.

Years later, in 2016, Chris met Kirsten when a mutual friend’s kid thought it would be a good idea to set the two up. (Both were single parents then, and all the children attended the same school district.) The rest was history, and the couple married in 2018 — the same year Kirsten decided to join Miller Marriott as well.

“I was also in the corporate world and decided to leave my job and just join him and help wherever I could in the business,” Kirsten says. “I think Chris was always meant to be in construction; It’s a true love for him. This became both of our second full-time careers in a way.”

When the duo decided to work together, their kids — Jake, Sam, Sydney, Mia, and Josephine — joked that it may not be the best idea for a married couple to do so. Fortunately, their doubts were proven wrong.

“We both have different strengths and kind of divide and conquer,” Kirsten says. “I think we’re really good partners that way: He goes in his direction, I go in mine. We’re not necessarily joined at the hip all day long.”

“Kirsten keeps me grounded and real,” Chris adds. “She is very operationally focused, which allows me to focus on other aspects of the company.”

Back at home, a Labrador Retriever, a Golden Retriever, and two German Shepherds round out the Miller family.

“The house that we built for ourselves is a good test chamber for everything that we do in the building world. Because if it can withstand our five kids and four dogs, it’s really good quality,” Kirsten laughs.

Today, Miller Marriott is a design/build construction and land development company offering custom and semi-custom design/build, architectural, interior design, and whole-home remodeling services throughout Southeast Wisconsin. Its team of 24 employees works on 36 to 40 homes a year and focuses on providing as much value to the community as possible.

“In 20, 40 years, we believe it’s important to love your home as much as you did when you first got it — similar to an old neighborhood that everybody’s still dying to live in because it is truly timeless. It’s got all the charm and has been built in such a way that it’s lasted 100 years. This is the intention with our homes,” Kirsten says.

It’s no surprise then that when choosing the design of their charity home, the couple landed on modern Victorian. But how does one go about coordinating the fundraising for a four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom, 3,700-square-foot house?

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Building the Charity Home

After floating the idea of the charity home to their subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers, Chris and Kirsten received such a positive reaction that they knew they had to get the ball rolling on the project. Following about a year of filling out all of the necessary applications, the Miller Marriott Charitable Foundation was born.

“Several people jokingly said to us, ‘Maybe it was better that you didn’t really know what you were getting into, because you just went ahead and did it before realizing how much work it is,’” Kirsten says. “It’s a ton of work and truly requires support and help for it to be successful. But I can’t think of anything more rewarding.”

Getting their friends in the construction industry to donate labor and materials proved easier, and ultimately, 58 subcontractors and suppliers contributed to the home.

“For Chris and Kirsten, it just shows the commitment they have is infectious,” says Todd Schmidt, Miller Marriott marketing and HR lead. “People have a lot of respect for them as business owners and individuals, so I think that was quite helpful, too.”

The rest came down to the company’s design team seeing the design concept through by coordinating donations and materials, as well as collaborating with vendors for a beautiful and cohesive design.

“It was a passion project for everyone, and I believe design evolves to its best levels when you work together,” Kirsten says. “It was such an enjoyable experience working with our contractors and suppliers, leveraging their creative expertise and talents — you can see it in the details.

“You feel something significant when you walk into that house; it feels really special because of the amount of extra care and thoughtfulness that went into it.”

One of Kirsten’s favorite elements of the house is the detailed millwork, which she says the finish carpenters put their whole heart into because they so deeply believed in the cause at hand.

“As everybody said, ‘Yes,’ at the start of our outreach, we felt this incredible responsibility to make sure if they were going to donate labor and materials, it had to truly be for an organization where the impact would be felt,” Kirsten says. “We didn’t want them to wonder if their efforts and hard work actually made a difference; we wanted everyone to know their efforts directly impacted the community. That’s why we chose NAMI.”