Student-built homes debut in Palatine area

Jason Brushaber may not be able to afford a $700,000 home, but at least he can say he helped build one.

The 17-year-old Elk Grove Village resident, a junior at Conant High School, was among the Palatine-Schaumburg Township High School District 211 students on hand at the open houses for the three, student-built homes.

The homes at 747 and 743 Brockway Street in Palatine, and 182 Bradwell Circle in Inverness, were the product of the district’s Building Trades Program.

Bill Fraser, who teaches building construction at Schaumburg High School, said the program is among the largest of its kind in Illinois and has been in existence for more than 30 years.

The school district owns the properties and puts the proceeds from the sale of the homes back into the program.

Fraser said the students do all of the carpentry and shadow the plumbers, electricians and heating, air conditioning and ventilating personnel hired by the district.

“So they learn all the trades, (but) they mainly learn how to be a carpenter,” Fraser said.

Brushaber, who likes working with his hands and builds engines with his builder father, said he gained valuable knowledge he can apply when he owns his own house – he won’t necessarily have to hire someone to do the work.

His mother, Susan Brushaber, said, “He loved it. It’s great for the kids to get that experience.”

For Fraser, a former carpenter who has been teaching for seven years, “The best part is right now, watching the kids come through with their families and show off all the stuff that they did.”

Schaumburg High School senior Tim Bong, 18, comes from a carpentry background. His grandfather, Medinah resident Richard Schumacher, is a retired carpenter and attended the open house.

“He always motivated me to build and I used to go to their house and build in his basement. I was just always interested in building houses, so this was the perfect opportunity,” Bong said.

Bong also has helped his dad with drywall, wood flooring and paint projects in their house. That experience came in handy when performing the same types of tasks on the student-model projects.

Bong said he plans to attend Harper College and, possibly, Illinois State University, studying construction management.

“I think it’s pretty cool just to be able to drive past it with my family and say, ‘I built that,’” he said.

Those attending the open house at 747 Brockway, a split-level single-family home of brick and beige siding that was built from scratch beginning in late 2009, were impressed with the work.

“I’m just in awe of how spacious it is and (of) the woodwork,” said Maria Knuth of Palatine, who lives in the neighborhood.

Her husband, Rich Knuth, said he thinks the students did a great job.

“We like the open floor plan. We like the way they put the windows in. It looks like the home gets a lot of light,” he said. “I would highly recommend it to a friend or a family member.”

The students from Hoffman Estates High School built the Inverness house; students from Fremd and Conant built the house at 743 Brockway in Palatine; and students from Schaumburg, Conant and Hoffman Estates high schools built the house at 747 Brockway in Palatine.