The Marvin Tour and an Interview with Jared Basler, AIA

September 30, 2019

The Marvin Tour and an Interview with Jared Basler, AIA

Self-portrait by Jared Basler

Many Possibilities. One Marvin.

MARVIN windows and Doors website

I recently went to the Marvin Tour in Warroad Minnesota. For about a year, I have been asked by the Owner and a Sales Rep for Priority Door and Window in San Diego, California if I would go. Then BMD Inc. started asking me and I will tell you that it was not because it was in July that I finally said yes. I am well aware that there is colder weather in areas outside of San Diego. I am aware of that because as I almost say apologetically,

"I know what cold weather is like, I grew up in Pittsburgh."

It was not the weather that kept me from going. One of the times that I was asked to go was not during the winter but it was on Mother's Day and also happened to be on my husband's birthday as it has seemed to be the case for a lot of the conferences this year; they were taking place during family birthdays.

It is that I feel like I am using a person when I don't know if I will be able to use their product. Now I don't feel so bad about going to the Marvin Factory

BECAUSE

I used the Marvin line on a project of mine and it has turned out pretty well. The windows have no issues, there are some issues with some things that I am not crazy about but that is because I like to design everything in the project or have some great influence over it because then I feel a little bit closer to having a project that I am proud of.

And I think I have reached the age that I can say:

I like what I do and I feel that I have pretty good design taste and I think that most of the time when my recommendations are heeded, the project goes well. At least it becomes what I have envisioned in my mind and what I feel is the best solution and that comes from years of experience. And needless to say, when my solutions are not chosen, I have a problem with really calling it "my project". It's like designing my wedding dress but somebody else picking the shoes and when I look at the wedding photos, all I can see are the shoes. That's just the way we are!

So, we left for Warroad bright and early Sunday and landed in Minneapolis and we were all pretty hungry so we ate a late lunch and it being Sunday, we then had to find something to do for the rest of the evening because there isn't much to do on a Sunday. The Orange County office that went headed to the Mall of America, two people did work and I decided to go to the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center, which happened to be open til midnight. I had not only never been to the Walker, I was also never to Minneapolis and so I was unsure of what to expect, besides the inevitable
Frank Gehry forms.

I was then up bright and early (I know that people keep thinking that it is fun to wake up early and be off somewhere, but I would like to offer up a suggestion:

heed to the circadian rhythm

So we got up early to take the corporate jet to Warroad. Now I have a friend who works for a corporation and flies a lot of places on the company jet and I would like to say:

I like it.

Maybe it was a bit disconcerting when you read that the pilots are happy that they respect a company's decision not to fly, I think every company should listen to the pilot and the tower as far as when they should fly.
That and maybe fellow passengers you are travelling with shouldn't recall any near plane crashes in small planes that they were involved in while it is a little bumpy on the way back.

So we were approaching Warroad and the funny thing about small towns (and I thought Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa where my husband's O'Leary side of the family is from is small) but Warroad is a town of 2,000 and you can tell which home is the Marvin Residence as you fly in. It is the biggest house and coming from Southern California where there are mega-mansions shoved onto 50x75 foot lots, the fact that their residence is rather modest, on the edge of town, is refreshing. In fact, as we were picked up by April Richter, Tour Instructor, in the Marvin van, and given a tour of Warroad, it is pretty eye-opening as to why this window and door company is such a source of pride among the constituents. The fact that there are 2,500 employees at the factory in a town of 2,000 speaks volumes. (Yes, people commute to work here)

Now, we were not allowed to photograph anything in the factory. We could take photos of the Marvin Family History Museum with a tour by Karen Hontvet and we could take photos of the classrooms but who really needs a selfie of themselves in front of a window glazing machine anyways, right??? There is proprietary processes that go on that prohibit us from taking photos but we were also glad to hear that there are some processes that go on in making some of the windows that even Marvin employees are not privy to, so I did not feel offended, after all,

there have to be some mysteries in life or there would be no desire, right???

So, the day was spent on a non-stop informative classroom sessions at the education building and going over to visit different areas of the factory (we did have lunch at Izzy's which is the restaurant that is attached to the motel that we were staying at (it is a small town) with host Sandy Robb from Marvin and . We learned of the different manufacturing processes and products that the company uses to fabricate their windows and doors and saw these first hand in the factory. I am always impressed by seeing products produced and still touched by human hands. And the factory still does use people to do this. They also have employee resources on hand at the facility so that they don't have to leave the premises to get health and wellness check-ups or to take breaks, etc. Yes, there was a "Mother's Room" for all of the mothers out there who need to use it.

Then we went to the American Legion Hall for dinner. And I am telling you, it was Midwestern portions. I do not eat the turf in the Surf n Turf, and I was offered shrimp with the Surf (Walleye) but how much can I possibly eat??? The other people on the tour (mostly architects) said that the Turf was also pretty good. I had the Walleye just broiled, and it was very good. I think most of the group liked the very large cocktails that were provided. I think I actually was getting used to Glen Ellen Chardonnay in the four pack plastic bottle, again when you are from Southern California and you go to a place where they ask you what you want "Beer, Wine or a cocktail?" and you say, "Wine, what kind of Chardonnay do you have? and the server says, "we have three types of wine, "Red, White and Rose", you say, OK! I'll have white!" As I was going to have to wake up pretty early the next morning!

The Legion reminded me of the Elks Club that I used to go to where my grandparents were members and my brother and I used to go into the bar and play the bowling machine there and drink endless Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers that the other members would buy us because we were Dolly and Charlie Brown's grandkids.

So, there was an offer after dinner to go to "The Shed" which in New York that would mean the latest project by Diller, Scofidio & Renfro but here in Warroad it means this place:

The Shed

And it has meant a tour with this guy, Rick:
Rick gives everyone a tour of the auto collection owned by Bill Marvin, I believe, who was there but I did not get a chance to meet him, because Rick is very engaging and it isn't easy to break away to do anything else while you are taking the tour, but the guy does know the cars!!!

Rick with a Shelby

my husband has a '69 Chevy Malibu
but a 4-door so I got a lot of pics of the
Malibus for him

Formerly Nicolas Cage's car

So, I was also asked by BMD rep Eugene Bachelder, if there were any other architects who wanted to go on this trip and the only one who could go (or would go, I think there might be a small group of people who will travel with me anywhere and those are mostly my children who basically get a trip for free if they go) but this guy agreed to go and after going on this trip, Of course when we were all eating lunch he admitted that it was one of his son's birthdays and of course that made me feel like even worse about encouraging him to go, but we made a video and here it is:

He looked at a bunch of other places that had trips and this guy is headed to Canada on the next product trip because of his research. We had every intention of going to the Border Crossing that was designed by Snow Kreilich Architects as I was interested in seeing a building by a woman architect on every trip I go on but needless to say that didn't happen, but if we had been able to have more time, we could have!
So here's my fellow AIA Committee Chair for the Accessory Dwelling Unit Committee which he is acing, Jared Basler, aka Godfather of Granny Flats, owner of Basis Design Studio

Self-portrait by Jared Basler

Jared Basler is a San Diego native with over fifteen years experience in the local construction and architecture community. He is a graduate of NewSchool of Architecture and Design a licensed architect in Georgia, NCARB certified and he is working to towards his reciprocity for his California license. He established his firm Basis Studio in 2016 to respond to the state's legislation that removed many of the barriers that prevented homeowners from building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). He also carved out a niche in the in the ADU market as the go-to expert not only in design but also in assisting jurisdictions in the creation of ordinances that promote the development of ADU's and that are consistent with the letter of the law.
He was awarded the 2018 YAYA Young Architect of the Year Award by AIA San Diego
and the 2019 recipient of the 50 Top Influential Business Leaders in the San Diego Business Transcript

Interview with Jared Basler, Associate AIA, click here

Basis Studio website

So, I feel like I am a good traveller and I do like going to places that people will typically not go, albeit like I said in my first blog:

#ArchiTalks 5: "a few of my favorite things..."

"going places noone ever goes..."

"The Road Less Traveled..."

one might say and I think that it always has a way, to not only learn new things about our profession of architecture and products but it also gives us a way to learn new things about our nation. One thing that I think is a big misconception is that the Midwest is full of white people who feel that their country is being taken away from them and that they live in fear of the immigrant that will come and take their jobs away from them. What I think, and what I see is that there are many places in the Midwest and even in small towns where there are people who are just like any other big city. America is indeed a nation of people who are from other places and are all here for the same reasons, freedom to be who they want to be and to express who they are in their own way and to be protected in their expression. I saw families in the parks in Minneapolis who were not "the white Americans" that one would expect. I learned that there was a large Laotian population in Warroad (I never know why people who live in a climate of no temperature below 50 degrees want to come and live in a place where the wind chill might get to negative 50 degrees, but that speaks to how much they want to live and work in the United States!)

And so my favorite part of the tour was meeting new people and seeing the windows and doors of Marvin and their historical re-creations are amazing and again we could not take any of those photos of what we were seeing but there are many case studies on the website here:

Gothic Revival Church Case Study