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The new villas are one -level homes designed for empty nesters. In a city commission bus tour last fall, Hugo City Administrator Bryan Bear called the one -level villas the "hottest housing prod- uct in the city." Seven villas are already reserved of the 26 platted. Some will have backyards that abut Clearwater Creek Park Preserve, a 100 -acre gem that Pratt said is hard to find in a city. The Vadnais Heights - based builder specializes in premium homes with price points at a half -million dol- lars and up. "We're not into expediency or less expen- sive," Pratt said, "we're into detail. Every community needs a range of choices. When you deal north of $500,000, properties must have unique characteristics in a context that has appeal, space and good backdrops. There is still a market, as proven here for people above that price point." Hugo is a natural pro- gression for spillover hous- ing from a fully developed White Bear Lake and Town- ship, Pratt noted. "When I met with Mac (McCollar), I could see that connection," he recalled. "You have to have a stom- ach for looking down the road. You have to have a knack for it. I think there are genetic things that go into your fabric emotion- ally that makes some people to be more circular. You get up, look around and take it • ' Gill �& in." Pratt's great-grandfather was a Swedish immigrant who built homes in north- east Minneapolis. "You can still see his houses," he said. "So its in our family his- tory back a generation or two. My grandmother told me growing up, 'You didn't know your great-grandfa- ther, but you can see his work. Homebuilding; she said, 'is an honorable pro- fession.' There is something rewarding about a tangible result. Both Pratt and brother Lowell worked their way through the University of Minnesota as carpenters. Len was an English litera- ture major, which might explain his penchant for storytelling. "One thing led to another in the early '70s and we went into business," he said. The home builder/devel- oper admits he's a worka- holic, which happily teams well with wife Ellen Maas, a Washington County judge and part-time musician. They met under the mu- ral of Venus the Goddess of Love at Pazzaluna in down- town St. Paul. "I kid you not," Pratt said. "She was sitting at the next table with friends and we got to talk- ing about hors d'oeuvres. She invited me to one of her concerts (Maas plays bas- soon in several orchestras). We've been together ever since." .• 6-V ,.. Join us for our GRMD ®Pik r11.0-IJULY 24-2 5-26 6 Their compatibility lies in the fact both are "self- actualized," selfactualized," Pratt pointed out. "Ellen was never mar- ried and needed someone like me. If you try to fol- low her around as a typical husband, it will not work." They've been married 15 years and reside in Birch- wood. Pratt also has three children from a previous marriage; son Ben is a chef and owner of Ingredients restaurant in White Bear Lake. If he has spare time, Pratt said he enjoys garden- ing and would love to own a "wee farm. But I`ll never come off the lake (White Bear) with Ellen. She is there to stay." As the conversation shift- ed to White Bear Lake's cur- rent woes, Pratt said people need to take small steps to bring the lake level back. "One of them is augmenta-, tion. I am pro -augmenta- tion. We have to study it." Meanwhile the president of Pratt Homes continues to do what he does best, and that is build. He weathered the recession storm and says the "underwriting fun- damentals of lending have been repaired." The market will more fully recover when millen- nials decide to buy homes, Pratt said. "They rent now. A survey from the National Association of Homebuild- ers (of which he is a board member) shows they want Bring your I ,HAPPY HOUR 0: Rrinn wn - Submitted photo a sense of job security first. When the biological clock ticks, once family forma- tion starts, they choose to live outside the urban core. They want a yard and they want a good school." Less than 10 percent of the property Pratt acquired for Fable Hill remains un- sold — about seven lots of the original 75. All are large lots that are twice the size of what city code requires. "I sensed, and I still do," he noted, "that people come to Hugo for the space." Is he optimistic for the future? "I am for the next three years. We have been underbuilding for demand. But the sale of existing homes by empty nesters needs to be more fluid." When the villas are com- plete, Pratt will move on to a fifth and final phase in Fable Hill with 20 more villas and 14 single-family homes. When that project is finished, Pratt can finally write 'The End' to that story.