Consulting and Design  
Gimme Shelter offers consulting and design for all phases of residential construction.  We’ve been designing and building energy efficient passive solar homes for over 25 years and can do site analysis, initial conceptual drawings, or detailed design and construction drawings for projects throughout the upper Midwest. 

We can advise you on sustainable materials, design elements, and options for renewable energy systems to reduce fossil fuel use. By looking carefully at your site, we can design your home to take advantage of your land’s specific characteristics and site your home to take advantage of the sun’s heating capabilities.    

Passive solar design principles can be applied to many different architectural styles, and we excel at combining our clients' aesthetic wishes with extraordinary technical performance.  We focus on creating high-quality, layered spaces that often result in a smaller square footage home of greater comfort and quality.

We recommend reading A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, et.al for a good guide to the design process. These design principles have been further expanded by Sarah Susanka in The Not So Big House and  Max Jacobson et.al. in Patterns of the Home.    

         New Construction
We design and build homes that creatively celebrate the innate beauty of wood and stone, but also labor “behind the skin” to create the highest performance levels in residential construction. Our building methods combine the finest framing and trim carpentry with meticulous energy detailing. Our construction techniques set new standards in comfort and operating costs over the life of the home. We design and build far above the minimum standards set for certification in both Green Built Homes and Wisconsin ENERGY STAR Homes^®. Our homes’ performance ratings, based on certified blower door tests, are among the highest in the state. 

Distinctive interior window and door trim, window seats, and other built-ins are Gimme Shelter design signatures.  Exceptionally crafted stairways  imaginatively mix materials, and central hearth areas bring form and function together in striking combinations. Design elements brought to us by our clients have included masks from Africa, white cedar tree trunks, 5 million year old fossils, and four foot tall terra cotta pigs.  We delight in these creative opportunities that reflect the unique passions of the people we work for.  

We will bring a broad perspective and creative approach to detail to your project with our experienced, thoughtful, and intelligent construction crew. Whether it be from your design or ours, the result will be a home that will reward you for many years to come.

   Renovations & Additions
Gimme Shelter brings the same attention to detail evident in our new construction to renovations. Our projects include historically accurate period restorations including porches and built-ins as well as additions that enhance and complement an existing home. 

Masonry Heaters are a renewable, clean burning, whole house radiant heating system as well as a unique design centerpiece for a central hearth area. We design and install masonry heaters in new and existing homes throughout the upper Midwest.

Rumford Fireplaces are all masonry, open hearth fireplaces that are designed for the highest heating production available in a traditional style fireplace.  

LePanyol outdoor bakeovens  are serious culinary wood ovens, typically installed in an outside location. The combination of a fired clay interior and high combustion temperatures makes the production of the finest quality hearth breads, pizzas and calzones possible.