What sets your dream home apart from any other property? For The Bachelor's Molly and Jason Mesnick, the answer involved lots of space and indoor-outdoor living opportunities.
To make this dream a reality, they had to take matters into their own hands. Their transitional custom new-build home in Seattle is full of personalized features, including a wine wall for Molly, and a shoe wall for Jason. The home tour is a masterclass in designing for entertaining.
'The initial reason we decided to build a custom home was because we entertain all of the time!,' Molly tells Homes & Gardens. 'Whether it is our kids having friends over for the night or us having a big dinner party, having a house full of people is pretty regular for us so I wanted a space that was conducive to that! Having a large kitchen with double islands was a part of that dream, a formal dining room (that many may call outdated) is something we use every single holiday, and having an indoor/outdoor entertaining space was the ultimate wishlist item!'
Shop the Outdoor Living Edit
Set your outdoor living space aglow with this lantern inspired by Crate & Barrel's bestselling Batten outdoor furniture collection. The solar-powered battery makes for effortless operation, and the taupe-finished handle makes it easy to move around your porch, patio, or balcony.
Sophisticated with a modern touch, the Granada Handwoven Indoor-Outdoor Rug is a great way to create a zone in your garden. Anchoring your living room design, or adding dimensional texture to your patio furniture, its unique woven pattern lends subtle contrast without overwhelming your space.
Bring shape to your edit with this scalloped side table. The table is crafted from fiber cement with a travertine-like finish for a sophisticated end table indoors or out. This accent piece is from our exclusive Sarah Sherman Samuel collaboration and features all the trademarks of her warm, edited style.
Beyond entertaining, these requirements also meant guest bedroom galore. Molly explains: 'We also wanted a home that would grow with us - we have space for all of my out-of-town family to come stay, a large bonus room for the kids as they turn into teenagers, and plenty of room for potential grandkids to run around, but hopefully that is a long ways away!'
An outdoor living room was also an essential part of the vision. Molly created cohesion with the home through the use of an opening wall.
She states: 'My #1 wishlist item for this home was having a NanaWall bi-fold door that opens up into a large covered patio! We entertain all the time, so having the option to open up our living space, for seamless indoor/outdoor entertaining was a must! On top of that, our NanaWall is such a "feature" in the home. It's the first thing people comment on when visiting our house. Having those floor-to-ceiling panels brings in so much extra light as well! I could not be happier with how this space turned out.'
The process of planning their remodel was just as complicated as designing itself.
'For an entire year, prior to even retaining an architect, I sat at our kitchen table every night drawing up floorplans,' says Molly. 'I would literally sit there, close my eyes, and envision how we would use each space. I was so intentional, so thoughtful in building out every nook & cranny of this home! I even still have my original drawing...it is nearly identical to the home we now live in!'
However, it wasn't as easy as the seamless transitionally designed final product makes it look.
Molly states: 'I did everything in this house on my own. I went into this project feeling fully qualified to design it on my own - I am in real estate and I have a stacked Pinterest board, full on inspiration. Boy did reality slap me on the face when we were fully into the project. Building a custom home is so much more than copying a Pinterest inspiration. There are hundreds of thousands of options for everything. Detailed decisions that you never knew you'd have to make.'
She beams: 'It was a LOT, but I am incredibly proud to say that I did it on my own. The house feels classic enough that it will stand the test of time, but also warm, comfortable, and custom to our family's needs. Honestly, I would love to build another house because I learned so much while doing it that I would be so much smarter the next time around! Pretty sure Jason is a hard "no" on that for a while.'
As a real estate agent, ideas around how to sell a home fast were always on the back burner as part of Molly's decisions.
She explains: 'While I do believe we will live in this house for a long time, there will come a day when we decide to sell! So, even though this is a custom home, I always kept resale in the back of my mind as I went through the design process.'
She used her knowledge of interior design trends to help make these decisions.
'Being in real estate, we hear feedback on the homes daily,' states Molly. 'The masses are looking for homes that are light & bright, not too trendy, with floorplans that simply "make sense". Our home flows naturally, from room to room, and all of the finishes are classic enough that they won't ever feel "dated". There is no feature within our home that feels "too" custom for resale, with the exception of Jason's Air Jordan shoe wall, but THAT is just fun!'
As summer approaches, we're thinking about ways to take entertaining outdoors, and Molly and Jason Mesnick's home offers the perfect inspiration.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
-
This listed Victorian London townhouse takes the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi and turns a narrow, awkward property into an artist's home that honors its past but has a contemporary Japandi style'We celebrated the beauty of imperfection and crafted a home that is both timeless and deeply personal'
-
I'm hopping on these 5 eye-catching houseplant trends after being wowed by them at the Chelsea Flower Show 2025 – they're all easy to recreate at homeThis year's Houseplant Studios are bursting with fresh ideas to take your indoor garden to the next level
